Research Interests

Throughout my career, my research has emphasized the broad domain of human cognition, with particular focus on attention, learning, and memory. Initially, my work was in the area of verbal learning and memory, with emphasis on long-term memory structure and process, and especially in intentional forgetting, a topic which I have continued to study. Subsequently, I also became interested in individual differences in cognition, highlighting how people differ in their linguistic and spatial skills and strategies. Some of this work revolved around basic processes involved in reading. These domains then led me to a continuing interest in the area of attention. Primarily, this research has concerned the development of skill (automaticity) through learning/practice, particularly using the Stroop colour-word interference measure as a model task. In recent years, my memory research has focused on the role of consciousness in memory and on the distinction between indirect tests of memory (implicit measures that do not require conscious awareness) and direct tests of memory (explicit measures that do require conscious awareness). I am especially fascinated by the interaction between attention and memory, and with the role that learning plays in that interaction.

Selected Publications

• Wilson, D. E., MacLeod, C. M., & Muroi, M. (2008). Practice in visual search produces decreased capacity demands but increased distraction. Perception & Psychophysics, 70, 1130-1137.
• Gorfein, D. S., & MacLeod, C. M. (2007). Inhibition in cognition. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
• Hourihan, K. L., & MacLeod, C. M. (2007).  Capturing conceptual implicit memory:  The time it takes to produce an association.  Memory & Cognition, 35, 1187-1196.
• Hauer, B. J. A., & MacLeod, C. M. (2006).  Endogenous versus exogenous cuing effects on memory.  Acta Psychologica, 122, 305-320.
• MacLeod, C. M. (2005). The Stroop task in cognitive research. In A. Wenzel & D. C. Rubin (Eds.), Cognitive methods and their application to clinical research (pp. 17-40). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
• Ohta, N., MacLeod, C. M., & Uttl, B. (2005). Dynamic cognitive processes. Tokyo: Springer-Verlag.
• Dodd, M. D., & MacLeod, C. M. (2004). False recognition without intentional learning. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 11, 137-142.
• MacLeod, C. M., Dodd, M. D., Sheard, E. D., Wilson, D. E., & Bibi, U. (2003). In opposition to inhibition. In B. H. Ross (Ed.), The Psychology of Learning and Motivation, Vol. 43 (pp. 163-214). San Diego, CA: Academic Press.

Invited Research Presentations

• The production effect: Delineation of a phenomenon. Keynote address presented at Armadillo: The Southwest Cognition Conference, University of Texas at El Paso, October, 2008.
• The concept of inhibition in cognition. Keynote address presented at the Conference on The Place of Inhibitory Processes in Cognition, Arlington, TX, March 2005.
• Selective rehearsal in list method directed forgetting. Invited address presented at the Fifth Tsukuba International Conference on Memory, Tsukuba, Japan, March 2004.
• In opposition to inhibition: Automatic memory retrieval and conflict resolution. Invited address presented at the Lake Ontario Visionary Establishment (LOVE), Niagara Falls, Ontario, February 2003.

Teaching Interests

• Introductory Psychology
• Cognitive Psychology
• Attention & Memory

Professional Memberships

• Psychonomic Society
• Canadian Society for Brain, Behaviour, and Cognitive Science
• Cognitive Science Society
• Association for Psychological Science
• American Psychological Association
• Canadian Psychological Association
• Sigma Xi