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 (last 5 years)

• Danckert, S. L., MacLeod, C. M., & Fernandes, M. A. (2011). Source-constrained retrieval influences the encoding of new information. Memory & Cognition, 39, 1374-1386.
• Wilson, D. E., Muroi, M., & MacLeod, C. M. (2011). Dilution, not load, affects distractor processing. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 37, 319-335.
• Roefs, A., Huijding, J., Smulders, F. T. Y., MacLeod, C. M., de Jong, P. J., Wiers, R. W., & Jansen, A. T. M. (2011). Implicit measures of association in psychopathology research. Psychological Bulletin, 137, 149-193.
• MacLeod, C. M. (2010). When learning met memory. Canadian Journal of Experimental Psychology, 64, 227-240.
• MacLeod, C. M., Gopie, N., Hourihan, K. L., Neary, K. R., & Ozubko, J. D. (2010). The production effect: Delineation of a phenomenon. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 36, 671-685.
• Gopie, N., & MacLeod, C. M. (2009). Destination memory: Stop me if I've told you this before. Psychological Science, 20, 1492-1499.
• MacLeod, C. M. (2008). Implicit memory tests: Techniques for reducing conscious intrusion. In J. Dunlosky & R. A. Bjork (Eds.), Handbook of metamemory and memory (pp. 245-263). New York:  Psychology Press.
• Gorfein, D. S., & MacLeod, C. M. (2007). Inhibition in cognition. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
• MacLeod, C. M. (2007). Cognitive inhibition: Elusive or illusion? In H. L. Roediger, III, Y. Dudai, and S. M. Fitzpatrick (Eds.), Science of memory: Concepts (pp. 301-305). New York: Oxford University Press.

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