Brooke Macnamara, BA, MA, PhD

Associate Professor
Department of Psychological Sciences
College of Arts and Sciences

Research Information

Research Interests

My background is in individual differences in cognitive abilities (e.g., working memory capacity, fluid intelligence) as well as bilingualism.

Primarily, I investigate complex human performance—skill acquisition, achievement, and expertise. I am interested in predictive factors such as individual differences in cognitive abilities (e.g., cognitive control) and individual differences in experience (e.g., deliberate practice) on performance variance. I also examine factors that interact with these predictors or play indirect roles.

I am currently conducting a number of lines of research, including

  • how experiential factors predict variance in performance;
  • how characteristics of the task influence the importance of cognitive and experiential predictors;
  • how beliefs (e.g., mindset) predict achievement;
  • how reliance on artificial intelligence assistance might hinder learning among trainees and/or cause skill atrophy among experts;
  • the mechanisms of cognitive control

I accept PhD students into my lab if they are interested in any of the above lines of research.

Please see my lab page (link on the right of the screen) for more information.