Colleen Parks, Ph.D.
Although Dr. Parks first studied memory with Paula Hertel at Trinity University in San Antonio, TX, she conducted her first memory experiment in 5th grade for a science project. She has continued that line of study throughout her career. She received her M.S. and Ph.D. from Georgia Tech, working with Jeff Toth and Andy Smith and concentrating on aging and memory. She then went on to a postdoc with Andy Yonelinas at UC Davis, where she concentrated on process models of recognition. She continues to study memory at UNLV, focusing on different explanations (models) of recognition memory, the relationship between different memory processes, and reconsolidation in human episodic memory. In her free time she hikes, reads a lot, and listens to many podcasts. Don't ask her about her favorite books though unless you want to get into a discussion about how her memory of books is organized.
Graduate Students
Kevin Mohawk, M.S., M.A.
Kevin received her B.S. at University of Wisconsin Stevens Point, in 2012, and her M.S. from the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh, in May 2019 under the advisement of Dr. Justyna Olszewska. Her first master’s thesis examined the effects of cognitive style on the susceptibility to forming false memories. Her second master's examined prediction error and reconsolidation. She is now perusing her Ph.D., looking at the role of prediction error in episodic memory. Her primary research interests include examining the cognitive processes involved in human memory distortions. kevin.mohawk@unlv.edu
Alanna Osmanski, M.A.
Alanna received her B.S. in Psychology and a minor in Human Development at Montana State University in May 2020. Alanna's master’s thesis examined the relationship between sleep, emotion, and memory consolidation. Her research interests include sleep, recognition memory, false memories, and emotional memories. She is now pursuing her Ph.D. in Psychological and Brain Sciences, where she is focusing on the relationship between sleep and memory processes, such as pattern separation, recollection, and familiarity. In her spare time, she enjoys hiking, biking, camping, and reading. alanna.osmanski@unlv.edu
Jackson Pelzner, M.S., M.A.
Jackson received his B.Sc. in Psychology from Acadia University in Nova Scotia, Canada in 2013, and his M.S. in Applied Psychological Science from Pacific University in Oregon. His master’s thesis at Pacific examined the joint effects of music and emotion on memory. He is now working towards his Ph.D., which will examine episodic memory for melodies. His research interests include learning, recognition memory, mental representations, music cognition, and cognitive load and fatigue. jackson.pelzner@unlv.edu
William (Blake) Ridgway, M.A. (x2)
Blake, currently a doctoral student researcher in the Psychological and Brain Sciences program at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, has master's degrees in both experimental and forensic psychology. His research examines the effects of acute stress on eyewitness memory and the effective use of projective techniques in government assessment and selection programs. william.ridgway@unlv.edu
Rhiannon (Rhi) Sorianos Smith, M.A.
Rhiannon received her B.A. in Psychology and Child and Youth Studies at the University of San Francisco in 2018. Prior to coming to UNLV, Rhiannon worked in the Sleep and Performance Research Center at WSU Spokane with Dr. Gregory Belenky. She is now pursuing her PhD in Psychological and Brain Sciences at UNLV. Rhiannon’s master’s thesis examined forgetting over time, seeking to identify whether different types of recognition memory decline at different rates. She is now pursuing her Ph.D. and investigating similar topics. Her research interests include forgetting, recognition memory, music cognition, and attention.
Research Assistants 2023 - 2024
Mateo Marquez, B.A. UNLV Psychology
Jessica Ngueyn
Augstine Alvarado
Gabriel Hull, B.A. UNLV Psychology
Amaya Bolling
Sharica Lee
Yajairy Cabrales
Bella Lacy
Olesya Frolova
Julius Hernandez
Tamara Sablan-Freeling, B.A Penn State Behrend Psychology
Ryan Sablan
Talece Flaack-Sanchez
Natalie Chisam
Natalie Hsiao
Naila Yazdani
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Human Memory Lab Alumni
Wei An, M.A.
Wei received his M.A. from UNLV in experimental psychology in 2014, focusing on implicit memory. He is broadly interested in human memory processes including implicit memory, recollection, and familiarity. He is currently serving in the United States Army.
Chris Kiley, Ph.D.
Chris graduated from the University of South Florida in 2012 with a B.A., and his M.A.and Ph.D. from UNLV in 2015 and 2019. Chris is broadly interested in the processes associated with retention and forgetting. He is currently working at Exponent.
Laura Werner, Ph.D.
Laura received her B.A. at University of North Carolina, Greensboro in 2010, her M.A. at University of North Carolina, Wilmington in 2014 under the advisement of Dr. Karen Daniels, and her Ph.D. in 2019 under Colleen Parks. Her graduate thesis explored the role of working memory in preventing the cognitive depletion caused by making decisions. Her dissertation tested the predictions of the TBRS and the SOB-CS models of working memory. Laura is now a postdoc at UT Austin working with Jarrod Lewis-Peacock.