Stephanie Ashton (S.M.)

I am a postdoctoral researcher working in the forensic psychology section. Police rely on eyewitnesses for investigating crimes. As eyewitnesses often experience stress, it is important to understand how stress during a crime affects memory. While eyewitness memory researchers report memory impairing effects of stress, fundamental memory researchers report the opposite: stress enhances encoding of memories. My projects combine methodology from the eyewitness field and fundamental memory field to investigate how stress experienced during a crime affects eyewitness recall of an event and recognition of perpetrators. 

Before my postdoc position, I completed my PhD in the department of Neuropsychology and Psychopharmacology. My projects here focused on intrusive memories and factors that impair or improve our ability to control them. These projects stem from the idea that everyone, at some point, experiences thoughts they would like to let go of. To some extent, we have the ability to control which memories we remember and which we forget. Forgetting can be a powerful tool for improving our wellbeing and reducing symptoms in mood and anxiety disorders.

My research interests include stress, memory, and mindfulness-based approaches to emotion and cognitive control.

I teach in practical courses in the bachelor’s program and supervise students for their master’s thesis for projects relating to stress and memory, often combining physiological measures and VR.