Research Interests
Dr. Bugg examines cognitive control mechanisms that support attention and memory-related goals and how these mechanisms are affected by aging and Alzheimer’s disease. Her research has demonstrated that cognitive control operates at multiple levels (e.g., list-level, context-level, item-specific level), with some levels being more affected by aging than others. Dr. Bugg’s research has also begun to elucidate the roles of experience (accumulated during task performance) and expectations (information provided about a task, for example, in the form of pre-cues that precede task performance) in cognitive control performance. Perhaps surprisingly, the evidence thus far demonstrates that expectations play a limited role in cognitive control, especially under high conflict conditions. Another major goal of her research program has been to design experiments that tease apart the contribution of bottom-up processes (e.g., associative learning) from control processes. Along these lines, Dr. Bugg has proposed the Associations as Antagonists to Control (AATC) account to explain the interactivity of associative learning and global control, as in list-wide proportion congruence paradigms.
Dr. Bugg also investigates prospective memory. Her research program in this area is characterized by two overarching questions: 1) What are the causes of commission errors (i.e., erroneous performance of a no-longer relevant prospective memory intention such as double-dosing) and how might they be prevented? Her research has demonstrated that commission errors result from the (spontaneous) retrieval of the prospective memory intention in response to associated cues and a failure of control. Dr. Bugg’s research has shown that older adults are more vulnerable to making commission errors than younger adults, especially when a relatively habitual prospective memory intention needs to be withheld. Her research has also shown that under such conditions self-initiated strategies are not very effective in decreasing commission error risk but experience-based strategies (forgetting practice) are effective. 2) What processes support strategic monitoring (i.e., ability to relax and heighten monitoring in a context-dependent fashion based on informative cues) and how are these processes affected by aging?
Finally, Dr. Bugg’s research examines strategies for improving cognition and real-world skills (e.g., eHealth literacy) in older adults. An NIA-funded study aims to teach older adults strategies to improve prospective and retrospective memory, and teach older adults the skills for evaluating the legitimacy of on-line health-related information.