Vita of Nicholas J. Cepeda, Ph.D.

York University
Department of Psychology
4700 Keele Street
Toronto, ON M3J 1P3

phone: 416-736-2100 x33266
fax: 416-736-5814
email: ncepeda at yorku . ca
office: BSB 242
lab: BSB 130C

Academic Positions

• York University
  • Assistant Professor, 2006-present
• University of California, San Diego
  • Assistant Project Scientist, 2004-present
  • Post-graduate Researcher, 2002-2004
• University of Colorado, Boulder
  • Research Associate, 2004-2006
• University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
  • Research Assistant, 1998-2001

Education

• University of Massachusetts, Amherst
  • Attended Postdoctoral Respecialization in Clinical Psychology program, 2001-2002
• University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
  • Ph.D., Perception and Performance Psychology, 2001
• Vanderbilt University
  • B.S., Psychology, 1995

Grants

• Research Development Fund, LaMarsh Centre for Research on Violence and Conflict Resolution (York University)
  • Principal Investigator, "Musical training and children's executive function development," 2008
• Teaching-Learning Development Grant, York University Faculty Association (York University)
  • Principal Investigator, "Optimizing learning in undergraduate classrooms," 2008-2009
• Minor Research Grant (York University)
  • Principal Investigator, "Musical training and children's executive function development," 2008-2009
• SSHRC Small Research Grant (York University)
  • Principal Investigator, "Optimizing learning in undergraduate classrooms," 2007-2008
• Junior Faculty Fund (York University)
  • Principal Investigator, "Effects of a nutrition intervention on reading comprehension and academic achievement," 2007-2008
• Minor Research Grant (York University)
  • Principal Investigator, "Components of cognitive flexibility in children," 2007-2008
• Kavli Institute for Brain and Mind (UCSD)
  • Co-Principal Investigator (with Gedeon Deák), "Developing adaptive minds: Neural and behavioral dynamics of cognitive flexibility in childhood," 2006-2007
• Institute of Education Sciences (US Department of Education)
  • Assistant Project Scientist, R305H040108, "Optimizing resistance to forgetting," 2004-2007

Editorial Boards

• The Open Psychology Journal

Fellowships

• National Institute of Mental Health Psychophysiology Training Grant Fellowship, 1996-1998
• University Fellowship (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign), 1995-1996
• Liberal Arts and Sciences Fellowship (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign), 1995-1996

Ad Hoc Reviewer

• Journal of Experimental Psychology: General
• Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition
• Memory and Cognition
• Psychological Science
• Psychonomic Bulletin and Review
• Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology

• British Journal of Developmental Psychology
• Child Development
• Cognitive Development
• Developmental Psychology
• Developmental Science
• Journal of Experimental Child Psychology
• Psychology and Aging

• Biological Psychiatry
• Brain
• Brain Research
• Cognitive Brain Research
• The Journal of Neuroscience

• National Science Foundation

Memberships

• Association for Psychological Science
• Cognitive Development Society
• Psychonomic Society
• Society for Research in Child Development

Teaching

• York University
  • Educational Psychology
  • Research Methodology in Developmental Psychology (Graduate)
  • Seminar in Developmental Psychology
  • Seminar in Educational Psychology
• University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
  • Introduction to Experimental Psychology (Teaching Assistant)

Research Interests

• Flexible cognition
  • Developmental changes
  • Underlying factors: processing speed, working memory, and inhibition
  • Influences of psychopathology
• Long-term memory
  • Models of distributed practice
  • Testing and feedback influences

Journal Publications and Book Chapters

Invited Talks

• Cepeda, N. J. (2008, January). Development of executive function. Invited talk at the University of California, Davis, Center for Mind and Brain and Human Development and Family Studies, Davis, CA.
• Cepeda, N. J. (2007, May). Decomposing executive function: No inhibition necessary? Invited talk at Rotman Research Institute / Baycrest Hospital, Toronto, ON.
• Cepeda, N. J. (2007, February). Components of cognitive flexibility. Invited talk at the University of Western Ontario, Psychology Department, London, ON.
• Cepeda, N. J. (2006, February). Adaptive memory mechanisms. Invited talk at York University, Psychology Department, Toronto, ON.
• Cepeda, N. J. (2006, January). Adaptive memory mechanisms. Invited talk at the University of California, Los Angeles, Psychology Department, Los Angeles, CA.
• Cepeda, N. J. (2005, November). Adaptive memory mechanisms: Theory and application. Invited talk at Michigan State University, Psychology Department, East Lansing, MI.
• Cepeda, N. J. (2004, October). Cognitive flexibility deficits in children with ADHD. Invited talk at the University of California, San Diego, Cognitive Science Department, La Jolla, CA.
• Cepeda, N. J. (2004, March). Flexible cognition in preschoolers. Invited talk at the University of Colorado, Boulder, Munakata Lab / Cognitive Development Center, Boulder, CO.
• Cepeda, N. J. (2004, April). Maximizing long-term retention with distributed practice. Invited talk at the University of Oklahoma, Psychology Department, Norman, OK.
• Cepeda, N. J. (2000). Cognitive processing: Task switching across the life-span. Grand rounds in Psychiatry, University of South Alabama College of Medicine, Mobile, AL.
• Cepeda, N. J. (1999). Response interference and preparatory capacity in children with ADHD. Grand rounds in Psychiatry, University of South Alabama College of Medicine, Mobile, AL.
• Cepeda, N. J. (1998). Deficits in attention: ADHD and task switching. Grand rounds in Psychiatry, University of South Alabama College of Medicine, Mobile, AL.
• Cepeda, N. J. (1997). Attentional deficits in children with ADHD. Grand rounds in Psychiatry, University of South Alabama College of Medicine, Mobile, AL.

Papers, Posters, and Published Abstracts

• Carpenter, S. K., Cepeda, N. J., Alvarez, D., & Pashler, H. (2007, November). Applying the principles of testing and spacing to long-term retention of course information. Poster session presented at the Psychonomic Society Annual Meeting, Long Beach, CA.
• Carpenter, S. K., Pashler, H., Cepeda, N. J., & Alvarez, D. (2007). Applying the principles of testing and spacing to classroom learning. In D. S. McNamara & J. G. Trafton (Eds.), Proceedings of the 29th Annual Cognitive Science Society Meeting (p. 19). Nashville, TN: Cognitive Science Society.
• Carpenter, S. K., Pashler, H., Cepeda, N. J., & Vul, E. (2007, April). How does timing of feedback affect recall of facts and names? Paper presented at the American Educational Research Assocition Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL.
• Carpenter, S. K., Pashler, H., Rohrer, D., & Cepeda, N. J. (2007, August). Does forced guessing cause one to learn the wrong answer? Poster session presented at the American Psychological Association Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA.
• Cepeda, N. J., & Deák, G. O. (2007, March). Children's word learning: Individual differences in flexible use of semantic cues. Poster session presented at the Society for Research in Child Development Biennial Meeting, Boston, MA.
• Cepeda, N. J., McQuiston, S., Wright, M., Ryan, M., Scott, J., & Munakata, Y. (2007, March). Object permanence knowledge in 5-month-old infants: A graded working memory account. Poster session presented at the Society for Research in Child Development Biennial Meeting, Boston, MA.
• Eisen, M., & Cepeda, N. J. (2007, November). Effects of a nutrition intervention on reading comprehension and academic achievement. Queen's National Undergraduate Conference on Medicine, Kingston, ON.
• Holt, A. E., Deák, G. O., Cepeda, N. J., & Čeponienė, R. (2007, October). ERP and behavioral measures of task-switching efficiency in preschool children. Poster session presented at the Cognitive Development Society Biennial Meeting, Santa Fe, NM.
• Holt, A. E., Deák, G. O., Cepeda, N. J., & Čeponienė, R. (2007, October). ERP and behavioral measures of task-switching efficiency in preschool children. Poster session presented at the Society for Neuroscience Annual Meeting, San Diego, CA.
• Narasimham, G., Deák, G. O., & Cepeda, N. J. (2007, October). Individual differences in rule-switching flexibility: Comparing children's performance on the DCCS and the 3-DCCS. Poster session presented at the Cognitive Development Society Biennial Meeting, Santa Fe, NM.
• Carpenter, S. K., Pashler, H., Cepeda, N. J., & Vul, E. (2006, November). Effects of feedback timing on retention of facts and names. Poster session presented at the Psychonomic Society Annual Meeting, Houston, TX.
• Cepeda, N. J. (2005, October). Development of processes underlying task switching in ADHD and non-ADHD children and adolescents. Paper presented at the Cognitive Development Society Biennial Meeting, San Diego, CA.
• Cepeda, N. J., Deák, G. O., Sedlik, S., & Weisser, R. (2005, April). Individual and age differences in preschool children's flexible cognition. Poster session presented at the Society for Research in Child Development Biennial Meeting, Atlanta, GA.
• Cepeda, N. J., & Munakata, Y. (2005, October). What mechanisms underlie task shifts - directed inhibition, or working memory plus competition? Poster session presented at the Cognitive Development Society Biennial Meeting, San Diego, CA.
• Cepeda, N. J., Pashler, H., & Vul, E. (2005, November). Distributed practice and long-term retention: A ratio rule for optimal inter-study interval to retention interval? Poster session presented at the Psychonomic Society Annual Meeting, Toronto, ON.
• Pashler, H., Rohrer, D., Cepeda, N. J., & Wixted, J. T. (2005, May). Optimizing resistance to forgetting. Paper presented at the American Psychological Society Annual Meeting, Los Angeles, CA.
• Pashler, H., Carpenter, S. K., Rohrer, D., & Cepeda, N. J. (2005, November). Does being forced to guess make one learn the wrong answer? Paper presented at the Psychonomic Society Annual Meeting, Toronto, ON.
• Cepeda, N. J., Pashler, H., Wixted, J. T., & Rohrer, D. (2004, April). Effects of spacing of practice on long-term retention of knowledge. Poster session presented at the American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, San Diego, CA.
• Pashler, H., Cepeda, N. J., Rohrer, D., & Wixted, J. T. (2004, November). The spacing effect: Useful or just interesting?. Paper presented at the Psychonomic Society Annual Meeting, Minneapolis, MN.
• Pashler, H., Rohrer, D., Cepeda, N. J., & Wixted, J. T. (2004, May). Feedback and learning: A fine-grained analysis. Poster session presented at the American Psychological Society Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL.
• Rohrer, D., Taylor, K., Pashler, H., Cepeda, N. J., & Wixted, J. T. (2004, April). Overlearning: A bad way to boost long-term retention. Poster session presented at the American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, San Diego, CA.
• Cepeda, N. J., & Pashler, H. (2003, November). Maximizing long-term retention: How much spacing is useful? Poster session presented at the Psychonomic Society Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC.
• Cepeda, N. J., Cepeda, M. L., & Kramer, A. F. (2000, October). Active and passive task switching components in children with ADHD. Poster session presented at the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Annual Meeting, New York, NY.
• Cepeda, N. J., Gonzalez de Sather, J. C. M., & Kramer, A. F. (2000, April). Task switching across the life-span. Poster session presented at the Cognitive Aging Conference, Atlanta, GA.
• DiGirolamo, G. J., Kramer, A. F., Barad, V., Cepeda, N. J., Weissman, D. H., Milham, M. P., Wszalek, T. M., Cohen, N. J., Banich, M. T., Webb, A., & Belopolsky, A. V. (2000, April). General and task-specific frontal lobe recruitment in older adults during executive processes: An fMRI investigation of task-switching. Paper presented at the Cognitive Aging Conference, Atlanta, GA.
• Cepeda, N. J., Cepeda, M. L., Allen, F. H., & Kramer, A. F. (1998, October). Covert orienting in children with ADHD and matched controls. Poster session presented at the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Annual Meeting, Anaheim, CA.
• Cepeda, N. J., Cepeda, M. L., & Kramer, A. F. (1998, October). Deficits during non-predictable task switching in children with ADHD. Poster session presented at the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Annual Meeting, Anaheim, CA.
• Cepeda, N. J., Cepeda, M. L., Allen, F. H., & Kramer, A. F. (1997). Attentional performance of children and adults with sickle cell disease. In Twenty-second Annual National Sickle Cell Disease Program, Abstract #163, p. 220.
• Cepeda, N. J., Cepeda, M. L., Allen, F. H., & Kramer, A. F. (1997, October). Task switching in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Poster session presented at the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Annual Meeting, Toronto, ON.
• Cave, K. R., & Cepeda, N. J. (1995). Spatial accuracy of attention when selecting a target among distractors. Investigative Opthamology & Visual Science, 36, S900.
• Cepeda, N. J., Hiris, E., & Blake, R. (1994, November). Memory for visual motion. Poster session presented at the Psychonomic Society Annual Meeting, St. Louis, MO.

Honors Students

• York University
  • Michelle Eisen (2008): Effects of a nutrition intervention on reading comprehension
  • Natasha Jamal (2008): Using critical thinking tests to optimize student learning and later recall
  • Laura Pynn (2008): Bilingualism and abstract working memory
  • Lily Y. Lieu (2007): Task switching: Active working memory in bilingual children
  • Hailey S. Sobel (2007): The spacing effect: Reducing the gap between laboratory research and practical application