Dr. Jane M. Berry
Associate Professor of Psychology
(804) 289-8130
jberry@richmond.edu
Topics: Memory and Aging, Memory Self-Efficacy, Strategic Memory Behavior, Cognitive Aging
Berry began conducting research on aging as a research assistant between undergraduate and graduate school at Washington University in St. Louis, where she received her B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. degrees. Before joining the faculty at Richmond in 1991, she completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Michigan, and was an associate research psychologist at the University of California, Berkeley.
Currently, Berry oversees the Memory and Cognitive Aging Project, which was funded from 1996–2001 by a $650,000 grant from the National Institute on Aging. The focus of her work is on the relationship of how negative/positive beliefs about memory and aging can have a negative/positive impact on memory functioning in adulthood and old age—in the manner of a self-fulfilling prophecy between beliefs and behavior. She and her assistants have interviewed hundreds of subjects, ages 20–90, to determine how people use their memories and gauge their abilities to remember.
Berry has published several articles and chapters on aging, and has been recognized with the American Psychological Association Dissertation Award, the University of Richmond Distinguished Educator Award, and outstanding faculty/mentor awards from the University’s Department of Psychology, the Black Student Association and the Undergraduate Research Committee.
"You can teach and train older brains," Berry says. "It just takes longer, and it requires more attention and greater effort than for younger brains. Physical and mental exercise are crucial, too and have been shown to delay the onset of cognitive decline. There are no quick-fixes, no magic anti-aging pills!”
For more information on Berry, please visit the Richmond Research Institute.