Helena M. Blumen, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
The Taub Institute
630 West 168th Street
New York, NY 10032
Phone: 212-305-2046
Fax: 212-342-1838
Email: hmb2131@columbia.edu
Ongoing Research:
Collaborative Memory: My current research aims to understand when and how group collaboration benefit later individual memory functions. I consider the negative effects of retrieval disruption that can occur when group members are exposed to the other group members’ responses during group retrieval, and the positive effects of re-exposure to study material during group collaboration. The overall goal is to identify situations that attenuate the retrieval disruption associated with group retrieval and maximize the benefits from re-exposure during group collaboration. I examine how these opposing mechanisms function across time and how they transfer across different retrieval tasks.
Collaborative Memory and Aging: I am also interested in examining the potential to use group collaboration as a tool to improve individual memory functions in older adults. A related research question of interest is whether the cognitive processes involved in generating benefits of prior group collaboration in older adults are different from those of younger adults.
Cognitive Training and Aging: Finally, I am involved in a project that examines the benefits of training executive control processes in older adults on different cognitive domains.
Representative Publication
Blumen, H.M., & Rajaram, S. (2008). Influence of re-exposure and retrieval disruption during group collaboration on later individual recall. Memory (16) 3, 231-244.