Gopie, Nigel Dr.
Dr. Nigel Gopie
Post Doctoral Fellow Rotman Research Institute, Baycrest
Research Focus
Key Areas: Memory, Attention, & Aging
Memory critically facilitates our social interactions, and yet, the role of memory in social situations is rarely researched. We are all aware of memory errors that may impede successful social interaction, such as the ease with which we forget the names of people standing before us. In fact, retrieving the names of familiar people becomes increasingly difficult with age, and after arthritis, forgetting people’s names is the top complaint by older people when they visit medical clinics and research laboratories. My research indicates that a specific type of memory, episodic memory, which is particularly vulnerable to age, plays a critical role in the retrieval of people’s names. I am currently using neuroimaging (fMRI) to identify the brain network that underlies the retrieval of people’s names to better understand how we perform this every day memory function.
Our complex social interactions also require us to remember what we tell to whom, what I’ve termed ‘destination memory’. When destination memory failures occur (destination amnesia) we repeat information or incorrectly believe that we have told someone particular information. I have shown that destination memory is more fallible than ‘source memory’, memory for where we acquired information, and that destination memory is more sensitive to the aging process than is source memory.
My interest in the nature and function of memory has also led to the investigation of consciousness in young (18-30) and older (65-80) adults. I am specifically interested in situations whereby our behaviour is guided by previous exposure to information without our explicit knowledge. For example, I have shown that older and dual-tasking (i.e., ‘distracted’) younger adults who are exposed to particular information may later use that same information on a different task despite not being aware of it.
Upcoming Invited Lectures
Title: Which brain network plays a critical role in retrieving the names of people?
Rotman Rounds Data Blitz, Rotman Research Institute, Baycrest Hosptial
September 20, 2010Title: Memory's role in our social interactions
Ebbinghaus Empire Meeting, Dept. of Psychology, University of Toronto
January 19, 2011
Title: Memory and Aging
The Institute for Life Course & Aging, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto
April 7, 2011
Publications
| Title | Source (Journal/Book/Conference) | Authors/Presenters | Published On | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A double dissociation of implicit and explicit memory in younger and older adults. | Psychological Science | Gopie N, Craik FI, Hasher L | 1293858000 | Journal Article |
| The production effect: Delineation of a phenomenon | Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition | MacLeod CM, Gopie N, Hourihan KL, Neary KR, Ozubko J | 1275192000 | Journal Article |
| Recollection and familiarity for public events in neurologically intact older adults and two brain-damaged patients | Neuropsychologia | Petrican R, Gopie N, Leach L, Chow TW, Richards B, Moscovitch M | 1267419600 | Journal Article |
| Destination memory impairment in older people. | Psychology and Aging | Gopie N, Craik FI, Hasher L | 1262322000 | Journal Article |
| Destination memory: Stop me if I've told you this before | Psychological Science | Gopie N, MacLeod CM | 1262235600 | Journal Article |
| Do older adults remember irrelevant information differently from younger adults? | Experimental Psychology Society Joint With The Canadian Society For Brain, Behaviour And Cognitive Science (CSBBCS) York Meeting | Gopie N, Hasher L, Craik FIM, MacLeod CM, Fernandes MA | 1247025600 | Abstract |
| The production effect | 49th annual meeting of the Psychonomic Society | MacLeod CM, Gopie N, Ozubko J | 1225512000 | Presentation |
| The production effect: The pivotal role of recollection | CSBBCS/SCSCCC 18th Annual Meeting | Gopie N | 1213848000 | Presentation |
| Did I tell you this before? | CSBBCS/SCSCCC 18th Annual Meeting | Gopie N, MacLeod CM | 1213848000 | Presentation |
| The production effect: The pivotal role of recollection | 18th annual meeting of the Canadian Society for Brain, Behaviour and Cognitive Science | Gopie N | 1212292800 | Presentation |
| Have I told you this before? | Canadian Society for Brain, Behaviour and Cognitive Science | Gopie N, MacLeod CM | 1199163600 | Presentation |
| The production effect: Improving explicit but not implicit memory. | Psychonomic Society | MacLeod CM, Gopie N, Hourihan KL, Neary KR | 1193889600 | Presentation |
| The influence of context at study and test on recognition memory | International Conference on Memory | Gopie N, MacLeod CM | 1151726400 | Presentation |
| The production effect: Boosting conscious but not unconscious memory | Association for Psychological Science | MacLeod CM, Gopie N, Hourihan KL, Neary KR | 1146456000 | Presentation |
| Say it loud: Production benefits explicit but not implicit memory | 14th Annual Meeting of the Canadian Society for Brain, Behaviour and Cognitive Science | MacLeod CM, Hourihan KL, Gopie N, Neary K, Partanen M, Bailey K | 1120190400 | Presentation |
| How a blue word on the left can be remembered differently (but not better) than a white one | Waterloo | Gopie N, MacLeod CM | 1104555600 | Presentation |
| Context effects beneath the surface of recognition memory | Canadian Society for Brain, Behaviour and Cognitive Science | Gopie N, MacLeod CM | 1104555600 | Presentation |
Academic Appointments
- 2008–Present: Post Doctoral Fellow, Rotman Research Institute, Baycrest, Toronto, ON.
- 2003–2008: Nine Teaching Assistantships, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON
- 2008: Lecturer in Neuropsychology, Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, ON
- 2006–2007: Clinical Neuropsychology Practicum, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, ON
- 2006–2007: Advanced Psychological Assessment, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON
- 2005–2006: Psychoeducational Assessment Practicum, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON
Reviewership
Other
- 2010–Present: Experimental Psychology
- 2010–Present: PLoS ONE
Distinctions and Awards
- 2011: Age+ Prize, Canadian Institutes of Health Research Institute of Aging, The CIHR-Institute of Aging Age+ Prize recognizes excellence in research on aging carried out by emerging Canadian scholars. The award was based on the publication, "Destination memory impairment in older people," by Gopie, Craik, & Hasher.
- 2010: Jack and Rita Catherall Fund for Aging Research
- 2009: Canadian Institutes of Health Research Summer Program in Aging
- 2009: Jack and Rita Catherall Fund for Aging Research
- 2008: Donald O. Hebb Award - Best Paper Presentation, Canadian Society for Brain, Behaviour and Cognitive Science (CSBBCS)
Manuscripts
Gopie, N., & Moscovitch, M. (under review). Why do we forget people's names as we get older? The contribution of autobiographical memory to proper name retrieval.
Gopie, N., & MacLeod, C.M. (under review). The pivotal role of conscious recollection in the production effect.
Press Coverage
- 2010, October. The Medical Post, Toronto.
- 2010, September. Globe & Mail, Toronto.
- 2010, September. MSNBC, New York.
- 2010, September. New York Post, New York.
- 2010, August. Daily Mail, London.
- 2010, August. Telegraph, London.
- 2010, May. SELF Magazine, New York.
- 2010, May. Psychology Today, New York.
- 2010, April. Psychology Today, New York.
- 2010, February. Sound Medicine, Indiana University School of Medicine and WFYI National Public Radio, US.
- 2010, February. NRC Handelsblad, Netherlands.
- 2009, December. The BBC Radio 4, London.
- 2009, December. The New York Times, New York.
- 2009, November. The British Psychological Society's Research Digest blog, UK.
- 2009, November. TIME. US.
- 2009, November. Interviewed by LiveScience, New York.
- 2009, November. Softpedia.
- 2008, June. Interviewed by the London Free Press, London.
- 2006, July. Interviewed by an Australian Science Magazine, Sydney.
Contact
The Rotman Research InstituteBaycrest
3560 Bathurst Street, 930
Toronto, Ontario
Canada M6A 2E1 Phone: 416-785-2500 Ext. 5166 Email: ngopie
rotman-baycrest.on.ca Fax: 416-785-2862
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