Maryjane Wraga

Maryjane Wraga’s research interests include the neural underpinnings of spatial cognition, the role of experiential factors in intellectual performance, and most recently, the role of emotion in autobiographical memory.

After earning an undergraduate degree in English Composition at the University of Hartford, Wraga worked in the New York publishing industry before embarking on graduate study in Cognitive Psychology. She earned a doctorate degree from Emory University in 1996 and completed postdoctoral fellowships at the University of Virginia in 1998 and Harvard University in 2000.

Wraga’s current research approach was influenced by a year-long Kahn seminar she attended at Smith, which involved lively discussions of memory with professors and students from across the college. Wraga has used a similar interdisciplinary approach in two of her courses, Cognition in Film and Memory in Literature.

Wraga recently has begun writing about cognitive psychology for the general public. She has two blogs, The Mother of All Memories (maryjanewraga.com), about long-term memories from her childhood; and Fuzzy Mind (http://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/fuzzy-mind) at Psychology Today, which explores imperfections in human thinking.