I have worked for Dr. Moscovitch in the Memory Lab since 1990. As a Research Officer my primary responsibilities revolve around the 10 PCs and the 2 Mac computers in the lab. Essential tasks involve hardware maintenance, software and hardware purchasing and knowledge of internet connections. I am required to set up new PC systems in the lab, assuring the appropriate setup for a variety of external equipment including response boxes, microphones, touch screens, and finger-tapping recorders. Computer development and programming in conjunction with graduate students, post-doctoral fellows, visiting professors, and Dr. Moscovitch occupy the majority of my time and is the most captivating aspect of my job.

Most programs used in the Memory Lab are presented using E-Prime as a platform; however, PsychLab, Mel and PsyScope are also used. A knowledge of statistics is required for this position. Although I am most comfortable using SPSS, I am familiar with SAS, BMDP, and Systat. Picture development software is frequently used, namely Picture Publisher, Photostyler, Corel Draw, and Photoshop (Mac & Windows) which I also use in conjunction with experiment design programs. Speech and music manipulations are made in Sound Blaster and are presented using E-Prime. Some of my administrative duties include advertising for the senior subject pool, as well as compiling and editing "Recollections", the Memory Lab's newsletter. Finally, I am always available to Dr. Moscovitch's students, post-docs, and visiting professors for consultation on computer related issues.

In the past several years I have created the base computer program for a couple of experiments at the Clark Institute PET Center. This was done in conjunction with Dr. Stephan Kohler while he was a graduate student in the Memory Lab under Dr. Moscovitch's supervision. This involved computer presentation requiring subjects to perform object or spatial memory tasks. Simultaneous measurements of brain activity were collected.

In the past, I have generated experiment programs for Myra Fernandes who investigated a dual task paradym, and for Amy Seigenthaler who investigated priming of familiar and unfamiliar faces. Dr. Alessandra Sciavetto, a post-doctoral fellow of Dr. Moscovitch, is interested in how we remember music. In conjunction with the ERP Lab at the Rotman Research Center, I have developed a program for presenting musical scores for Dr. Schiavetto's research. Once again, in 1999, I am working with Dr. Schiavetto on another program, this time investigating hierarchical face processing.

Dr. Seiji Nagae, a visiting professor from Munakata City, Fukuoka, Japan, has required computer programs for his research in the lab. He investigated hemispheric specialization of memory for emotional and non-emotional words and also hemispheric specialization for paired associate learning of verbal and nonverbal material using verbal and location mediators.

In my spare time I have been working on a project with Dr. Moscovitch in which divided attention and verbal fluency are being investigated. Specifically, we are asking whether the interference from tapping is due to the activation of the same circuitry in the frontal lobes as that activated by phonemic fluency.

I have publications from my Master's degree and have been acknowledged in several papers of graduate students, visiting professors, and post doctoral fellows for my design and implementation of computer programs used in their research.