• Cognitive aging;
• Reading and language comprehension;
• Older adults’ memory changes.

Brief Description
of Publications

1. This article presents research that examines young and older adults’ individual differences in spelling, using a variety of spelling tasks. Results showed that older adults who were poor spellers were poorer spellers than their young counterparts, and it is not age alone that contributes to spelling difficulties.

2. This chapter presents research conducted on the tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon, a word retrieval difficulty common to most people, but that increases with age. Several studies are reviewed, discussing the role of phonology (sound) in creating and resolving these tip-of-the-tongue states.

1. Margolin, S.J., & Abrams, L. (2007). Individual differences in spelling ability: Do good spellers age better than poor spellers? Aging, Neuropsychology, and Cognition, Published online December 4, 2006; in print TBD.

2. Abrams, L., Trunk, D.L., & Margolin, S.J. (2007). Resolving tip-of-the-tongue states in young and older adults: The role of phonology. In L.O. Randal (Ed.), Aging and the Elderly: Psychology, Sociology, and Health (pp. 1-41). Hauppauge, NY: Nova Science Publishers, Inc.

Grants:
Two Sigma-Xi Grant-in-Aid of Research Awards

Awards:
1. Madelyn Lockhart Dissertation Fellowship
2. E. Porter Horne Memorial Scholarship
3. Southern Gerontological Society Best Paper Award

• Cognitive Processes
• Sensation and Perception

• Research Methods
• Introductory Psychology