I am a lifespan developmental psychologist, with an emphasis on adult development and aging. I teach Lifespan Developmental Psychology and the Psychology of Aging. My research involves understanding how adults of different ages remember the events of their life, and use autobiographical memories for socioemotional reasons. Two areas of research aim to achieve this goal.

The first examines the extent to which young, middle-aged, and older adults think about or share life experiences to serve a social ‘function’. That is, whether people use autobiographical memories to teach and inform others, to maintain and foster social relationships, and to elicit empathy from or empathize with others. I aim to understand the individual (e.g., age, gender) and contextual (e.g., listener responsiveness) factors that might influence the extent to which people use autobiographical memory in this way.

The second, and related, area of research examines whether the quality of autobiographical memory changes or remains the same across adulthood. I examine how vivid, emotional, or detailed people’s autobiographical memories are across the lifespan, and for different groups of older adults (i.e., those with dementia). Knowing more about the quality of people’s autobiographical memories allows me to better understand the types of memories that best foster social and emotional well-being in adulthood and late life.

Select Publications

Alea, N. & Bluck, S. (2003). Why are you telling me that? A conceptual model of the social function of autobiographical memory. Memory, 11, 165 – 178.

Alea, N., Bluck, S., & Semegon, A. B. (2004). Young and older adults’ expression of emotional experience: Do autobiographical narratives tell a different story? Journal of Adult Development, 11, 235-250.

Alea, N. & Bluck, S. (under review). I’ll keep you in mind: The intimacy function of autobiographical memory in adulthood. Psychology & Aging.