Alan S. Brown
Professor of Psychology
Ph.D., Northwestern University, 1974

TEL 214.768.3420
EMAIL abrown (add @smu.edu to all email addresses)
OFFICE 310B Hyer Hall
CURRICULUM VITAE click to view

My research primarily involves how we store and retrieve information about the real world, and the manner in which these processes fail us. One of these phenomena is the tip of the tongue experience, where one is momentarily stymied in accessing well-stored knowledge.  Another is the false positive recognition experience of déjà vu, where a present experience seems subjectively familiar when you know that it is objectively new. We are currently extending the TOT research to identify the factors underlying repeated TOTs, and whether these change in frequency with age.

Another recent line of research involves the retention of health-related information, and what concepts from basic research in cognition can be applied to improve how we remember intervention instructions and if this can facilitate behavior change to remediate problematic behaviors, such as excessive alcohol consumption among college students.

Brown, A. S. (in press).  The tip of the tongue state.  New York:  Psychology Press.

Brown, A. S., & Marsh, E. J. (2010).  Digging into déjà vu:  Recent research findings on possible mechanisms.  In B. H. Ross (Ed.), The Psychology of Learning and Motivation, Vol. 53, Burlington:  Academic Press (pp. 33-62).

Jouriles, E. N., Brown, A. S., Rosenfield, D., McDonald, R., Croft, K., Leahy, M. M., & Walters, S. T. (in press). Improving the effectiveness of computer-delivered personalized drinking feedback interventions for college students. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors.

Brown, A. S., & Marsh, E. J.  (2008).  Evoking false beliefs about autobiographical experience.  Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 15, 186-190.

Gollan, T. H., & Brown, A. S.  (2006). From tip-of-the-tongue (TOT) data to theoreticalimplications:  When more TOTs means better retrieval.  Journal of Experimental Psychology:  General, 135, 462-483.

Jouriles, E. N.,  McDonald, R., Garrido, E., Rosenfield, D., & Brown, A. S.  (2005). Assessing physical violence in adolescent romantic relationships:  Can we do it better?  Psychological Assessment, 17, 469-475.

Brown, A. S. (2004).  The déjà vu illusion.  Current Directions in Psychological Science, 13, 256-259.

Brown, A. S.  (2004).  The déjà vu experience.  New York:  Psychology Press.

Brown, A. S. (1991).  A review of the tip of the tongue experience.  Psychological Bulletin, 109, 204-223.