Natalie V. Covington

I am interested in how cognitive systems that have traditionally been studied in isolation (e.g. language, memory) interact to support human communication. My interests in these two cognitive domains converge in a new line of work investigating susceptibility to misinformation in general and clinical populations. How do individual differences in memory and language ability impact susceptibility to, and retention of, misinformation? What interventions are most effective for correcting (and preventing the spread of) misinformation?

I am also interested in understanding and accounting for the heterogeneity in cognitive recovery that we see in individuals with a history of traumatic brain injury (TBI). Two individuals who sustain TBIs of similar severity can have drastically different functional and cognitive outcomes. What factors predict a person’s trajectory of recovery following TBI? How can rehabilitation professionals  best intervene to promote optimal cognitive outcomes?

To answer these questions, I draw on methods from cognitive neuroscience (e.g. the lesion method) and psycholinguistics (e.g. eye-tracking), as well as my clinical training as a speech-language pathologist. Across these research areas, I have a particular interest in improving measurement and research practices, so that our research findings are replicable, generalizable, and clinically-applicable.