James H. Howard, Jr.
Professor of Psychology and Father Matthew Scholar
311 O'Boyle 202-319-4791 Fax: 202-319-6263
I am Professor of Psychology, Matthew Scholar and former Chair of Psychology at Catholic University. I received my Ph.D. in experimental psychology from Brown University in 1973 with a specialization in human cognition. Over the years my research has investigated a broad range of topics in perception and cognition. My primary research interests are in cognitive aging and the cognitive neuroscience of aging. Our group is interested in understanding how the ability to learn and remember changes in the course of healthy aging and in understanding the brain basis of these changes. We also investigate the factors that contribute to successful cognitive aging--why do some healthy people maintain high function well into old age whereas others do not? To investigate these issues, my colleagues and I carry out behavioral and neuroimaging studies of contextual learning in young and older adults as well as in various neuropsychological populations.
I am also an Adjunct Professor of Neurology in the Georgetown University Medical Center.
Our work is supported by the National Institute on Aging.
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Education
Ph.D. (1974) Experimental Psychology, Brown University
Sc.M. (1972) Experimental Psychology, Brown University
A.B. (1969) magna cum laude, Psychology, Providence College
Selected Publications
Barnes, K. A., Howard, J. H. Jr., Howard, D. V., Gilotty, L., Kenworthy, L., Gaillard, W. D., & Vaidya, C. J. (in press). Intact implicit learning of spatial context and temporal sequences in childhood Autism Spectrum Disorder. Neuropsychology.
Bennett, I.J., Romano, J.C., Howard, J.H., Jr., & Howard, D.V. (in press). Two forms of implicit learning in young adult dyslexics. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences.
Howard, D.V., Howard, J.H., Jr., Dennis, N.A., LaVine, S., & Valentino, K. (in press). Aging and implicit learning of an invariant association. Journals of Gerontology.
Song, S.S., Howard, J.H., Jr., & Howard, D.V. (2007). Sleep does not benefit probabilistic motor sequence learning. Journal of Neuroscience. 27(46). 12475-12483.
Howard, J.H., Jr., Howard, D.V., Dennis, N.A., & Yankovich, H. (2007). Event Timing and Age Deficits in Higher-Order Sequence Learning. Aging, Neuropsychology & Cognition. 14, 647-668.
Negash, S., Boeve, B.F., Smith, G.E., Knopman, D.S., Ivnik, R.J., Howard, D.V., Howard, J.H., Jr., & Petersen, R.C. (2007). Implicit learning of sequential regularities and spatial contexts in corticobasal syndrome. Neurocase, 13, 133-143.
Vaidya, C.J., Huger, M., Howard, D.V., & Howard, J.H., Jr. (2007). Developmental differences in implicit learning of spatial context. Neuropsychology, 21(4), 497-506.
Bennett, I.J., Howard, J.H., Jr., & Howard, D.V. (2007). Age-related differences in implicit learning of subtle third-order sequential structure. Journals of Gerontology, 62, P98-P103.
Negash, S., Petersen, L.E., Geda, Y.E., Knopman, D.S., Boeve, B.F., Smith, G.E., Ivnik, R.J., Howard, D.V., Howard, J.H., Jr., & Petersen, R.C. (2007). Effects of ApoE genotype and mild cognitive impairment on implicit learning. Neurobiology of Aging, 28(6), 885-893.
Song, S.S., Howard, J.H., Jr., & Howard, D.V. (2007). Implicit probabilistic sequence learning is independent of explicit awareness. Learning and Memory, 14, 167-176.
Dennis, N.A., Howard, J.H., Jr., & Howard, D.V. (2006). Implicit sequence learning without motor sequencing in young and old adults. Experimental Brain Research, 175, 153-164.
Howard, J.H., Jr., Howard, D.V., Japikse, K.A., & Eden, G.F. (2006). Dyslexics are impaired on implicit higher-order sequence learning, but not on spatial context learning. Neuropsychologia, 44, 1131-1144.
Recent Courses
Psychology 710 Proseminar in Cognitive, Social and Affective Psychology (Fall, 2005 w/ Marty Safer)
Psychology 376 Cognitive Psychology (Fall, 2005)
Psychology 240 The Aging Mind (Spring, 2006)
Psychology 625: Cognitive Aging Seminar (Spring, 2006)
Last Revised 24-Apr-08 12:31 PM.
