Karen Daniels
Assoc Professor
Education
Postdoctoral Research Associate, Department of Psychology, Washington University in St. Louis
Ph.D. in Cognitive Psychology (Minor in Neuroscience), Georgia Institute of Technology
M.S. in Cognitive Psychology, Georgia Institute of Technology
B.S. in Psychology, University of Toronto
Specialization in Teaching
I am passionate about teaching and mentoring in all forms. I enjoy teaching courses in research methods, cognitive psychology, and the psychology of aging. As director of the Aging, Cognition, and Training (ACT) Lab, I mentor students in both basic and applied research on cognition, aging, and psychophysiology. My service work is also strongly student-focused, including my current role as Psychology Research Administrator for PSY 105 and 106 and my prior position as undergraduate coordinator.
Research Interests
My research examines cognitive control over thinking and behavior, with two related aims. First, I study individual differences in cognitive and metacognitive skills, including the roles of working memory capacity and healthy aging, to understand how and why people differ in attention and memory in everyday life and how these differences can be measured. Second, I apply this work to identify cognitive and physiological predictors of common experiences such as public speaking anxiety with the goal of developing interventions to improve performance. I also enjoy sharing scientific findings through public talks for audiences ranging from elementary school classrooms to retirement communities.
Honors & Awards
I am a recipient of the Chancellor’s Teaching Excellence Award and am currently a nominee for both the 2026 Board of Governors’ Teaching Excellence Award and the 2026 Distinguished Teaching Professorship Award.
In collaboration with Drs. Van Camp and Baxter, I was awarded a 2025 Charles L. Cahill Award totaling $6,000. This research project examines the cognitive, behavioral, and physiological effects of awareness training during public speaking.