Heather D. Lucas, Assistant Professor

Office: 210 Audubon Hall
Department of Psychology
Louisiana State University
Baton Rouge, LA 70803
Email: hlucas2@lsu.edu

 

Dr. Lucas is a member of LSU's Multidisciplinary Institute for Neuroscience Discovery (MIND) and the faculty advisor for Synapse LSU.

Dr. Lucas is accepting applications for Fall 2025. 

Research Interests

My research examines the cognitive neuroscience of learning and memory, with a primary focus on episodic memory. I have a particular interest in how people manage the limits of their own memory systems by making decisions about when and how to interact with information— for example, by deciding what information to prioritize, how best to learn it, and when to rely on heuristics and intuitions. I approach this topic by using several converging methods, including EEG/ERPs, eye tracking, and the study of populations who experience memory challenge, including older adults, survivors of traumatic brain injury, and neurodivergent populations. I am also interested in how neural, cognitive, and social factors combine to impact the way individuals approach tasks involving learning and memory.

Please visit my lab’s website for more information about current and past projects.

Representative Publications

Lucas, H D., Daugherty, A.M., McAuley, E., Kramer, A.F., & Cohen, N.J. (2023). Dynamic interactions between memory and viewing behaviors: Insights from dyadic modeling of eye movements. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 49(6), 786.

 Cairney, B. E., West, S. H., Haebig, E., Cox, C. R., & Lucas, H. D. (2023). Interpretations of meaningful and ambiguous hand gestures in autistic and non-autistic adults: A norming study. Behavior Research Methods, 1-14.

Lucas, H.D., Duff, M.C., & Cohen, N.J. (2019). The hippocampus promotes effective saccadic information gathering in humans. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 31(2), 186-201.

Lucas, H.D., Gupta, R.S., Hubbard, R.J., & Federmeier, K.D. (2019). Adult age differences in the use of conceptual combination as an associative encoding strategy. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 13, 339.

Lucas, H.D., Monti, J.M., McAuley, E., Watson, P.D., Kramer, A.F., & Cohen, N.J. (2016). Relational memory and self-efficacy measures reveal distinct profiles of subjective memory concerns in older adults. Neuropsychology, 30(5), 568-578.