Susan Elizabeth Gathercole was the Unit Director at the

MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit The Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit is a branch of the UK Medical Research Council, based in Cambridge, England. The CBSU is a centre for cognitive neuroscience, with a mission to improve human health by understanding and enhancing cognition ...

. from 2011 until 2018. She is a research psychologist, best known for her studies into

working memory Working memory is a cognitive system with a limited capacity that can hold information temporarily. It is important for reasoning and the guidance of decision-making and behavior. Working memory is often used synonymously with short-term memory, ...

deficits in children. She has worked extensively with Professor

Alan Baddeley Alan David Baddeley CBE FRS, is a British psychologist. He is known for his research on memory and for developing the three-component model of working memory. He is a professor of psychology at the University of York. Biography Baddeley was ...

, the co-creator, along with Professor

Graham Hitch Graham Hitch is Emeritus Professor of Psychology at the University of York, best known for his work with Alan Baddeley in developing a Working Memory Model. Education He gained a Bachelor of Arts degree in Physics from the University of Cambridg ...

, of arguably the most well-researched

working memory model Baddeley's model of working memory is a model of human memory proposed by Alan Baddeley and Graham Hitch in 1974, in an attempt to present a more accurate model of primary memory (often referred to as short-term memory). Working memory splits pri ...

. In 2014 she was elected a

Fellow of the British Academy Fellowship of the British Academy (FBA) is an award granted by the British Academy to leading academics for their distinction in the humanities and social sciences. The categories are: # Fellows – scholars resident in the United Kingdom # C ...

, the United Kingdom's

national academy A national academy is an organizational body, usually operating with state financial support and approval, that co-ordinates scholarly research activities and standards for academic disciplines, most frequently in the sciences but also the humanit ...

for the humanities and social sciences. Gathercole's findings have demonstrated the link between working memory deficits in children and poor academic performance. Furthermore, she has contributed to recent research showing that working memory deficits can be overcome with computerised, adaptive

working memory training Working memory training is intended to improve a person's working memory. Working memory is a central intellectual faculty, linked to IQ, ageing, and mental health. It has been claimed that working memory training programs are effective means, bo ...

. Gathercole was appointed

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(OBE) in the 2016 Birthday Honours for services to psychology and education.

References

British psychologists Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people) Officers of the Order of the British Empire {{UK-psychologist-stub