Biography
Kara D. Federmeier received her Ph.D. in Cognitive Science from the University of California, San Diego. She is a Professor in the Department of Psychology and the Neuroscience Program at the University of Illinois and a full-time faculty member at the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, where she leads the Illinois Language and Literacy Initiative and heads the Cognition and Brain Lab.
Research Interests
language comprehension, semantic memory, age-related cognitive change, hemispheric differences, event-related potentials (ERPs)
Research Description
Dr. Federmeier's research uses human electrophysiological techniques in combination with behavioral, eye movement, and other brain imaging methods to examine how semantic information is structured as a function of modality and stimulus type, how it is brought to bear during language comprehension by younger and older adults, and how it is differentially accessed and used by the two hemispheres of the brain.
Education
1994: B.S., Summa Cum Laude, in Honors Biology, University of Illinois
2000: Ph.D. in Cognitive Science, University of California, San Diego
Grants
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A Process View of Reading among Adult Literacy Learners IES 392 DE R305A130448; PIs: Anderson, Cohen, Federmeier, and Stine-Morrow This project takes advantage of behavioral, eyetracking, and psychophysiological (ERP) methods to examine the nature of language processing in adult literacy learners as a précis to the development of instructional principles. |
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Hemispheric Differences in Memory and Language R01, NIA, AG026308; PI Federmeier This project empirically tests models of language and memory asymmetries and examines their implications for age-related cognitive change. |
Awards and Honors
Elected President of the Society for Psychophysiological Research 2016 - 2019
Named a College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Centennial Scholar 2013 - 2016
James S. McDonnell Foundation Scholar Award, Understanding Human Cognition Initiative 2010 - 2016
Named a University Scholar 2012 - 2015
Named a Fellow of the Psychonomic Society 2013
Named the Emanuel Donchin Professorial Scholar in Psychology 2013
Named a Fellow of the Association for Psychological Science 2012
Member of Gesellschaft für Unendliche Versuche (GUV) 2004 - 2012
Cognitive Neuroscience Society Young Investigator Award 2010
Arnold O. Beckman Research Award, University of Illinois 2009, 2003
Helen Corley Petit Scholar, University of Illinois 2008 - 2009
Society for Psychophysiology Award for Distinguished Early Career Contributions to Psychophysiology 2006
Howard Hughes Predoctoral Fellowship in Biological Sciences 1994 - 1999
McDonnell-Pew Center for Cognitive Neuroscience Fellow 1994 - 1999
Philanthropic Educational Organization Scholar Award 1997 - 1998
Teaching Excellence Award, Department of Cognitive Science, University of California, San Diego 1996
All School Distinction Award, University of Illinois School of Life Sciences 1994
University Honors “Bronze Tablet” 1994
Additional Campus Affiliations
Professor, Psychology
Professor, Kinesiology and Community Health
Professor, Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology
External Links
Recent Publications
Center, E. G., Federmeier, K. D., & Beck, D. M. (2024). The Brain’s Sensitivity to Real-world Statistical Regularity Does Not Require Full Attention. Journal of cognitive neuroscience, 36(8), 1715-1740. https://doi.org/10.1162/jocn_a_02181
Deng, W., Federmeier, K. D., & Beck, D. M. (2024). Highly Memorable Images Are More Readily Perceived. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 153(6), 1415-1424. https://doi.org/10.1037/xge0001594
Hubbard, R. J., & Federmeier, K. D. (2024). Altered oscillatory neural dynamics related to word prediction in older adult readers. Language, Cognition and Neuroscience, 39(7), 891-908. https://doi.org/10.1080/23273798.2024.2375248
Hubbard, R. J., & Federmeier, K. D. (2024). The Impact of Linguistic Prediction Violations on Downstream Recognition Memory and Sentence Recall. Journal of cognitive neuroscience, 36(1), 1-23. https://doi.org/10.1162/jocn_a_02078
Lai, M. K., Payne, B. R., & Federmeier, K. D. (2024). Graded and ungraded expectation patterns: Prediction dynamics during active comprehension. Psychophysiology, 61(1), Article e14424. https://doi.org/10.1111/psyp.14424