John West

Visiting Assistant Professor

Psychology

jwest@gettysburg.edu

(717) 337 - 6171

Campus Box 0407

McCreary Hall

300 North Washington St.
Gettysburg, PA 17325-1400

Education

PhD University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2023
MA University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2020
BS George Mason University, 2016

Academic Focus

Memory, Emotion, Eyewitness Memory, Cognitive Aging

I am a cognitive psychologist who studies human memory. I am particularly interested in answering the following questions:

How do the emotions we experience during events affect how we remember them later?
What factors impact the accuracy with which witnesses remember crimes?
What are the characteristics of older adults who are most at risk for memory errors?

For further details regarding my research interests, please see my personal website using the link above.

As the U.S. population ages, understanding adult development and aging is increasingly important. This course adopts a lifespan perspective, emphasizing that development continues throughout adulthood and into old age. We will examine changes in psychological processes such as social relationships, personality, cognition, and well-being across adulthood. The course also takes a positive aging perspective, challenging common stereotypes and highlighting aging as a healthy, natural, and meaningful part of the human experience. Prerequisite: PSYCH 101
Introduction to scientific method and experimental design. Emphasis is on the logical development of new ideas, kinds and sources of error in experimentation, methods of control, design and analysis of experiments, and scientific communication. Three class hours and three laboratory hours. Prerequisite: Psychology 205 and two (200-level) psychology electives; or permission of the instructor. Students must have at least 2nd semester sophomore status, or have permission of the instructor.