Ilke Öztekin

Research

I am currently a fifth year graduate student studying verbal working memory with Dr. Brian McElree. I use the speed accuracy trade-off (SAT) procedure to study the behavioral cognitive mechanisms involved in information retrieval from working memory, and use functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to study the corresponding neural mechanisms.

Speed accuracy trade-off procedure: SAT is a strong method that allows an in-depth characterization of the behavioral performance associated with a cognitive process. Unlike reaction time paradigms, with this method, it is possible to break apart accuracy from retrieval speed, and derive unbiased estimates of each. Furthermore, by obtaining full time course data, SAT method enables the investigation of automatic (e.g. judgments based on global assessments of familiarity) and controlled processes (e.g. recollective processes that recover detailed episodic information such as source memory) separately. For my master’s thesis, I applied SAT to a release from proactive interference (PI) paradigm to investigate the effects and retrieval dynamics of PI in working memory. Our results indicated that PI slows retrieval speed, in addition to reducing overall accuracy. This result was true for all serial positions except for the most recent item in the memory set. We argued that the most recent item is in the current focus of attention, and therefore is immune to PI, since it is not subject to any retrieval process. The time course data from our false alarm analyses showed that PI negatively affects early judgments based on familiarity. However, we found no evidence that PI affects recovery of more detailed episodic information. Currently, I am using SAT to investigate individual differences in working memory capacity.

Functional magnetic resonance imaging: I recently completed an imaging project (with Dr. Brian McElree, Dr. Lila Davachi, and Bernhard Staresina), where we compared a judgments of recency task with an item recognition task in order to investigate the different neural mechanisms associated with retrieval of order and item information from working memory. Furthermore, we investigated neural activity for each serial position in both tasks. Our goal was to find converging neuroimaging evidence to previous behavioral studies that strongly suggest privileged access for the last item in the memory set. In line with our predictions, we found that activity in the medial temporal lobe is less for the last item of the study list compared to the other serial positions in both tasks. Our results provide converging evidence to the behavioral work, and support the conclusion that the most recent item in a memory set is in focal attention, and therefore does not need to be retrieved from memory.[see SFN 2006 poster] Currently, I'm working on a project (with Drs. Brian McElree and Clay Curtis) that investigates the neural mechanisms that support proactive interference resolution in working memory.

Education

New York University, New York, NY (2003 — present)
Pursuing Ph.D. in Psychology, Cognition & Perception
M.A. in Psychology (2006)

Bogazici University, Istanbul, Turkey (1999 — 2003)
B.A. in Psychology

Awards and Honors

Martin Braine Fellowship, 2008
Dean's Dissertation Fellowship, for academic year 2007-2008
APA Dissertation Research Award, 2006
APF/COGDOP Scholarship, 2006
Katzell Summer Fellowship, 2006
Student Travel Grant, New York University, 2005
McCracken Fellowship, New York University, 2003 — 2008
High Honor, Bogazici University, 2003

Teaching Experience

Teaching Assistantships
Undergraduate courses
Lab in Cognition, Spring 2006
Cognition, Fall 2004
Cognition, Spring 2004

Graduate courses
Simulation and Data Analysis, Spring 2007

Publications

Öztekin, I., Curtis, C., & McElree, B. (accepted). Medial temporal lobe and the left inferior frontal gyrus jointly support interference resolution in verbal working memory. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience.

Öztekin, I., McElree, B., Staresina, B.P., & Davachi, L. (in press). Working memory retrieval: Contributions of left prefrontal cortex, left posterior parietal cortex and hippocampus. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience. [pdf]

Öztekin, I., & McElree, B. (2007). Proactive interference slows recognition by eliminating fast assessments of familiarity. Journal of Memory and Language, 57, 126-149. [pdf]

Manuscripts in progress

Conference Presentations

Öztekin, I., & McElree, B. (2008). Relationship between working memory capacity measures and the timecourse of short-term item recognition. Poster accepted at the 49th annual meeting of Psychonomic Society, Chicago, Illinois.

Öztekin, I., Curtis, C., McElree, B. (2008). Medial temporal lobe and the left inferior frontal gyrus jointly suppot interference resolution in verbal working memory. Poster presented at the 15th annual meeting of Cognitive Neuroscience Society, San Francisco, California.

Öztekin, I., McElree, B., Staresina, B., & Davachi, L. (2007). The role of the hippocampus and LIFG in working memory retrieval. Poster presented at the 48th annual meeting of Psychonomic Society, Long Beach, California.

Öztekin, I., McElree, B., Staresina, B., & Davachi, L. (2006). Isolating focal attention from memory representations: Converging neuroimaging evidence from two distinct working memory paradigms. Poster presented at the 36th annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience, Atlanta, Georgia.[pdf]

McElree, B. & Öztekin, I. (2005). Retrieval dynamics of proactive interference: PI slows retrieval by eliminating fast assessments of familiarity. Paper presented at the 46th annual meeting of the Psychonomic Society, Toronto, Canada.

Araci, I. F., Öztekin, I., Özcan, H.U., Tuncer, G., & Cakmak, S.S. (2002). Effects of priming on attribution Style. Paper presented at the 12th annual meeting of National Psychology Congress of the Turkish Psychological Association, Ankara, Turkey.