Kat McNeely-White

I am a postdoctoral scholar in the Neurology Department at Univeristy of California, Davis, working under Dr. Nigel Pedersen. Prior to joining the Epilepsy and Systems Neuroscience Laboratory, I earned my Ph.D. and M.S. in Cognitive Psychology from Colorado State University while working with Dr. Anne Cleary, and my B.S. in Neuroscience from Maryville College while working with Dr. Lori Schmied and Dr. Chad Schrock.

My research interests broadly focus on recognition memory and metacognitive processes in humans, with a focus on instances of retrieval failure. Often times we encounter people, places, objects, or songs that feel strongly familiar but we fail to identify the source of that familiarity. Although those moments may feel like our memory is failing us, they actually offer unique insight into our memory processes. My research examines the metacognitive sensations, decision-making processes, and feelings-of-curiosity that occur during moments of retrieval failure. I use a variety of methodologies, including behavioral paradigms, virtual reality, intracranial electrophysiology (iEEG), and eye-tracking.

Contact Information:

katherinelmwhite@gmail.com

UC Davis Medical Center 4860 Y Street, Suite 3700 Sacramento, CA   95817

Publications

• Okada, N. S.,McNeely-White, K. L., Cleary, A. M., Carlaw, B. N., Drane, D. L., Parsons, T. D., McMahan, T., Neisser, J., & Pedersen, N. P. (2023). A virtual reality paradigm with dynamic scene stimuli for use in memory research. Behavior Research Methods

• McNeely-White, K. L. & Cleary, A. M. (2023). Piquing Curiosity: Déjà vu-Like States Are Associated with Feelings of Curiosity and Information-Seeking Behaviors Journal of Intelligence

• Carlaw, B. N., Huebert, A. M., McNeely-White, K. L., Rhodes, M. G., & Cleary, A. M. (2022). Detecting a familiar person behind the surgical mask: recognition without identification among masked versus sunglasses-covered faces Cognitive Research: Principles and Implications

• Huebert, A. M., McNeely-White, K. L., Cleary, A. M. (2022). On the relationship between tip-of-the-tongue states and partial recollective experience: Illusory partial recollective access during tip-of-the-tongue states. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General

• Huebert, A. M., McNeely-White, K. L., Cleary, A. M. (2022). Can cue familiarity during recall failure prompt illusory recollective experience? Memory & Cognition

• McNeely-White, K. L., McNeely-White, D. G, Huebert, A. M., Carlaw, B. N., & Cleary, A. M. (2021). Specifying a relationship between semantic and episodic memory in the computation of a feature-based familiarity signal using MINERVA 2. Memory & Cognition.
• Cleary, A. M., McNeely-White, K. L., Hausman, H., Dawson, J., Kuhn, S., Osborn, R. M., Huebert, A. M., & Rhodes, M. G. (2021). Wearable technology for automatizing science-based study strategies: Reinforcing learning through intermittent smartwatch prompting. Journal of Applied Research on Memory and Cognition.
• McNeely-White, K. L., McNeely-White, D. G., & Cleary, A. M. (2021). How musical features combine across memory traces to increase familiarity with the whole in which they are embedded: Support for global matching in music familiarity. Journal of Memory and Language.
• Cleary, A. M., McNeely-White, K. L., Russell, S., Huebert, A. M., & Hausman, H. (2020). The tip-of-the-tongue states as a form of access to information: Use of tip-of-the-tongue states for strategic test-taking. Journal of Applied Research on Memory and Cognition

• Cleary, A. M., Huebert, A. M., & McNeely-White, K. L. (2020). The tip of the tongue bias permeates into unrelated concurrent decisions and behavior Memory & Cognition.
• Cleary, A. M., Huebert, A. M., McNeely-White, K. L., & Spahr, K. S. (2019). A postdictive bias associated with déjà vu. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 26, 1433-1439.
• McNeely-White, K. L., & Cleary, A. M. (2019). Music recognition without identification and its relation to déjà entendu: A study using "Piano Puzzlers." New Ideas in Psychology, 55, 50-57.
• Cleary, A. M., McNeely-White, K. L., Huebert, A. M., & Claxton, A. B. (2018) Déjà vu and the feeling of prediction during retrieval failure: An association with familiarity strength. Memory (Special Issue on Déjà vu).

Conference Presentations

Select conference presentations. See CV for full list

McNeely-White, K. L., Okada, N.S., Cleary, A. M., Carlaw, B. N., Drane, D. L., Parsons, T. D., McMahan, T., Neisser, J., & Pedersen, N. P. (May 2023). A virtual reality paradigm for investigating spatial cognition and memory retrieval processes. Poster presented at the 2nd Annual Research Symposium for Neurogengineering & Medicine at UC Davis.

McNeely-White, K. L. & Cleary, A. M. (November 2022). The association between déjà vu-like states and curiosity. Poster presented at Psychonomic Society 63rd Annual Meeting, Boston, MA.

McNeely-White, K. L. (March 2022). Déjà entendu: The auditory déjà vu experience and its associated biases. Invited talk at the Southern Society for Philosophy and Psychology, Mobile, AL.

McNeely-White, K. L., Huebert, A. M., & Cleary, A. M. (August 2021). Does the Tip-of-the-Tongue State Entail a Feeling of Being on the Tip of the Prediction? Poster presented at APA Convention, virtual conference.

McNeely-White, K. L., Huebert, A. M., & Cleary, A. M. (November 2020). How Features Interact Across Memory Traces to Produce Familiarity-based Recognition. Poster presented at Psychonomics, virtual conference.

McNeely-White, K. L., & Cleary, A. M. (November 2019). Haven't I heard this before? The mechanism and bias of déjà entendu. Poster presented at Psychonomics, Montreal, QC.

*Kerr, J. E., *Hughes, E., McNeely-White, K. L., & Cleary, A. M. (April 2019). Embedding familiarized musical features into novel song sequences. Poster presented at Rocky Mountain Psychological Association, Denver, CO.

*Russell, S., *Dawson, J., *Kerr, J. E., McNeely-White, K. L., Huebert, A. M., & Cleary, A. M. (April 2019). The use of smartwatches to encourage effective study habits. Poster presented at Rocky Mountain Psychological Association, Denver, CO.

McNeely-White, K. L., & Cleary, A. M. (March 2019). Déjà entendu: That strange feeling of knowing a song. Invited talk at Southern Society for Philosophy and Psychology, Cincinnati, OH.

McNeely-White, K. L., Cleary, A. M., & Claxton, A. M. (November 2018). Embedding familiarized rhythm or pitch sequences in musical pieces increases subjective song familiarity. Poster presented at Psychonomics, New Orleans, LA.

McNeely-White, K. L., Huebert, A. M., & Cleary, A. M. (April 2018). Irrational feelings of prediction during tip-of-the-tongue states. Talk presented at Rocky Mountain Psychological Association, Denver, CO.

*denotes undergraduate mentee at time of work

Teaching

Applying Effective Learning Strategies to Human Physiology, Colorado State UniversityFall 2020, Spring 2021

Cognitive Psychology Lecturer, Colorado State UniversitySummer 2020 - Summer 2022

Science of Learning Guest Lecturer, Colorado State UniversitySpring 2020

Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory Instructor, Colorado State UniversityFall 2019, Fall 2021

Applied Cognitive Psychology Laboratory Instructor, Colorado State UniversityFall 2018, Spring 2019

Cognitive Neuroscience Guest Lecturer, Colorado State University Fall 2017, Spring 2018

Curriculum Vitae

Please find below the most recently updated version of my CV (October 3, 2023)

Download CV