Dr. Ashley N. Gilliam

I am an Assistant Professor of Psychology at Appalachian State University. I received my PhD and MA in Psychology from Brandeis University and my BA in Cultural Anthropology and BS in Psychological Science from Western Kentucky University. I am a cultural and cognitive psychologist with training across several disciplines.

I research how culture influences how we think, perceive, and remember (cognition), and the acquisition of patterns of cognition associated with culture. In my first line of research, I have examined this acquisition in terms of natural flexibility (acculturation) and am currently working on doing so through training (strategy implementation). The second line of my research examines cultural and cognitive variation within the United States. I aim to use ethnographic methods to evaluate what aspects of American culture are most impactful cognitively. Simultaneously, I am currently establishing Appalachian cultural and cognitive patterns. 

My research is partially informed by my own experiences and my own ancestry (e.g., socioeconomic status, labor, rurality, immigration and relocation), but is driven by my training in multiple theoretical literatures, methodologies, and approaches. See my personal website for more details about me, my own background, my research training, and my CV.