About Us

About Sara B. Festini, Ph.D.

Dr. Sara Festini specializes in cognitive psychology and cognitive neuroscience. She earned her Ph.D. from the University of Michigan in 2014, and she completed a Postdoctoral Research Fellowship at the University of Texas at Dallas, as an Aging Mind Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow. She is currently an Associate Professor of Psychology at the University of Tampa, where she enjoys teaching small class sizes and mentoring undergraduate students in research. She is the Principal Investigator of the UT Memory Lab.

About the UT Memory Lab

The UT Memory Lab primarily conducts research based in cognitive psychology, with a focus on memory and executive functioning. Research projects often assess cognitive processes such as working memory, prioritizing information in memory, the effect of context on memory, false memories, face-name learning, memory interference, and the effects of busyness and mental engagement on cognitive function. 

Information for Interested Research Participants

If you are interested in participating in our research, please feel free to email the UT Memory Lab at utmemorylab@gmail.com with your contact information. The number of ongoing research projects varies from semester to semester, and we will contact you if a research opportunity becomes available. Thank you for your interest!

Information for Interested Research Assistants

As a research assistant in the UT Memory Lab, you would work with Dr. Festini to learn the premise of the current research project and would be responsible for explaining instructions to research participants, running participants through experimental protocols, administering surveys and/or neuropsychological tests, as well as entering data. Motivated students may also assist with data analysis or experiment programming with specialized software. Research Assistant (RA) positions are limited. Please email Dr. Festini (sfestini@ut.edu) to inquire about RA position availability and to ask for an RA application. RA spots may become available for the Fall 2024 semester.