Qualifications

• Doctor of Philosophy (University of New South Wales), 1983
• Bachelor of Arts (1st Class Honours) (University of New South Wales), 1975

Academic Appointments

• Tutor, School of Psychology, University of New South Wales (February 1978 - June 1979: part-time; January 1981 - June 1983: full-time)
• Research Psychologist, Quality Assurance Project, School of Psychiatry, Prince Henry Hospital (June 1983 - January 1984)
• Lecturer, School of Psychology, University of New South Wales (February 1984 - July 1990)
• Senior Lecturer, School of Psychology, University of New South Wales (July 1990 - Jan.1996)
• Associate Professor, School of Psychology, University of New South Wales (January 1996 - Dec, 2001)
• Head of School, School of Psychology, University of New South Wales (August 1999-)
• Professor of Cognitive Psychology, School of Psychology, University of Sydney (Jan 2002-present)

Awards and Distinctions

• Australian Psychological Society Prize for Best Honours performance, 1975
• Post-graduate Research Scholarship, 1976, 1978-80
• Visiting Fellow, Cognitive Science Centre, University of Arizona, Jan. - March, 1989
• Visiting Fellow, Department of Psychology, McGill University, April-June, 1989
• Visiting Fellow, Applied Psychology Unit, Cambridge UK, Jan. - June, 1993
• Visiting Fellow, Department of Experimental Psychology, Oxford University,Jan 1995
• Award for Best Contribution to Cognitive Science, Australian Society for Cognitive Science, April, 1995
• Elected Fellow of Academy of Social Sciences of Australia, 1998

Research Interests

My research is based in cognitive psychology but integrates theories and methods from the domains of computer science, philosophy and neuroscience – the fields that define the discipline of cognitive science. As an individual researcher, and in collaboration with students and researchers from a range of disciplines, I have used a variety of methodologies to investigate how both healthy individuals and people suffering from psychiatric disorders attend to and analyse words and sentences.

The central focus of my research has been on lexical processing and its relationship to reading skill: how do skilled language users represent and retrieve their knowledge about the words; how do these cognitive capabilities develop; and how does lexical processing contribute to reading skill. My research has focused primarily on English, but I have also collaborated in research projects comparing speakers of different languages to determine how the characteristics of different writing systems, and their relationship to phonology and semantics, influences language processing.

External Research Funding

Australian Research Council

• The effects of similarity between words on lexical access: Implications for models of visual word recognition. 1990-2: $98,535
• Models of visual word recognition: Distinguishing between localised and distributed representations. 1993-5: $100,600
• The role of attention in visual word recognition. 1996-8: $102,000
• Defining the perceptual unit for reading: The role of subsyllabic segmentation in visual word identification. 1999-2001: $107,500
• Testing detailed models of word identification: Decision and response contributions to performance. (Andrews & Heathcote) 2000-2002: $103,500
• Lexical retrieval and reading comprehension : Binding perceptual, lexical and conceptual information in on-line reading. 2003-2005: $165,000
• Training for adaptability: The role of errors, exceptions and rules of thumb (Hesketh, B. Neal, A. Andrews, S et al.) ARC Linkage grant, 2004-2007: $673,500
• Enabling Human Communication (Dale, R. ,Burnham, D. Andrews, S. et al.) ARC Network Grant 2004-2008: $2,000,000
• Lexical expertise and reading skill: An experimental analysis of individual differences in written language proficiency. 2006-2008: $202,500
• The ingredients of conscious identification. (Harris, I. Andrews, S. & Hayward, W). 2008-2010 $302,000

National Health and Medical Research Council

• Brain potential indices of pre-attentive processes in schizophrenia. (McConaghy, Catts, Andrews & Ward) 1990-1992: $196,668
• Thought disorder in normal and psychotic populations. (McConaghy, Catts, Andrews & Ward) 1991: $40,000
• Neuroanatomical correlates of ERP abnormalities in schizophrenia. (Ward, Catts, Andrews & Michie) 1992-4: $235,612
• Development of a Psychosis Observational Rating Scale (Catts, McConaghy, Andrews & Bird). 1995-7: $223,255

Current Funded Projects

Testing detailed models of word identification: Decision and response contributions to performance. (Australian Research Council, Project A10007174)

This project is a collaboration with Andrew Heathcote from the University of Newcastle that is intended to provide more sophisticated information about the processes underlying standard word identification tasks than the traditional measures of mean reaction time (RT) and error rate. Using Heathcote’s RTSYS analysis package, we have estimated and compared the reaction time distributions obtained in a variety of lexical decision and naming tasks. This more refined performance data provides a basis for testing fine-grained predictions of theories of lexical retrieval that cannot be discriminated on the basis of mean RT alone. Application of RT distribution methodologies also provides the basis for evaluating the contribution of decision processes to word identification tasks. The final stages of the project will attempt to fit our RT data using extensions of the diffusion and leaky integrator models of perceptual decision-making. This generalisation of models applied in a variety of perceptual domains provides a framework for integrating current detailed computational models of lexical retrieval with more general accounts of perceptual and cognitive processing.

Lexical retrieval & reading comprehension: Binding perceptual, lexical & conceptual information in on-line reading. (Australian Research Council, Project DP0345724)

Reading is a complex process that involves integrating sensory information extracted from text with stored memories about word meanings, syntactic structures and general knowledge. Much reading research has focused on the processing of isolated words, but normal reading requires integration processes that are not necessary to recognise single words. This research uses tasks requiring sentence comprehension and measures of eye movements during reading to investigate how readers retrieve and combine information while reading to comprehend text. In particular, the research is using the phenomenon of “repetition blindness” to investigate the interactions between perceptual and conceptual levels of processing in sentence comprehension.

Publications

• Andrews, S. & Bond, R. (in press) Lexical expertise and reading skill: Bottom-up and top-down processing of lexical ambiguity. Reading & Writing: An Interdisciplinary Journal.
• Andrews, S. (2008) Lexical expertise and reading skill. Psychology of Learning and Motivation, 49, 249-281.
• Newell, B.R., Cavenett, T. & Andrews, S. (2008) On the immunity of perceptual implicit memory to manipulations of attention. Memory & Cognition, 36, 725-734.
• Bond, R. & Andrews, S. (2008) Repetition blindness in sentence contexts: Not just an attribution? Memory & Cognition, 36, 295-313.
• Andrews, S. (Ed.) (2006) From inkmarks to ideas: Current issues in lexical processing. Hove, UK: Psychology Press.
• Anstey, K., Butterworth, P., Borzycki, M. & Andrews, S. (2006) Between and within-individual effects of visual contrast sensitivity on perceptual matching, processing speed and associative memory in older adults. Gerontology, 52, 124-140.
• Andrews, S., Woollams, A. & Bond, R. (2005) Spelling-sound typicality only affects words with digraphs: Further qualifications to the regularity effect on word naming. Journal of Memory and Language, 53, 567-593.
• Drobny, J.V., Anstey, K.J. & Andrews, S. (2005) Visual memory testing in older adults with age-related visual decline: A measure of memory performance of visual functioning? Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology, 27, 425-435.
• Newell, B.R. & Andrews, S. (2004) Levels of processing effects on implicit and explicit memory tasks: Using question position to investigate the lexical-processing hypothesis. Experimental Psychology, 51, 1-13.
• Andrews, S., Miller, B. & Rayner, K. (2004) Eye fixation measures of morphological segmentation of compound words: There is a mouse in the mousetrap. European Journal of Cognitive Psychology, 16(2), 285-311.
• Andrews, S. (2003) E-Z Readers assumptions about lexical processing: Not so easy to define the two stage of lexical access? Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 26, 477-478.
• Shoolman, N. & Andrews, S. (2003) Racehorses, reindeers and sparrows: Using masked priming to investigate morphological influences on word identification. In S. Kinoshita & S. Lupker (Eds.), Masked priming: The state of the art. Psychology Press.
• Anstey, K., Dain, S., Andrews, S. & Drobney, J. (2002) Visual abilities in older adults explain age-differences in Stroop and fluid intelligence but not face recognition: Implications for the vision-cognition connection. Aging, Neuropsychology and Cognition, 9, 253-265.
• Andrews, S. & Heathcote, A. (2001) Distinguishing common and task-specific processes in lexical retrieval: A matter of some moment? Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning Memory and Cognition , 27, 514-544.
• Andrews, S. & Davis, C. (1999) Interactive activation accounts of morphological decomposition: Finding the trap in mousetrap. Brain and Language , 68, 355-361.
• Krascum, R.M. & Andrews, S. (1998) The effects of theories on children’s acquisition of family resemblance categories. Child Development, 69, 333-346.
• Andrews, S. & Scarratt, D. R. (1998) Rule and analogy mechanisms in reading nonwords: Hough dou peapel rede gnew wirds? Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance , 24, 1052-1086.
• Andrews, S. (1997) The role of orthographic similarity in lexical retrieval: resolving neighborhood conflicts. Psychonomic Bulletin and Review, 4, 439-461.
• Shelley, A-M., Catts, S.V., Ward, P.B., Andrews, S., Mitchell, P., Michie, P.M. & McConaghy, N. (1997) The effect of decreased catacholamine transmission on ERP indices of selective attention. Neuropsychopharmacology, 16, 202-210.
• Andrews, S. & Scarratt, D. R. (1996) What comes after phonological awareness? Using lexical experts to investigate orthographic processing in reading. Australian Journal of Psychology, 48, 141-148.
• Andrews, S. (1996) Lexical retrieval and selection processes: Effects of transposed-letter confusability. Journal of Memory and Language, 35, 775-800.
• Neal, A., Hesketh, B. & Andrews, S. (1995) Instance-based categorization: Automatic versus intentional forms of retrieval. Memory and Cognition, 23, 227-242.
• Karayanidis, F., Andrews, S., Ward, P. & Michie, P. (1995) ERP indices of auditory selective attention in aging and Parkinson's disease. Psychophysiology, 32, 335-350.
• Catts, S., Shelley, A-M, Ward, P., Liebert, B., McConaghy, N., Andrews, S. & Michie, P. (1995) Brain potential evidence for an auditory sensory memory deficit in schizophrenia. American Journal of Psychiatry, 152, 213-219.
• Karayanidis, F., Andrews, S., Ward, P.B. & McConaghy, N. (1993) Event-related potentials and repetition priming in young, middle-aged and elderly normal subjects. Cognitive Brain Research, 1, 123-134.
• Mitchell, P., Andrews, S. & Ward, P. (1993) An event-related potential study of semantic congruity and repetition in a sentence-reading task: Effects of context change. Psychophysiology, 30, 496-509.
• Krascum, R.M. & Andrews, S. (1993) Feature-based versus exemplar-based strategies in preschoolers' category learning. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 56, 1-48.
• Andrews, S., Shelley, A.M., Fox, A.M., Catts, S.V., Ward, P.B. & McConaghy, N. (1993) Event-related potential indices of semantic processing in schizophrenia. Biological Psychiatry, 34, 443-458.
• Andrews, S. (1992) Neighbourhood effects on lexical access: Lexical similarity or orthographic redundancy? Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning Memory and Cognition, 18, 234-254.
• Andrews, S. (1992) A skills approach: Optimising initial reading instruction. A. Watson & A. Badenhop (Eds.) The Prevention of Reading Failure, Ashton Scholastic.
• Andrews, S., Ward, P.B., Catts, S.V. (1992) Schizophrenia: Understanding the processes underlying differences in symptoms & outcome. In S. Schwartz (Ed.) Australian Cases in Clinical Psychology. Sydney: Jacaranda Wiley.
• Andrews, S. (1992) Ideology & methods of reading instruction: why is phonics an F-word? In Literacy Round Table Monographs, Sydney: Board of Studies, Department of Education.
• Andrews, S. (1991) Cognitive processes in skill acquisition: Implications for training. In B. Hesketh & A. Adams (Eds.), Psychological Perspectives on Occupational Health and Rehabilitation. Sydney: Psychcorp/ Harcourt Brace.
• Andrews, S. (1991) Applying cognitive principles to the design of rehabilitation training programs. In B. Hesketh & A. Adams (Eds.), Psychological Perspectives on Occupational Health and Rehabilitation. Sydney: Psychcorp/ Harcourt Brace.
• Karayanidis, F., Andrews, S., Ward, P.B. & McConaghy, N. (1991) Effects of inter-item lag on word repetition: An event related potential study. Psychophysiology, 28, 307-318.
• Mitchell, P., Andrews, S., Fox, A., Catts, S., Ward, P. & McConaghy, N. (1991) Active and passive attention in schizophrenia: An ERP study of information processing in a linguistic task. Biological Psychology, 32, 101-124.
• Shelley, A.M., Ward, P., Michie, P., Andrews, S., Mitchell, P., Catts, S. & McConaghy, N. (1991) The effects of repeated testing on ERP components during auditory selective attention. Psychophysiology, 28, 496-510.
• Shelley, A.M., Ward, P.B., Catts, S.V., Michie, P.T., Andrews, S. & McConaghy, N. (1991) Mismatch negativity: An index of a preattentive processing deficit in schizophrenia, Biological Psychiatry, 30, 1059-1062.
• Andrews, S., Mitchell, P., Fox, A., Catts, S., Ward, P. & McConaghy, N. (1990) ERP indices of semantic processing in schizophrenia. In C. Brunia, A. Gaillard & A. Kok (Eds.) Psychophysiological Brain Research. Tilburg University Press.
• Shelley, A-M., Catts, S., Ward, P., Michie, P., Andrews, S., Mitchell, P. & McConaghy, N. (1990) The effects of morphine and naloxone on auditory ERPs. In C. Brunia, A. Gaillard & A. Kok (Eds.) Psychophysiological Brain Research. Tilburg University Press.
• Hesketh, B., Andrews, S. & Chandler, P. (1989) Training for transferable skills: The role of examples and schema. Educational Technology and Training International, 26, 156-165.
• Andrews, S. (1989) Frequency and neighborhood effects on lexical access: Activation or search? Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory and Cognition, 15, 802-814.
• Andrews, S. (1989) Psycholinguistics and reading acquisition: The argument for decoding. NSW Journal of Special Education, 10, 15-20.
• Hesketh, B., Chandler, P. & Andrews, S. (1988) Training for transfer: Developing learning skills. The Australian TAFE Teacher, August.
• Andrews, S., Vaughn, K., Harvey, R. & Andrews, J.G. (1986) Psychiatrists' views on the treatment of schizophrenia. British Journal of Psychiatry, 149, 357-364.
• Andrews, S. (1986) Morphological influences on lexical access: Lexical or nonlexical effects. Journal of Memory and Language, 25, 726-740.
• Andrews, S. (1986) Models of information-processing: Implications for diagnostic assessment. Test Advisory Committee Conference Papers, NSW Department of Education.
• Adams, R.D. & Andrews, S. (1984) Brain injury and movement recall: Preselection, active-passive and interference effects. Human Movement Science, 3, 285-299.
• Quality Assurance Project (1984) Treatment guidelines for the management of schizophrenia. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 18, 19-39.
• Andrews, S. (1982) Phonological recoding: Is the regularity effect consistent? Memory and Cognition, 10, 565-575.

Professional Positions

• Member, Expert Advisory Committee, Social, Behavioural & Economic Sciences panel, Australian Research Council, 2003-2005.
• Member, Professional Development Approval and Accreditation group, Australian Psychological Society, 2001-present.
• Member, NSW Board of studies Curriculum Committee, Cognitive science, 2002-3.
• Member, Advisory Committee, Macquarie Centre for Cognitive Science.

Editorial Boards

• Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory and Cognition, 1996-2000, 2003-present.
• Journal of Memory and Language, 1997-present.
• Memory and Cognition, 2001-present.
• Psychological Review, 2004-present.

Professional Memberships

• Member of the Australian Psychological Society (APS)
• Member of the Psychonomic Society