Dr Michael Hogan

Michael Hogan graduated with First Class Honours from NUI, Galway. In his undergraduate years he was the PSI's Young Irish Psychologist of the year 1994. He received this award for his research on the relationship between developmental automaticity and intelligence. Michael was also winner of the Gold Medal Award in 1st, 2nd and 3rd Arts. Michael traveled to the U.S. after his undergraduate, where he spent a year working in a Brain Injury clinic as a life skills trainer. He returned the following year to accept a PhD fellowship award at NUI, Galway. His PhD topic was 'A critical analysis of Generalized Slowing and Common Cause Models of Ageing' (NUI, Galway, 2000). He continued his research in the field of ageing cognition as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Toronto where he worked with Lynn Hasher on the relationship between circadian arousal and learning in younger and older adults ( Experimental Ageing Research) and with Fergus Craik on the impact of attention switching on memory in younger and older adults ( Experimental Ageing Research). Michael returned to Ireland to work as a postdoctoral researcher at Trinity College Dublin. Working with Brian Lawlor and Ian Robertson he secured HRB funding for a research project that examined the relationship between event-related potential (ERP) variability and ageing memory (published in Brain Research). During this period he also accepted a visiting scholar position at the University of Tübingen, Germany, where he worked with Jochen Kaiser on EEG coherence changes in Alzheimer ’s disease (published in International Journal of Psychophysiology). He was appointed to the staff in NUI, Galway in 2001.

Michael’s research interests have broadened over time, but he maintains a core focus on lifespan development grounded in the philosophical framework of pragmatic systems science. Michael is currently working on his second book, which elaborates his developmental perspective. The book examines some of the problems and possibilities of human ageing and adaptation. The analysis is focused largely on adult development but is couched within a lifespan, evolutionary, ecological, and philosophical frame. The primary aim of the book is to further promote the synthesis of pragmatism and systems science in the field of psychological science. Specifically, there are forms of systems science rooted in pragmatism that focus on the design of problematiques that help individuals and groups to see the structure of problems and consider actions that will resolve problems. In the context of a discussion of emotional, cognitive, and social problems and possibilities, Michael will demonstrate the potential value of pragmatic systems science for those involved in the design of environments that impinge upon human ageing and adaptation. Michael has recently spent some time doing research at Harvard University (working with Kurt Fischer on EEG coherence and learning), Arizona State University (working with Alex Zautra and Mary Davis on resilience and mindfulness), Frankfurt University (working with Jochen Kaiser on EEG and ageing memory), and Aberdeen and Edinburgh (working with Roger Staff and Ian Deary on the role of the cerebellum in ageing cognition). Michael has published in the following broad areas: Systems Science and Integral Frameworks (in Systems Research and Behavioral Science); behavioral and electrophysiological aspects of executive control, learning and memory ( Experimental Ageing Research; Brain Research; International Journal of Psychophysiology; Cognitive Brain Research; Neuropsychobiology; Brain Topography); Physical activity and ageing cognition ( Aging, Neuropsychology, and Cognition; International Journal of Human Ageing and Development); Emotion, Personality and Cognition in younger and older adults ( Psychology and Aging; Experimental Ageing Research); Emotion and cardiovascular responding ( Biological Psychology; International Journal of Behavioral Medicine); The cerebellum and aging cognition ( Cortex); Positive Psychology ( The Journal of Positive Psychology); Critical Thinking and Education ( Educational Research and Reviews; Thinking Skills and Creativity); Argument Mapping ( Metacognition and Instruction; Thinking Skills and Creativity); Chronic Pain ( PAIN; European Journal of Psychological Assessment); Spirituality ( Nova Science Publishers; Thinking Skills and Creativity); and Mindfulness ( The Irish Psychologist).

Michael’s first book, The culture of our thinking in relation to spirituality, examines the problems faced by scientists as they attempt to understand spirituality. The book considers the way different worldviews and different philosophical perspectives can influence the models of spirituality we build. The book has received positive reviews from Ellen Langer (Harvard University), Alex Zautra (Arizona State University), Peter Coleman (Southampton University), and Brick Johnstone (Missouri University). Michael is also a member of the European Science Foundation (ESF) Steering Committee for European Research Network for Investigating Human Sensorimotor Function in Health and Disease (ERNI-HSF), Co-Director of the Structured PhD in Perception, Cognition and Action, Co-Director of Structured PhD in Learning Sciences, and co-leader of the Health and Well-being priority theme at the Whitaker Institute for Innovation and Societal Change, NUI, Galway. Michael writes a blog for Psychology Today and he can be found on Twitter and Linkedin.