Kristy Hamilton (she/they) uses experimental methods to understand the qualities and liabilities of human memory and cognition in a digital environment.
Their research and theoretical interests are driven by a goal of understanding how to help people become more effective thinkers in a digital landscape. Dr. Hamilton's current research program investigates three interrelated characteristics of sophisticated thinkers in our digital landscape. Those are: 1) understanding how various cognitive strategies made possible by digital media influence short- and long- term communicative and cognitive goals, 2) knowing how technology users monitor and control the state of information available “in the head” and information out in the world in pursuit of their various goals, and 3) understanding how certain characteristics of technology can impair monitoring and control processes. They have published in journals such as Computers in Human Behavior, Applied Cognitive Psychology, Journal of Media Psychology, and New Media & Society.
Ph.D. (2020), University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Institute of Communications Research
B.A. (2016), Trinity University, Psychology and Communication