Josefa Pandeirada

Josefa Pandeirada is an Integrated Member of the Cognition Team at the University of Aveiro, Portugal, specializing in evolutionary approaches to human memory. Her research investigates how memory functions as an adaptation to solve evolutionarily relevant problems through phenomena such as the survival processing effect, animacy effect, and contamination effect.

Her primary research focuses on the Adaptive Memory Framework, which examines memory enhancements in contexts critical to ancestral survival including threat detection (contamination avoidance), social dynamics (animate object prioritization), and reproductive success. She employs experimental methodologies like eye-tracking and pupillometry to document superior retention of evolutionarily relevant information.

Recent publications (2020-2023) demonstrate continued innovation in extending the animacy effect to prospective memory, analyzing disgust responses through physiological measures, and establishing cross-demographic face attractiveness norms. Her work bridges cognitive psychology with evolutionary theory, revealing how memory mechanisms reflect ancestral environmental pressures.

Dr. Pandeirada maintains active research profiles through CiênciaVitae, ORCID, and ResearchGate, with institutional affiliation confirmed by her ua.pt email address. She collaborates extensively with researchers including Nairne, Fernandes, and Vasconcelos within the Cognition Team framework.