Christina Thorpe

Christina Thorpe is a Professor in the Department of Psychology at Memorial University of Newfoundland, within the Faculty of Science. She holds a B.Sc. (Hons.) from Memorial University, an M.A., and a Ph.D. from the University of British Columbia. Her research focuses on animal cognition, particularly spatial and temporal memory processes in rats, with a specific emphasis on time-place learning (TPL). She also investigates spatiotemporal abilities in children, comparing human and non-human animal cognition.

Dr. Thorpe completed a post-doctoral fellowship at University College London under the NSERC fellowship. She actively mentors undergraduate and graduate students, offering hands-on research experience in experimental design, data collection, and analysis. She recruits graduate students interested in human and animal spatial/temporal cognition.

Her research highlights how animals encode spatial and temporal information, emphasizing the neural mechanisms underlying memory organization. Recent studies explore the impact of brain lesions on spatial learning and the role of start-point orientation in navigation tasks.

Dr. Thorpe collaborates widely, with publications in journals like Behavioral Neuroscience and Animal Cognition. Her work bridges animal behavior and developmental psychology, addressing questions about cognitive evolution and learning mechanisms.