Christopher Conway
I study the neurocognitive mechanisms of learning and memory, specifically a form of implicit learning referred to as “statistical learning”, and how such mechanisms are used in the service of language development across diverse experiences. My work relies on a combination of cognitive and cognitive neuroscience methodology, with a variety of different participant populations (human adults and children with or without deafness or hearing loss, dyslexia, autism spectrum disorder, and ADHD, as well as non-human primates).
Education and Degrees
Associate Professor in Psychology
B.S.E Duke University
M.A Southern Illinois University
Ph.D (2005) Cornell University
Selected Publications
Milne, A.E., Chait, M., & Conway, C.M. (2025). Probing sensitivity to statistical structure in rapid sound sequences using deviant detection tasks. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, & Cognition. Advance online publication.
Li, X., Conway, C.M., Yin, S., Zhaou, X., Bai, X., & Shi, W. (2025). Learning in the face of failure: The benefit of autistic traits. British Journal of Psychology, 1-13. DOI: 10.1111/bjop.12786
Ren, J., Wang, M., & Conway, C.M. (2024). Can explicit instruction boost statistical learning? A meta-analytical review. Journal of Educational Psychology. 116(7), 1215–1237.
Emerson, S.N. & Conway, C.M. (2023). Chunking versus transitional probabilities: Differentiating between theories of statistical learning. Cognitive Science, 47(5), e13284. . NIHMSID1885866
Li, X., Bai, X., Conway, C.M., Shi, W., & Wang, X. (2022). Statistical learning for non-social and socially-meaningful stimuli in individuals with high and low levels of autistic traits. Current Psychology.
Singh, S. & Conway, C.M. (2021). Unraveling the interconnections between statistical learning and dyslexia: A review of recent empirical studies. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 15: 734179. doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2021.734179
Englund, M., Whitham, W., Conway, C.M., Beran, M., & Washburn, D. (2021). Nonhuman primates learn adjacent dependencies but fail to learn nonadjacent dependencies in a statistical learning signal detection task. Learning and Behavior.
Terhune-Cotter, B.P., Conway, C.M., & Dye, M.W.G. (2021). Visual sequence repetition learning is not impaired in signing DHH children. Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education. enab007,
Eghbalzad, L., Deocampo, J.A., & Conway, C.M. (2021). How statistical learning interacts with the socioeconomic environment to shape children’s language development. PLOS One, 16(1), e0244954.
Conway, C.M. (2020). How does the brain learn environmental structure? Ten core principles for understanding the neurocognitive mechanisms of statistical learning. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, 112, 279-299. 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2020.01.032
Conway, C.M., Eghbalzad, L., Deocampo, J.A., Smith, G.N.L., Na, S., &. King, T. (2020). Distinct neural networks active for detecting violations of adjacent versus nonadjacent sequential dependencies: An fMRI study. Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, 169. 10.1016/j.nlm.2020.107175