Dameon O’Boyle
Executive function, in everyday life.
How can we measure executive function in ways that better reflect real life — and use those measures to understand meaningful differences between people?
I am developing a research direction at the intersection of psychology, neuroscience and neuropsychological assessment. I am especially interested in the gap between performance on conventional cognitive tasks and the difficulties people experience in everyday life.
Based in Victoria, British Columbia, I hold an MSc Psychology with Distinction from Ulster University and am applying for doctoral training in Clinical Psychology / Clinical Neuropsychology.
Research directions
Assessment in everyday life.
How can executive-function assessment better explain why people with similar scores function differently in everyday life? I’m interested in richer behavioural measures where they improve prediction or support a useful clinical decision.
Assessment young people can use.
Could visual, personalised or interactive approaches help young people understand their assessment and put it to use? I want findings to be meaningful to the person they describe, and useful as their needs change.
Exercise, cognition & recovery.
What kind of exercise, how much, when, and for whom? I’m interested in how exercise might support cognitive rehabilitation after neurological illness or injury, and whether benefits carry into everyday life.
MSc dissertation · Ulster University · Distinction
Measuring cognition under dual-task demands.
Neurocognitive Predictors and Profiles in Digitally Simulated Dual-Tasking for Scalable Fall-Risk Screening
My dissertation examined executive function, inhibition, processing speed, attention and dual-task performance under digitally simulated everyday demands. I designed a cognitive battery and digital simulation in Gorilla.sc, exploring a practical question: what might cognitively demanding everyday situations reveal that isolated tasks do not?
This was an academic dissertation, with implications for future assessment research.
EVERYDAY ASSESSMENT · 2024
Doucette et al. — Cognition in everyday contexts
DIGITAL VALIDATION · 2022
Paterson et al. — Validating online assessment
EXERCISE & COGNITION · 2014
Karr et al. — Exercise and executive function
An emerging research direction
My developing interests centre on assessment that explains everyday functioning, feedback young people can understand and use, and exercise in cognitive recovery.
Richer behavioural measures and digital tools interest me where they improve prediction or support a useful clinical decision. I want to understand who benefits, in which settings, and whether findings carry into everyday life.
I welcome conversations with prospective doctoral supervisors and collaborators working in these areas.