{"id":8,"date":"2025-05-15T10:35:43","date_gmt":"2025-05-15T14:35:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/people.bsu.edu\/memorycognition\/?page_id=8"},"modified":"2026-05-12T12:19:45","modified_gmt":"2026-05-12T16:19:45","slug":"lab-director","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/people.bsu.edu\/memorycognition\/lab-director\/","title":{"rendered":"Lab Director"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mackenzie R. Riggenbach, Ph.D.<\/strong><\/h1>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Mackenzie R. Riggenbach is an Assistant Professor of Psychological Science<\/a> at Ball State University<\/a>. Dr. Riggenbach received her Ph.D. in cognitive and quantitative psychology from the University of Oklahoma<\/a>. Dr. Riggenbach\u2019s research background is in human cognition, with a particular emphasis on memory. As a cognitive psychologist, she focuses on the formation of false memories, with an applied emphasis on interviewing eyewitnesses. She is specifically interested in the different ways memory can be impacted when exposed to information following a witnessed event, how a witness is interviewed, and the impact this can have on the amount of information reported and how accurate that information is.<\/p>\n

Dr. Riggenbach also uses mathematical modeling techniques to explain the formation of false memories. She uses these techniques to examine the hypotheses proposed to explain false memory formation. Here, she focuses on disentangling the effects of misleading post-event information to subsequently explain and predict false memory formation.<\/p>\n

Dr. Riggenbach is also a skilled data analyst with extensive experience utilizing qualitative and quantitative data analysis procedures. Her statistical experience includes training in ANOVA, linear regression, factor analysis, structural equation modeling, item response theory, Bayesian statistics, and MCMC methodologies.<\/p>\n

Outside of academia, Dr. Riggenbach enjoys listening to music, reading, and going on walks.<\/p>\n

\n

Education:<\/strong><\/h2>\n

University of Oklahoma:<\/strong> M.S. and Ph.D. in Cognitive and Quantitative Psychology<\/p>\n

Ohio Northern University:<\/strong> B.A. in Psychology<\/p>\n

\n

Publications:<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Riggenbach, M. R.<\/strong>, & Gronlund, S. D. (2026). Assessing the Effects of Misleading Postevent Information Using Multinomial Processing Tree Models.\u00a0Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition.\u00a0<\/em>(Link to article<\/a>)<\/p>\n

Riggenbach, M. R.<\/strong>, Gronlund, S. D., & Zoladz, P. R. (2024). Impact of modality and mode of questioning and testing on memory reports.\u00a0Frontiers in Cognition: Memory<\/em>,\u00a03<\/em>, 1349511. (Link to article)<\/a><\/p>\n

Zoladz, P.R., Riggenbach, M.R.<\/strong>, Weiser, J.N., Hipskind, J.J., Wireman, L.E., Hess, K.L., Duffy, T.J., Handel, J.K., Kaschalk, M.G., Reneau, K.E., & Mosley, B.E. (2022). Female carriers of the met allele of the BDNF val66met polymorphism develop weaker fear memories in a fear-potentiated startle paradigm.\u00a0Journal of Behavioral and Brain Science<\/em>,\u00a012<\/em>(5), 211-235. (Link to article)<\/a><\/p>\n

Cavazos, J. T., Riggenbach, M. R.<\/strong>, & Brewer, K. (2021). Making large classes feel small: An examination of student interactions with undergraduate teaching assistants.\u00a0Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in Psychology<\/em>. (Link to article)<\/a><\/p>\n

Biggs, A. T., Pistone, D., Riggenbach, M.<\/strong>, Hamilton, J. A., & Blacker, K. J. (2021). How unintentional cues can bias threat assessments during shoot\/don’t-shoot simulations.\u00a0Applied Ergonomics<\/em>,\u00a095<\/em>, 103451. (Link to article)<\/a><\/p>\n

Riggenbach, M.R.,<\/strong> Weiser, J.N., Mosley, B.E., Hipskind, J.J., Wireman, L.E., Hess, K.L., Duffy, T.J., Handel, J.K., Kaschalk, M.G., Reneau, K.E., Rorabaugh, B.R., Norrholm, S.D., Jovanovic, T., & Zoladz, P.R. (2019). Immediate pre-learning stress enhances baseline startle response and fear acquisition in a fear-potentiated startle paradigm.\u00a0Behavioural Brain Research<\/em>. (Link to article)<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

Courses Recently Taught:<\/strong><\/h2>\n

PSYS 100 – Introduction to Psychological Science<\/p>\n

PSYS 363 – Cognitive Psychology<\/p>\n

PSYS 441 – Advanced Statistics<\/p>\n

PSYS 471 – Forensic Psychology<\/p>\n

PSYS 492 – Applications of Memory<\/p>\n

PSYS 590 – Professional Development Colloquium<\/p>\n

PSYS 692 – Professional Development Capstone<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mackenzie R. Riggenbach, Ph.D. Mackenzie R. Riggenbach is an Assistant Professor of Psychological Science at Ball State University. Dr. Riggenbach received her Ph.D. in cognitive and quantitative psychology from the University of Oklahoma. Dr. Riggenbach\u2019s research background is in human cognition, with a particular emphasis on memory. As a cognitive psychologist, she focuses on the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":113,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-8","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\nLab Director - Memory and Cognition Research Lab<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Mackenzie R. Riggenbach is an Assistant Professor of Psychological Science at Ball State University. Dr. Riggenbach received her Ph.D. in cognitive and quantitative psychology from the University of Oklahoma. 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