Debra Titone, PhD

Titone is currently a professor of psychology at McGill University.

Tell us a bit about your background: What is your area of research? What is your most recent journal-editing experience?

My research is grounded in the cognitive experimental sciences. I am particularly fascinated by language—a complex and highly interdependent set of skills and abilities that brings together almost all aspects of cognition and social function. My laboratory at McGillopens in new window investigates a variety of questions pertaining to language use: how people comprehend and produce the languages that they know and how they read, learn novel linguistic forms, or use formulaic or metaphoric language. In collaboration with a variety of highly creative and talented students, postdocs, and collaborators, I examine these questions across different domains and use varied methods, most notably eye-tracking studies of reading but also neuroscience and computational methods. I am an active member of the Centre for Research in Brain, Language and Musicopens in new window, and I am the current leader of the Montréal Bilingualism Initiativeopens in new window.

My most significant journal-editing experience was serving as an associate editor for the Journal of Experimental Psychology: General under Nelson Cowan’s leadership for a few years, then for the Canadian Journal of Experimental Psychology (CJEP) under Randy Jamieson’s leadership for the past 5 years. These were highly educational experiences given the different profiles of these two journals, which, at their core, are both general journals intended to serve relatively broad audiences. General journals are incredibly important, as they offer a forum for people to learn about work in fields related to their own and thus nudge psychology in a multidisciplinary direction. I also had the distinct pleasure of guest editing a special issue of CJEPopens in new window with two of my colleagues, Lori Buchanan and Penny Pexman. Together, we curated a collection of fabulous articles about figurative language in celebration of the career of our colleague Albert Katz. That was a professionally gratifying experience, and I am grateful to Randy Jamieson and CJEP for making it possible.

Briefly, what are your main priorities? For example, how will you grow readership, what type of scholarship would you like to see in the journal, and what kind of content are you hoping to attract? 

I am invested in preserving what is great about CJEP—its unique Canadian history (detailed hereopens in new window by Colin M. MacLeod) and how it has flourished under Randy Jamieson’s leadership and during Penny Pexman’s leadership prior to Randy’s. My commitment includes valuing and leveraging its crucial connection to the Canadian Society for Brain, Behaviour and Cognitive Sciencesopens in new window (CSBBCS), whose members have historically published in, reviewed for CJEP. It also includes viewing CJEP as an outlet that in many ways serves and is enriched by this community (and beyond) by showcasing experimental psychological research produced in Canada and by ensuring that authors (many of whom are trainees or early career researchers) have a positive and constructive review experience, whether or not their submissions are ultimately accepted. As a CJEP associate editor, I have seen manuscripts from early career authors transformed from basic drafts into great articles through this constructive, collegial process, and that has been gratifying. I am also appreciative of the open science activities initiated during Penny Pexman’s leadership, which were followed by the inclusion of registered reports during Randy Jamieson’s leadership.

In addition to preserving its history, I am interested in broadening CJEP’s scope in a few ways. I would like to see submissions that cover a broader range of experimental psychology, not just the traditional siloed domains. I would also like to see work that is multidisciplinary. I would like to see submissions that address developmental phenomena, comparative cognition, novel methodological or statistical advances of use to all experimental psychologists, cognitive neuroscience approaches, decision making, and reasoning, as well as work that advances cognitive theory through the study of diverse populations or applied real-world social or technological challenges. I would like to publish special issues that offer comprehensive state-of-the-art snapshots of new research from a variety of perspectives and vital visibility opportunities to a diverse range of researchers across Canada and beyond. I would like the journal to benefit from the contributions of authors and reviewers who have a wide variety of lived experiences and for their articles to address experimental questions about cognitive or perceptual phenomena that are relevant to these diverse experiences and perspectives.

Why is this journal important for the field? What is its relevance to society/public health? What are the hot issues in your area right now?

CJEP showcases Canadian experimental psychology and works to nurture the Canadian experimental research community by publishing excellent research through a fair, constructive review process. It also connects the Canadian research community to CSBBCS as well as to the Canadian Psychological Association’s Brain and Cognitive Science sectionopens in new window. However, more can be done to reach authors and readers outside Canada. I would love to find a way for people to think differently about CJEP and to consider it a truly global journal that happens to be based in Canada. One way I hope to begin to address this is to expand CJEP’s editorial board to include a greater number of international members than in the past.

In terms of hot issues in the field, this is hard to say, because the answers would be filtered through my own idiosyncratic interests. To me, hot areas include almost all multidisciplinary research that crosses traditional boundaries and considers cognition in socially relevant ways, as well as computational approaches, lifespan samples, methodological and statistical advances, comparative cognition (especially work that bridges human and nonhuman animal work), and many others.

What challenges, if any, lie ahead for the field?

This is an interesting question, especially given that the pandemic has led to unprecedented challenges over the past 2 years, having limited the range of laboratory-based research and training conducted in Canada and around the globe. Scientists have had fewer opportunities to come together in real life at conferences to inspire each other, create new collaborations, and generate networking opportunities for trainees. However, as everyone (I hope!) reemerges from quarantine, there is a lot to be optimistic about. Indeed, the circumstances forced scientists to learn a lot about how to better connect and conduct research remotely and in ways that vastly increased accessibility. In terms of future challenges, a big one is finding new ways to better diversify science across almost every level. However, even here, the field and academia generally have come a much longer way than I would have ever anticipated in the past decade, yet at the same time there is so much further to go. As CJEP’s second female editor in over 70 years and a first-generation academic, I am optimistic but remain ever vigilant.

Do you have plans for a special issue or changes to the editorial process? Have you introduced or are you planning to introduce any changes?

I have been thinking a lot about special issues, which I would love to encourage for CJEP. Although no final decisions have been made, I could imagine inviting guest editors from particular areas or holding an open call for special issues. I am considering special issues featuring a keynote article that is followed by short commentaries from many people in the field (a format I loved reading as a graduate student). Indeed, if anyone reading this has an idea for a special issue topic, I encourage them to reach out to me.

In terms of changes, I have already mentioned considering a bit of official rebranding for CJEP, which could even include a name change if that got people thinking about the journal in a new, more global way. Ultimately, any journal’s reputation is a function of what people think about that journal—bibliometrics are not perfectly correlated with people’s perceptions of journal quality and reputation. Thus, I would like to encourage people to think differently about CJEP. Should this happen, there is great potential for it to grow and evolve in a very positive direction over the next 5 years. This journal has the power to punch above its weight in the same way that Canadian researchers and Canadian research have long done. How do we accomplish this? By having a broad range of people read it, cite it, review for it, proactively send good submissions and special issue ideas to it, repeat.

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