Education

	B.A. Wake Forest, 1968
	M.A. Wake Forest, 1970
	Ph.D. Rutgers, 1973

Research Interests

For several years my research program focused on the nature of learning and memory processes in non-human species with a particular emphasis on memory retrieval mechanisms. In pursuing this line of research, our laboratory studied the role of retrieval cues in facilitating retention and in alleviating profound instances of forgetting. We also studied the process of memory construction in animals and the ways in which the act of retrieval influences such construction. Other studies focused on the mechanisms by which certain pharmacological agents worked to enhance retrieval.

My current research interests are more applied in nature, focusing on the degree to which basic principles of learning can be used to predict student persistence and academic success in the college environment. Specifically I have begun to explore the relationship between persistence (or degree attainment) in college and various patterns of academic success and failure that a student experiences in high school and in the college freshman year. I am also attempting to identify those components of a student’s freshman year experience that are most closely related to persistence and academic achievement.

Representative Publications

	Gordon, W. C. (1989). Learning and memory. Monterey, CA: Brooks/Cole Publishing.
	Logan, F. A., & Gordon, W. C. (1981). Fundamentals of learning and motivation (3rd ed.). Dubuque, IA: W. C. Brown Co.
	Gordon, W. C., & Klein, R. (1994). Animal memory. In N. J. Mackintosh (Ed.), Animal learning and cognition: Handbook of perception and cognition, Vol. 9. New York: Academic Press.
	Gordon, W. C. (1983). The malleability of memory in animals. In R. Mellgren (Ed.), Animal cognition and behavior. New York: North Holland Publishing.
	Gordon, W. C., & Weaver, M. S. (1989). The cue-induced transfer of CS pre-exposure effects. Animal Learning and Behavior, 17, 409-417.
	Gordon, W. C., McGinnis, C. P., & Weaver, M. S. (1985). The effects of cuing after backward conditioning trials. Learning and Motivation, 16, 444-463.
	Mowrer, R. R., & Gordon, W. C. (1983). The effects of cuing in an “irrelevant” context. Animal Learning and Behavior, 11(4), 401-406.