I was born in Cape Town, South Africa. I completed a B.Sc Honours degree in psychology at University College, London, England, and a Ph.D. in cognitive science at the University of Rochester, New York.  I obtained a postdoctoral fellowship in cognitive neuropsychology, held in the Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery at the University of Western Ontario.  I was an Assistant Professor and then Associate Professor at the Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University before joining the Department of Psychology at the University of Victoria.