Dr. Lixia Yang
Curriculum Vitae / (PDF file) Click Here to View > (opens in new window)
Biography
Dr. Yang received her Ph.D. in Psychology from the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2000. She then did her postdoctoral fellowship training at the Max‐Planck Institute for Human Development in Berlin and the University of Toronto. In 2005, Dr. Yang joined the Department of Psychology at Toronto Metropolitan University.
Lixia Yang is currently a Full Professor and directs the Cognitive Aging Laboratory (opens in new window) . Her research addresses aging- and culture-related topics, with a focus on aging, culture, cognition, psychosocial wellbeing. Dr. Yang has been dedicated to developing and validating prevention and intervention programs to promote psychosocial functions of older adults. Dr. Yang has over 100 peer-refereed journal publications and a few book chapters, as some featured in high-impact journals such as Brain and Cognition, Cognition and Emotion, Psychology and Aging, and Psychological Science. Her research has been funded through NSERC, CIHR, SSHRC, Mitacs, AGE-WELL, and Bridging Divide. Her SRC and community contributions have been recognized by a few prestigious awards, including the Social Innovation Action SRC Award (2024), Dean’s Scholarly, Research and Creative Activity Award (2021 and 2024), Yeates School of Graduate Studies Outstanding Contribution to Graduate Education Award (2015), and the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Award for Outstanding Community Contribution (2022, 2023).
Dr. Yang has taught a variety of undergraduate (e.g., Child Development, Adult Development, Introduction to Psychology, and Advanced Seminars in Development or Cognition) and graduate courses (i.e., Advanced Seminar in Cognition, Cognitive Aging, and Psychology of Aging). She has been nominated by students as “A Prof Who Made A Mark”.
The ongoing research projects in Dr. Yang’s Cognitive Aging Laboratory (opens in new window) cover three related areas:
- Cognition and cognitive plasticity of the aging brain;
- Cultural differences in attention and memory of socioemotional information
- Stress and psychosocial wellbeing of vulnerable populations such as immigrants and older adults
Recent Publications (*trainee)
*Marshall, M. J., *Kandasamy, K., & Yang, L. (in press). Mental health status of Canadian undergraduates in the transition back to in-person learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. Canadian Journal of Community Mental Health.
Amanzai, H., Guruge, S., Metersky, K., Catallo, C., Al-Hamad, A., Yasin, Y. M., Zhuang, Z., Wang, B., Stafford, A., Wang, L., Yang, L. (2026). Depression in Older Adult Refugees: A Scoping Review. Journal of Ageing and Longevity. 6(1), 32. https://doi.org/10.3390/jal6010032 (external link)
Al-Hamad, A., Yasin, Y. M., Guruge, S., Metersky, K., Catallo, C., Amanzai, H., Zhuang, Z., Wang, L., Yang, L., Kanan, L., & Chamas, Y. (2026). Aging in Cross-Cultural Contexts: Transnational Healthcare Practices Among Older Syrian Refugees in the Greater Toronto Area. Journal of Ageing and Longevity, 6(1), 13. https://doi.org/10.3390/jal6010013 (external link)
Yang, L., *Yu. L., *Su, Z., Wang, L. (2026). Psychological well-being of older Chinese immigrants in Canada towards the end of the pandemic: The importance of social support and resilience. Canadian Journal of Community Mental Health. 44(3), 109-117. doi:10.7870/cjcmh-2025-023
*Su, Z., Yang, L., Dong, H., Wang, X., Wang, M., Wang, L., & Guruge, S. (2025). Stress experiences among older Chinese immigrants in Canada during the COVID-19 pandemic: A qualitative study. Journal of Mental Health and Clinical Psychology, S(001): 42-51. https://doi.org/10.29245/2578-2959/2025/1.1354 (external link)
Yang, L., & *Foo, S. (2025). Memory selectivity of younger and older adults: The interactive effects of valence and subjective value. Canadian journal of experimental psychology, 79(4), 329–337. https://doi.org/10.1037/cep0000393 (external link)
Yang, L., *Kandasamy, K., Hasher, L. (2022). Inhibition and creativity in aging: Does distractibility enhance creativity? The Annual Review of Developmental Psychology, 4: 353-375. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-devpsych-121020-030705 (external link)
Yang, L., *Yu, L., *Kandasamy, K., *Wang, Y., Shi, F., Zhang, W., & Wang, P. P. (2022). Non-pathological psychological distress among Mainland Chinese in Canada and its sociodemographic risk factors amidst the pandemic. HealthCare, 10(11): 2326. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare10112326 (external link)
Yang, L. & *Skrotzki, C. (2022). Aging and goal-directed cognition: Cognitive control, inhibition, and motivated cognition. In K. D., Federmeier & B. R. Payne (Eds.), The Psychology of Learning and Motivation, Vol 77, 313-348. Academic Press. https://doi.org/10.1016/bs.plm.2022.08.002 (external link)