Elizabeth Ligon Bjork

Elizabeth Ligon Bjork is a Professor of Psychology emerita and former Senior Vice Chair in the Psychology Department at the University of California, Los Angeles. Bjork's research focuses on human memory and how inhibitory functionality influences human memory systems. She is a member of the Society of Experimental Psychologists and a fellow of the Association for Psychological Science.

Her work has explored how brain processes like “goal-directed forgetting” — the mind’s ability to let go of information that is no longer useful — can help to make memory more flexible, efficient and useful. Her research has also illuminated how learning works best when it’s a little harder than we expect. By incorporating “desirable difficulties” — spacing out study sessions, mixing study topics, and even introducing small challenges or interruptions — we force our brains to work harder to retrieve and process information, with that extra effort strengthening memory and improving understanding. Bridging laboratory discoveries with real-world classroom settings, Bjork’s work has reshaped how educators think about teaching and how everyone can learn more effectively.

She received her B.A. in Mathematics from the University of Florida and an M.A. and Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of Michigan.