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Tom Smeets, PhD
Assistant
Professor
Faculty of
Psychology and Neuroscience
Maastricht
University
P.O. Box 616
6200 MD Maastricht
The Netherlands
Office Phone:
+31(0)433884506
Office Fax: +31(0)433884196
tom.smeets@maastrichtuniversity.nl
Research Interests and Publications
(1) My primary research interest concerns the “Neurobiology of Learning and Memory”,
with a specific emphasis on the modulating role of stress and glucocorticoids on memory performance.
Selected
publications:
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Cornelisse, S., Joëls, M., & Smeets, T.
(2011). A randomized trial on mineralocorticoid
receptor blockade in men: Effects on stress responses, selective attention,
and memory. Neuropsychopharmacology, 36, 2720-2728. (supplementary information: )
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Taverniers, J., Smeets, T., Lo Bue, S., Syroit, J., Van Ruysseveldt, J., Pattyn, N.,
& von Grumbkow, J. (2011). Visuo-spatial path learning, stress, and cortisol secretion following military cadets’ first
parachute jump: The effect of increasing task complexity. Cognitive, Affective, and Behavioral Neuroscience, 11, 332-343.
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Taverniers, J., Smeets, T.,
Van Ruysseveldt, J., Syroit,
J., & von Grumbkow,
J. (2011). The risk of
being shot at: Stress, cortisol secretion, and
their impact on memory and perceived learning during reality-based practice
for armed officers. International
Journal of Stress Management, 18, 113-132. 
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Smeets,
T. (2011). Acute stress impairs memory retrieval
independent of time of day. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 36, 495-501. 
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Taverniers, J.,
Van Ruysseveldt, J., Smeets, T., & von Grumbkow, J. (2010). Realistic high-intensity stress
elicits robust cortisol increases and impairs
working memory in Special Forces candidates: A field experiment. Stress, 13, 323-333. 
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Smeets,
T., Dziobek,
I., & Wolf, O.T. (2009). Social
cognition under stress: Differential effects of stress-induced cortisol elevations in healthy young men and women. Hormones and Behavior,
55, 507-513. 
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Smeets, T.,
Wolf, O.T., Giesbrecht, T., Sijstermans,
K., Telgens, S., & Jöels,
M. (2009). Stress selectively and lastingly promotes learning of
context-related high arousing information. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 34, 1152-1161. 
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Schoofs, D., Wolf, O.T., & Smeets, T.
(2009). Cold pressor stress impairs performance
on working memory tasks requiring executive functions in healthy young men.
Behavioral Neuroscience, 123, 1066-1075. 
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Smeets,
T., Otgaar,
H., Candel, I., & Wolf, O.T. (2008).
True or false? Memory is differentially affected by stress-induced cortisol elevations and sympathetic activity at
consolidation and retrieval. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 33, 1378-1386. 
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Smeets,
T., Sijstermans,
K., Gijsen, C., Peters, M., Jelicic, M., &
Merckelbach, H. (2008). Acute consolidation stress enhances reality
monitoring in healthy young adults. Stress,
11, 235-245. 
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Smeets,
T. (2007). Stressing memories: Acute stress, cortisol, and pseudo-memories. Dissertation, Maastricht
University Press: Maastricht. 
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Smeets, T., Giesbrecht, T.,
Jelicic, M., & Merckelbach, H. (2007). Context-dependent enhancement of
declarative memory performance following acute psychosocial stress. Biological Psychology, 76, 116-123. 
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Smeets, T., Geraerts, E.,
Jelicic, M., & Merckelbach, H. (2007). Delayed recall of childhood
sexual abuse memories and the awakening rise and diurnal pattern of cortisol. Psychiatry Research,
152, 197-204. 
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Smeets, T., Jelicic, M., & Merckelbach, H. (2006).
Stress-induced cortisol responses, sex
differences, and false recollections in a DRM-paradigm. Biological
Psychology, 72, 164-172. 
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Smeets,
T., Jelicic, M., &
Merckelbach, H. (2006). The effect of acute stress on memory depends on
word valence. International Journal of Psychophysiology, 62, 30-37. 
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Smeets, T., Jelicic,
M., Merckelbach, H., Peters, M., Fett, A.,
Taverniers, J., Henquet, C., & Dautzenberg, J. (2006). Enhanced memory performance on
an internal-internal source monitoring test following acute psychosocial
stress. Behavioral Neuroscience, 120, 1204-1210. 
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(2). A second interest has to do with the question “What differentiates those who are able to
adapt well to adversity (i.e., are resilient) from those who are not?”
Selected publications:
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Smeets,
T. (2010). Autonomic and
hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal stress resilience: Impact of cardiac vagal tone. Biological
Psychology, 84, 290-295. 
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Cima, M., Smeets, T., & Jelicic, M. (2008). Self
reported trauma, cortisol levels, and aggression
in psychopathic and non-psychopathic prison inmates. Biological Psychology, 78, 75-86. 
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Giesbrecht, T., Smeets, T., &
Merckelbach, H. (2008). Dissociative
experiences on ice. Peritraumatic and trait
dissociation during the cold pressor test. Psychiatry Research, 157, 115-121. 
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Giesbrecht, T., Smeets, T., Merckelbach, H.,
& Jelicic, M. (2007). Depersonalization
experiences in undergraduates are related to heightened stress cortisol responses. Journal of Nervous and Mental
Disease, 195, 282-287. 
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Smeets,
T., Giesbrecht,
T., Raymaekers, L., Shaw, J., & Merckelbach, H. (2010).
Autobiographical integration of trauma memories and repressive coping
predict post-traumatic stress symptoms in undergraduate students. Clinical Psychology & Psychotherapy,
17, 211-218. 
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Giesbrecht,
T., Abidi, K., Smeets, T., Merckelbach, H.,
van Oorsouw, K., & Raymaekers, L. (2009). Adversity does not always lead to psychopathology:
Cognitive reactivity is related to longitudinal changes in resilience. Netherlands Journal of Psychology, 4, 62-68. 
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Giesbrecht, T., Smeets, T., Merckelbach, H., Jelicic, M.,
& Leppink, J. (2007). Acute dissociation
after one night of sleep loss. Journal
of Abnormal Psychology, 116, 599-606. 
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Smeets, T.,
Jelicic, M., & Merckelbach, H. (2006). Reduced hippocampal
and amygdalar volume in DID: Not such clear
evidence. [Letter] American Journal
of Psychiatry, 163, 1643. 
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(3). I am also interested in various memory-related
phenomena (and other things).
Selected
publications:
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Smeets,
T., Otgaar, H.,
Raymaekers, L., Peters, M.J.V., & Merckelbach, H. (2012). Survival
processing in times of stress. Psychonomic
Bulletin and Review, 19,
113-118. 
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Markus, C.R., Verschoor,
E., & Smeets,
T. (in press). Differential effect of the 5-HTT gene-linked
polymorphic region (5-HTTLPR) on emotional eating during stress exposure
following tryptophan challenge. Journal
of Nutritional Biochemistry. 
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Heinzen, H., Köhler, D., Smeets, T.,
Hoffer, T., & Huchzermeier, C. (2011). Emotion regulation in incarcerated young
offenders with psychopathic traits. Journal
of Forensic Psychiatry and Psychology, 22,
809-833. 
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Raymaekers, L., Peters, M.J.V., Smeets, T.,
Abidi, L., & Merckelbach, H. (2011).
Underestimation of prior remembering and susceptibility to false memories:
Two sides of the same coin? Consciousness
& Cognition, 20, 1144-1153. 
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Otgaar, H., Smeets, T., Merckelbach, H., Jelicic, M.,
Verschuere, B., Galliot, A.M., & van Riel, L.
(2011). Adaptive memory: Stereotype activation is not enough. Memory & Cognition, 39,
1033-1041. 
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Raymaekers, L., Smeets, T., Peters, M.J.V.,
& Merckelbach, H. (2010). Autobiographical memory specificity among
people with recovered memories of childhood sexual abuse. Journal of Behavior
Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, 41, 338-344. 
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Hansen,
I., Smeets,
T., & Jelicic, M. (2010). Further data on interrogative suggestibility and
compliance scores following instructed malingering. Legal and Criminological Psychology, 15, 221-228. 
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Otgaar, H., Candel, I.,
Smeets,
T., & Merckelbach, H. (2010). “You didn’t take Lucy’s skirt
off”: The effect of misleading information on children’s memory omissions
and commissions. Legal and
Criminological Psychology, 15, 229-241. 
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Otgaar, H. & Smeets, T. (2010). Adaptive
memory: Survival processing increases both true and false memory in adults
and children. Journal of Experimental
Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 36, 1010-1016. 
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Otgaar, H., Meijer, Eh., Giesbrecht, T., Smeets, T., Candel, I.,
& Merckelbach, H. (2010). Children’s suggestion-induced omission errors
are not caused by memory erasure.
Consciousness and Cognition, 19, 265-269. 
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Otgaar, H., Smeets, T.,
& van Bergen, S. (2010). Picturing
survival memories: Enhanced memory after fitness-relevant processing occurs
for verbal and visual stimuli. Memory
& Cognition, 38, 23-28. 
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Smeets,
T., Leppink, J., Jelicic, M., &
Merckelbach, H. (2009). Shortened versions of the Gudjonsson
Suggestibility Scale meet the standards. Legal and Criminological Psychology, 14, 149-155. 
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Smeets, T., Telgen, S., Ost,
J., Jelicic, M., & Merckelbach, H. (2009). What’s behind crashing memories? Plausibility, belief,
and memory in reports of having seen non-existent images. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 23,
1333-1341. 
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Merckelbach, H., Smeets, T., & Jelicic,
M. (2009). Experimental simulation: Type of malingering scenario makes a
difference. The Journal of Forensic
Psychiatry & Psychology, 20, 378-386.
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Jelicic, M., Smeets, T., & Peters, M. (2008). Detecting
false memories with brain scans: A long way off, for now. In: I. van Keulen (Ed.), Brain Vision: How the brain sciences
could change the way we eat, communicate, learn, and judge (pp.
388-396). The Hague:
SST. 
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Jansen, A., Smeets, T.,
Boon, B., Nederkoorn, C., Roefs, A., & Mulkens, S. (2007). Vulnerability to interpretation bias in overweight
children. Psychology and Health, 22, 561-574. 
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Merckelbach, H., Jelicic, M., Smeets, T., & Merten, T.
(2007). Tod auf dem Bahnübergang oder Wie eine geltend gemachte Amnesie
forensisch begutachtet wird. Praxis der Rechtspsychologie, 17, 29-46. 
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Peters, M., Cima, M., Smeets, T.,
Jelicic, M., & Merckelbach, H. (2007). Did I say that word or did you?
Executive dysfunctions and susceptibility to leading questions influence
memory functioning but not source attribution in schizophrenia. Cognitive Neuropsychiatry, 12,
391-411. 
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Peters, M., Smeets, T., Giesbrecht,
T., Jelicic, M., & Merckelbach, H. (2007). Confusing action and
imagination: Action source monitoring in schizotypy.
Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 195, 752-757. 
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Jelicic, M., Smeets, T.,
Candel, I., van Suijdam, M., & Merckelbach,
H. (2006). No, I don’t
remember seeing video footage of the killing of Theo van Gogh! Misinformation
manipulations do not always elicit false memories. In: D. Canter (Series
Ed.) & K. Nixon (Vol. ed.), Forensic
recall and eyewitness testimony (pp. 21-25).
London: IA-IP Publishing. 
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Smeets,
T., Jelicic, M., Peters,
M.J.V., Candel, I., Horselenberg,
R., & Merckelbach, H. (2006). “Of course I remember seeing that film!” – How ambiguous
questions generate crashing memories. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 20,
779-789. 
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Horselenberg, R., Merckelbach, H., Smeets, T., Franssens, D., Peters, G.J., & Zeles,
G. (2006). False confessions in the lab: Do plausibility and consequences
matter? Psychology, Crime, & Law, 12, 61-75. 
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Jansen, A., Smeets, T.,
& Nederkoorn, C. (2006). I see what you see: The lack of a
self-serving body image bias in eating disorders. British Journal of
Clinical Psychology, 45, 123-135. 
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Jelicic, M., Smeets, T., Peters, M.J.V., Candel, I., Horselenberg, R., &
Merckelbach, H. (2006). Assassination of a controversial politician:
Remembering details from another non-existent film. Applied Cognitive Psychology,
20, 591-596. 
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Merckelbach, H., Smeets, T., Geraerts, E., Jelicic, M., Bouwen,
A., & Smeets, E. (2006). I haven’t thought about this for years! Dating
recent recalls of vivid memories. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 20,
33-42. 
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Merckelbach, H., Peters, M., Jelicic, M., Brands, I., & Smeets, T. (2006). Detecting malingering
of Ganser-like symptoms with tests: A case study.
Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences, 60, 636-638. 
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Smeets,
T., Merckelbach, H., Horselenberg, R., & Jelicic, M. (2005). Trying to
recollect past events: Confidence, beliefs, and memories. Clinical Psychology
Review, 25, 917-934. 
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Smeets, T.,
Candel, I., & Merckelbach, H. (2004).
Accuracy, completeness, and consistency of emotional memories. American
Journal of Psychology, 117, 595-609. 
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Curriculum Vitae
Curriculum Vitae
If you want to have a look at my CV, which includes
a comprehensive listing of all my publications (including Dutch articles and book
chapters, and conference presentations), click here 
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