She is a cognitive psychologist whose research focuses on memory, emotion, decision-making and aging. She received the Springer Early Career Achievement Award in Research on Adult Development and Aging in 2005 and the Richard Kalish Innovative Publication Award from the Gerontological Society of America in 2007. Dr. Mather also received the American Psychological Association Dissertation Research Award and the Margret M. Baltes Dissertation Award in the Psychology of Aging for her doctoral research at Princeton University.