Apply Now
Apply Now

With our Catholic liberal arts heritage and over 100 degree programs, including nursing and marine biology, from bachelors through PhDs, we've got your options covered. Focus on arts and sciences, business, education, social work, communication, nursing, medical sciences, theology, or law. Take things further with personalized research and experiential learning opportunities, on and off-campus. Enhance your prospects with hands-on internships at some of the country's top organizations.

Colleges and Schools

Academic Support

Barry University Students

The Career and Experiential Learning Team educates students and alumni on the essential job searching and life skills to propel them to succeed in the increasingly competitive global marketplace.

Service-learning integrates relevant community service with course work and critical reflection to enrich the learning experience, foster social responsibility and civic engagement, and strengthen communities.

Service-Learning

The Honors Program at Barry is designed to challenge, enrich, and prepare especially motivated students to pursue their fullest potential. By participating in a rigorous curriculum rounded out by an array of edifying and interactive events, students explore crucial issues that we face in our daily lives. Students are given the space for discussion and debate and the opportunity to learn from experts in their fields. The Office of Financial Aid can assist with determining eligibility for the Honors Program.

The Monsignor William Barry Memorial Library is located in the center of the beautiful Miami Shores campus of Barry University. The Library is named in loving memory of Monsignor William Barry, one of the founders of Barry University and an inspirational figure in the Catholic Church within the Archdiocese of Miami. The extensive Library research collections include more than 950,000 physical items, over 40,000 print and on-line journal subscriptions, and several thousand on-line books and streaming video resources.

At Barry University, you will experience a small community atmosphere where you can always rely on our administrators and faculty for advice, encouragement and personal attention. We take great pride in giving individual attention from the very beginning. You can start building a personal relationship with one of our admissions counselors who will help answer any questions, and guide you through the entire admissions and enrollment process.

Bucky and student at Open House

Continuing Education (CE) offers a variety of courses and non-credit programs designed to respond to the diverse educational interests and lifelong learning needs of individuals of all ages. We offer certificate, credential exam preparation, and licensure programs for professional and personal enrichment.

High school students: Get a jump-start on your college education with dual enrollment courses from Barry University! You can earn high school and college credit at the same time, right at your own school.

Dual Enrollment

Barry University is committed to provide you with a dynamic and flexible approach to your degree pathway through our online courses and degree programs. We understand that balancing academics, work, and personal commitments can be challenging. That's why our online offerings are designed to fit seamlessly into your busy schedule, allowing you to pursue your educational goals without compromising on other important aspects of your life.

Distance Education

We are committed to providing programs and services that are guided by Barry University's rich educational mission and intended to enhance your Barry experience. Through partnerships with others in the university community, we aim to create experiences that will help transform you into leaders for a just and humane world.

Portrait of students at event on campus

We are an NCAA Division II school and a member of the Sunshine State Conference with 12 varsity teams, including men's baseball, basketball, golf, soccer and tennis; and women's basketball, golf, rowing, soccer, softball, tennis and volleyball. So far, we've won 24 NCAA championships, had 338 All-Americans, 413 Scholar All-Americans, and nine NCAA "Women of the Year" finalists, the most of any Division II school. Not bad at all, but we're going for more.

Campus Life

For students currently enrolled in classes at Barry, we have a wealth of resources you can tap into to bring ease and efficiency to your university experience. Get the help you need with administrative or financial questions, or check out course catalogs to help plan your schedule by semester. All the information you need to excel is at your fingertips.

Justin Lauro, Ph.D.

Associate Professor

Justin Lauro, Ph.D.
Justin Lauro, Ph.D. Associate Professor

Areas of Interest

Dr. Lauro’s research examines the cognitive and psycholinguistic mechanisms that support bilingual word learning and memory. His work focuses on how semantic, linguistic, and episodic contextual factors shape the acquisition, recognition, and real-time processing of newly learned words across two languages. He is particularly interested in how bilinguals form and access lexical–semantic representations, how contextual variability strengthens memory traces, and how cross-language similarity influences learning outcomes.

In addition to his work in bilingualism, Dr. Lauro investigates the effects of episodic specificity induction (ESI) on memory-guided cognition, as well as attentional performance and cognitive advantages in collegiate athletes. Across research programs, he uses experimental methods including eye-tracking, reaction-time paradigms, and memory-based tasks to understand how people learn, store, and retrieve information across contexts and across the lifespan.

Biography

Dr. Lauro is an Associate Professor of Psychology at Barry University. He is a cognitive and psycholinguistic researcher whose work centers on bilingual word learning, contextual variability, episodic retrieval, and attention. His research has been published in leading journals, including Journal of Memory and Language, Neuropsychologia, Child Development, Journal of Learning and Instruction, and Education Sciences.

Prior to joining Barry University in 2020, Dr. Lauro completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Florida Atlantic University, where he examined developmental trajectories in bilingual language acquisition. He also collaborates on projects investigating cognitive performance in athletes, the effects of cognitive training, and the role of episodic specificity induction in attention and memory.

Dr. Lauro teaches courses in cognitive psychology, research methods, and physiological psychology, and is actively involved in mentoring undergraduate and graduate researchers.

Selected Publications

Bilingualism, Language Processing and Novel Word Learning

Lauro, J. (under review). Balancing repetition and variability: Stability and flexibility in adult word learning.

Lauro, J., Toassi, P. F. P. (2026). Effects of Semantic and Cross-Language Contextual Variation on Online Processing During Bilingual Novel Word Learning. International Journal of Cognitive Sciences, 2(3), 5. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijcs2030015

Lauro, J., Toassi, P. F. P., & Arêas da Luz Fontes, A. B. (2025). Bilingual Word Learning: Recognizing novel words in context. Journal of Learning and Instruction, 100, 102230. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.learninstruc.2025.102230

Lauro, J., & Toassi, P. F. P. (2025). Bilingual Contextual Variability: Learning Words in Two Languages. Education Sciences, 15(9), 1264. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci15091264  

Toassi, P. F. P., & Lauro, J. (2024). Experimental studies on bilingualism and language learning. Ilha do Desterro: A Journal of English Language Literatures in English and Cultural Studies, 76(3), 11-15. 10.5007/2175-8026.2023.e97342

Toassi, P.F.P., Lauro, J., da Silva Gadelha, L. M., & Carthery-Goulart, M. T. (2023). Effect of interlingual homographs and word frequency on bilingual lexical access. Ilha do Desterro: A Journal of English Language Literatures in English and Cultural Studies, 76(3), 67-91. https://doi.org/10.5007/2175-8026.2023.e94613

Lauro, J., Core, C. & Hoff, E. (2020), Explaining Individual Differences in Trajectories of Simultaneous Bilingual Development: Contributions of Child and Environmental Factors. Child Dev, 91: 2063-2082. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.13409

Lauro, J., Schwartz, A. I., & Francis, W. S. (2020). Bilingual novel word learning in sentence contexts: Effects of semantic and language variation. Journal of Memory and Language, 113, Article 104123. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jml.2020.104123

Lauro, J., & Schwartz, A. I. (2019). Cognate effects on anaphor processing. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 45(3), 381–396. https://doi.org/10.1037/xlm0000601

Hoff, E., Giguere, D., Quinn, J., & Lauro, J. (2018). The Development of English and Spanish Among Children in Immigrant Families in the United States. Pensamiento educativo: revista de investigación educacional Latinoamericana, 55(2), 1–17. https://doi.org/10.7764/PEL.55.2.2018.1

Lauro, J., & Schwartz, A. I. (2017). Bilingual non-selective lexical access in sentence contexts: A meta-analytic review. Journal of Memory and Language, 92, 217–233. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jml.2016.06.010

Cognitive Training and Attentional Processing

Lauro, J., Papadakis, Z. (2026). Effects of Episodic Specificity and Acute Exercise on Visual Search and Sustained Attention in DII college athletes. Journal of Cognitive Enhancement. 10.1007/s41465-026-00373-5

Lauro, J., Papadakis, Z., & Williams, N. (2026). Attentional Processing in Athletes and Non-Athletes. Sport Sciences for Health, 22(85). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11332-026-01679-9.

Lauro, J. (2024). The effect of episodic specificity inductions on cognitive tasks involving episodic retrieval: A quantitative review. Neuropsychologia, 198C. 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2024.108884

  • WhatsApp Chat
  • Facebook Messenger
  • Live Chat
  • Ask a Question
Apply Now Contact us Visit us

Menu

The University

11300 NE 2nd Avenue
Miami Shores, FL 33161-6695

305-899-3000

University Non-Discrimination Statement

Barry University does not discriminate on the basis of race, creed, color, ethnicity, national origin, ancestry, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, genetic information, familial status, marital status, pregnancy, age, disability status or veteran status. This policy applies to students, employees, applicants and trustees with respect to participation in any program, benefit, activity or student/employment opportunity offered by the University. Every member of the University community is expected to uphold this policy as a matter of mutual respect and fundamental fairness in human relations. Every student of this institution has a responsibility to conduct himself/herself in accordance with this policy as a condition of enrollment. Further, every University employee has an obligation to observe Barry University policies and implementation of federal and state law as a term of employment. No person shall be retaliated against for reporting violations or concerns about prohibited discrimination or bias through appropriate University channels.

Barry University’s EASE Grant Performance Measures on Access Rate, Affordability Rate, Graduation Rate, Retention Rate and Postgraduate Employment Rate are specifically listed on the ICUF Dashboard at this link: icuf.org/dashboard.

©2025 Barry University, All Rights Reserved

Sign in to use the pins

Sign in Create account