 in Experimental Psychology in 1999.She continued her education, receiving a PhD in Psychology and Cognitive Neuroscience at the University of Arizona in 2005, where she worked under the supervision of Lynn Nadel and focused on the effects of stress on memory.Payne completed two postdoctoral fellowships (2005-2009), the first at the Harvard Medical School where she worked under the supervision of Robert Stickgold, and the second at Harvard University where she worked with Daniel Schacter and Robert Stickgold.