My
research interests generally include how to encourage learning in
older adulthood, with a focus on ways to foster learning. I am also
interested in translational work on memory training programs. My joint
background in education (M.Ed, 2002) and psychology (MA, 2006) provides
a foundation on which to build a research program linking practices known
to encourage learning at younger ages with programs designed to improve the
learning skills of older people. Because there is a large body of research
in educational psychology that addresses techniques for fostering adaptive
learning beliefs among students, I believe such factors can also be encouraged
among older adults to produce similar learning benefits. My mentor, Dr.
Robin West, has been very effective in showing that training programs, as well
as goal manipulations, can improve not only performance, but also the
self-efficacy and control beliefs of older adults.
I am interested in both ability and
non-ability factors that influence learning goals and training outcomes of older
adults. My main ability factor of interest is cognitive
impairment, and what effect this may have on training
outcomes. With regard to non-ability factors, I am
interested in self-efficacy, control beliefs, goal orientation, and their
relationships with actual performance, and both immediate and long-term training
outcomes. Largely due to aging stereotypes, many older adults believe
their memory ability is low and relatively out of their control (because it is
due to an uncontrollabe cause, namely, age). I am interested in what
effect these beliefs may have on older adults' motivation and training outcomes,
and ways to modify such beliefs to make them more adaptive for
learning.
My career goals involve translational
research and work with policymakers to improve the lives of older Americans by
encouraging strategy education and active memory participation at all
ages. Further, I plan to explore ways to make lifelong learning programs
available to as many people as possible, regardless of cognitive status,
existing beliefs about ability, and proximity to training
sites.
Supervisor: Dr. Robin
West, University of Florida
I have begun the process of
collecting pilot data for this project, which is likely to be my dissertation
project. Research has suggested that children who hold learning goals
(concerned with development of mastery) perform better, use more effective
strategies, and persist longer in the face of failure than children who
hold performance goals (concerned with demonstrating ability), particularly when
perceived ability is low (see Dweck, 1986). This project will examine
whether encouraging a learning goal orientation can also have benefits for
older adult learning, replicating a study conducted by Graham and Golan
(1991). Completed tasks have included obtaining IRB approval, assembling
the mail packet for participants, writing interview scripts and a coding guide,
scheduling and conducting interviews, and entering and analyzing data; these
data showed a relationship between goal orientation and performance.
Supervisors: Dr. Kimberly Case, and Dr. Keith Berg, University of
Florida
In order to learn fMRI methodolgy, I am currently
working as a research assistant on this project. This project involves
training older and younger adults on the Tower of London (an executive
functioning task) and examining performance as well as fMRI data collected while
participants are solving the task. Responsibilities have included training
participants on the Tower of London, preparing the fMRI scanner, and running
fMRI scans. Once all the data is collected, I will be trained and involved
in analyzing fMRI data. Preliminary fMRI analyses suggest frontal and parietal
activation in the younger adult subjects, typical for this type of
paradigm. Behavioral analyses show both younger and older adults
benefitting from strategy training.
Supervisors: Dr. Alissa
Dark-Freudeman and Dr. Robin
West, University of Florida
This project is presently funded by
Alissa Dark-Freudeman’s NRSA. It examines individuals who had identified
cognitive ability as a key part of their identity, and the impact of age and
self-perceived competence on their performance, task-related anxiety, and
motivation. Future publications are expected showing the impact of
self-perceived competence and aging on adults’ willingness to engage in
cognitive challenges. Responsibilities have included supervision of data coding,
assisting with conference posters (2008-Cognitive Aging Conference and
Gerontological Society of America), and helping train undergraduate reseach
assistants in conducting phone interviews with older
adults.
Supervisors: Dr. Robin West
and Dr. Susan
Percival, University of Florida
This project was a joint effort
with the department of Food Science and Human Nutrition (FSHN), funded by the
Welch’s corporation. Participants were randomly assigned to consume either
a placebo or grape juice daily, and participated in cognitive assessments and
two blood draws. Data is being analyzed. As project manager, my responsibilities
included recruitment, serving as primary experimenter for participant
assessment, developing workbooks for weekly participant self-assessment, writing
assessment scripts, training research assistants to administer cognitive
assessments by phone, developing data coding protocols, overseeing data
collection and coding, collaborating and communicating with colleagues in FSHN,
and leading lab meetings. A reliability and vaildity analysis of the
assessments, comparing telephone outcomes to personal interview outcomes, was
presented at the 2008 Cognitive Aging Conference.
Supervisor: Dr. Robin
West, University of Florida
This project was a secondary data
analysis of a training program designed by Dr. West. A group-based memory
intervention for older adults improved memory performance, control beliefs, and
self-efficacy (West et al., 2008). My project examined the impact of a matched
self-help version. Results revealed improved memory performance and
control beliefs in both the group-based and self-help versions, but only those
in the group-based program improved memory self-efficacy. Responsibilities
included analyzing data, supervising the transcription of story recall
protocols, learning and programming text analysis software to score recall
protocols, and writing the manuscript which has been accepted for publication
pending revisions and won the 2009 Leighton E. Cluff Award for Aging Research at
the University of Florida. Some results were presented at the 2007 conference of
the Gerontological Society of America and will be presented at the 2009
conference of the American Psychological Association.
Supervisor: Dr. Adam
Winsler, George Mason University
The objective of this project
was to examine the relationship between playing video games and problem
behaviors in early-elementary aged children. Academic outcomes were also
examined. Playing violent games was related to troublesome behavioral and
academic outcomes, but playing educational games was related to positive
outcomes. Boys played more violent games than girls, and parents who
reported high levels of monitoring had children who played more educational
games and fewer games with human violence. Neither gender nor parental
monitoring emerged as significant moderators of the effects of video game
violence on school performance or behavior.
Supervisor: Dr. Elyse Lehman, George Mason University
The
aim of this project was to examine discrepant beliefs between parents and
teachers regarding the development of attention. Results suggested that
teachers were more likely than mothers to rank the child’s role as very
important for the development of his/her own attention ability, to cite possible
medical and genetic causes for problems with attention, and to endorse the
importance of discipline and structure in the home for the development of
attention. Mothers defined attention more broadly than teachers, including
aspects of attention such as the sustaining dimension. Teachers mainly
included staying focused and avoiding distractions in their definitions of
attention. Overall, however, teachers seemed to be more knowledgeable
about attention than mothers.