Department of Psychology

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Publications

Bae, C.L., Therriault, D.J., & Redifer, J.L. Investigating the testing effect: Retrieval as a characteristic of effective study strategies (In Press). Learning & Instruction.

Redifer, J. L., Therriault, D. J., Lee, C. S., & Schroeder, A.N. (2016). Working memory capacity and self-explanation strategy use provide additive problem-solving benefits. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 30, 420-429. doi: 10.1002/acp.3219.

The present study examined the impact of working memory capacity (WMC) on college students' ability to solve probability problems while using a self-explanation strategy. Participants learned to solve probability problems in one of three conditions: a backward-faded self-explanation condition, an example problem pairs self-explanation condition, or a control (no self-explanation) condition. Even when accounting for the impact of WMC, learning to problem-solve using self-explanation led to superior problem-solving performance. Conditions that prompted self-explanation during problem-solving resulted in significantly better problem-solving performance than the control condition. These findings provide insight into the influence of individual differences on problem-solving when strategies are provided, as well as information about the effectiveness of the self-explanation strategy during mathematical problem-solving.

 

Zhao, Q., & Redifer, J. (2016). Expecting immediate grades: Impacts on motivation, effort, and performance. SAGE Open, 6(2). First published May 2, 2016. doi: 10.1177/2158244016646413

Two experiments were conducted to investigate the effects of expecting immediate grades on numerical and verbal reasoning performance and the moderating role of achievement goals. Anticipated grade proximity (immediate vs. 1 week later) and goal orientation (approach vs. avoidance) were manipulated with instructions. Experiment 1 showed that expecting immediate grades yielded lower numerical performance than expecting delayed feedback, regardless of participants’ goal orientation. Neither grade proximity nor goal orientation impacted verbal performance. In Experiment 2, we used a stronger goal manipulation and included measures of motivation. Expecting immediate grades increased task anxiety, lowered task involvement, and lowered task effort among participants with avoidance goals, compared with expecting delayed grades. The effects on performance were not replicated in Experiment 2, however. The findings demonstrate that expecting immediate grades may have negative consequences under certain conditions, including demotivation and performance impairment.

Therriault, D. J., Redifer, J. L., Lee, C. S., Wang, Y. On Cognition, Need, and Action: Working Memory and Need for Cognition Influence Leisure Activities (2015). Applied Cognitive Psychology. 29, 81–90, doi: 10.1002/acp.3078.

The present study examined the relationships among college students' need for cognition (NFC), their working memory capacity, and their preferred leisure activities. Results indicated that scoring higher on the NFC scale was related to participants engaging in cognitively higher load leisure activities (e.g., writing) than lower load leisure activities (e.g., watching TV). We did not find a relationship between participants' cognitive ability (as measured by an attentional capacity task) and their choice of leisure activities. In sum, personal dispositions contributed to the choice and complexity of people's leisure activities, whereas cognitive ability did not. These findings provide a theoretical framework for further exploring the relationships between disposition, cognition, and action.

 

Franks, B. A., Therriault, D. J., Buhr, M. I., Chiang, E. S., Gonzalez, C. M., Kwon, H. K., Schelble*, J., & Wang, X. (2013). Looking back: Reasoning and metacognition with narrative texts. Metacognition & Learning, 8, 145-171.

This study explored the abilities of 5th, 8th, and 10th graders, and College students to reason logically about what they read. Both students’ metacognitive behavior (looking back at previously read text) and their performance on logical deduction questions were recorded and analyzed in a reading task. Conditional logic premises and deductive questions were embedded in three narratives containing premise information that was factual (True Story), contrary to fact (False Story), or unverifiable via common world knowledge (Neutral Story). The texts and questions were presented one sentence at a time on a computer screen; participants controlled the presentation of sentences. For answering the questions, three response tasks were devised. One task (labeled Generate) required readers to generate their own logical conclusions in response to deduction questions. Two tasks (labeled Valid and Invalid) required readers to evaluate logically valid or logically invalid conclusions drawn by story characters in the texts. Students in early and late adolescence looked back more when asked to evaluate logical conclusions than when asked to generate conclusions on their own; College students’ lookback frequencies were not significantly affected by response task, but were greater overall than those of younger students. With conditional forms requiring an uncertainty response (Affirmed Consequent and Denied Antecedent), readers looked back more when evaluating logically invalid conclusions than when evaluating logically valid ones. Readers of all ages were more likely to agree with story characters’ (valid) uncertain conclusions with the AC and DA forms than they were to disagree with story characters’ (invalid) certain conclusions to these forms. Both lookback frequency and performance on logic questions were lowest when readers were required to reason from contrary to fact premises.

 

Schelble*, J.L., Therriault, D.J., & Miller, M.D. (2012). Classifying retrieval strategies as a function of working memory. Memory and Cognition, 40, 218-230.

Strategy selection may help explain performance differences between individuals with high working memory capacity (HWMs) and low working memory capacity (LWMs; Budd, Whitney, & Turley, 1995; Cokely, Kelley, & Gilchrist, 2006). We compared the independent and spontaneous strategy use of HWMs and LWMs during a category fluency (retrieval) task that required participants to retrieve animal names. HWMs were more successful at the fluency task under normal conditions, but under increased cognitive load, there were no WM-related performance differences. One strategy (i.e., retrieving animals according to their scientific classification) significantly aided performance, irrespective of cognitive load. Under normal conditions, HWMs were more likely to use the effective strategy; however, under load, WM did not predict strategy use. Use of the classification strategy was more strongly related to retrieval performance than was WM. These results suggest that retrieval strategy use is related to WM capacity, and that employing a successful strategy may make up for WM disadvantages during a demanding retrieval task.

 

Schelble*, J. L., Franks, B. A., & Miller, M. D. (2010). Emotion dysregulation and academic resilience in maltreated children. Child and Youth Care Forum, 39, 289-303.

Maltreated children frequently experience academic difficulties. In the past, this has been attributed to placement instability, length of involvement with the child welfare system, and numerous other factors that disproportionately affect maltreated children. Maltreated children are also prone to emotion regulation (ER) difficulties and patterns of emotion dysregulation. Resilience (i.e., normative functioning despite having experienced maltreatment) among maltreated children is rare, particularly across multiple domains. ER has been found to predict academic performance in non-maltreated samples. In this study, the relationship between emotion dysregulation and academic performance was analyzed in a sample already at risk for academic difficulties (maltreated children). Measures of emotion dysregulation and academic performance were analyzed in a sample of maltreated children (n = 158). Linear regression analysis indicated that the absence of emotion dysregulation was significantly related to academic resilience. Late adolescence, race, and placement stability were also significantly related to academic resilience. Implications for child welfare professionals and educators of maltreated children are discussed.

Conference Presentations

Lor, Z., Redifer. J.L., & Duncan, L. (2017, May). A comparison of self-explanation and practice retrieval: Impacts of strategy and working memory capacity on verbatim recall and inference generation. Presented at the Annual Meeting of the Association for Psychological Science, Boston, MA.

Redifer, J.L., Bae, C.L., & Debusk-Lane, M. (2017, May). Cognitive load mediates the relationship between implicit beliefs and creative thinking scores. Presented at the Annual Meeting of the Association for Psychological Science, Boston, MA.

Bae, C.L., Therriault, D.J., & Redifer, J.L. (2017, May). The added benefit of coupling study strategies with retrieval practice. Presented at the Annual Meeting of the Association for Psychological Science, Boston, MA.

Adkins, D., &Redifer, J.L.(2017, May). Jamming out while studying: Impacts of music components on retrieval performance. Presented at the Annual Meeting of the Association for Psychological Science, Boston, MA.

Redifer, J.L.,Lee, C.S., & Saeedi, M.S. (2015, May). Believing that creativity cannot be improved hurts creative performance and increases cognitive load. Presented at the Annual Meeting of the Association for Psychological Science, New York, NY.

Redifer, J.L. & Fortney, C. (2015, May). Self-explanation improves recall test performance more than practice retrieval. Presented at the Annual Meeting of the Association for Psychological Science, New York, NY.

Zhao, Q., & Redifer, J. (2015, May). The demotivating effects of expecting immediate feedback for individuals with other-avoidance goal. Presented at the Annual Meeting of the Association for Psychological Science, New York, NY.

Goble, B., Zhang, J., Elliott, C., Suzuki, K., Houchens, G., Norman, A., Redifer, J., Schroeder, A., Chon, K., & Miller, S. (2015, April). The impact of Leader in Me on student engagement, social emotional skills, and dropout indicators. Presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Chicago, IL.

Redifer, J.L. & Lee, C.S. (2014, May). Creative self-efficacy and creativity beliefs influence cognitive load during creative thinking tasks. To be presented at the Annual Meeting of the Association for Psychological Science, San Francisco, CA.

Fortney**, C. & Redifer, J.L. (2014, May). Self-explanation and practice retrieval improve recall and inference test performance. To be presented at the Annual Meeting of the Association for Psychological Science, San Francisco, CA.

Schelble* Redifer, J.L., Therriault, D.J., & Lee, C.L. (2013, August). Do students know what they don’t know? Contributions of working memory capacity to metacognitive accuracy during mathematical problemsolving. Presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Psychological Association, Honolulu, HI.

Lee, C.L., Therriault, D.J., & Schelble* Redifer, J.L. (2013, August). Theories of creativity: Changing students’ beliefs about creativity as a fixed or malleable ability. Presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Psychological Association, Honolulu, HI.

Schelble*, J.L., Therriault, D.J., Lee, C.L., & Wang, X. (2012, August). Facebook or books? Student leisure activities linked to personality, cognition, and need for cognition. Presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Psychological Association, Orlando, FL.

Schelble*, J.L. & Therriault, D.J. (2012, May). Self-reported cognitive load and working memory interact to affect mathematical problem-solving. Presented at the Annual Meeting of the Association for Psychological Science, Chicago, IL.

Lee, C. S., Schelble*, J. L., Therriault, D. J., Douglas, E.P., Koro-Ljungberg, M. E., & McNeill, N. J. (2011,October.) Classroom vs. real-world problem solving in engineering: Traditional academic and cognitive factors that predict performance. 2011 National Science Foundation Day: Broader Impacts, Gainesville, FL.

Franks, B. A., Therriault, D. J., Buhr, M. I., Chiang, E. S., Gonzalez, C. M., Kwon, H. K., Schelble*, J. L., & Wang, X. (2011, June). Thinking aloud: Adolescents’ logical reasoning on a reading task. Presented at the Annual Meeting of the Jean Piaget Society, Berkeley, CA.

Schelble*, J.L. & Therriault, D.J. Working memory and strategy learning during probability problem-solving (2011, May). Presented at the Annual Meeting of the Association for Psychological Science, Washington, D.C.

Schelble*, J. L. & Therriault, D. J. (2010, May). Links between working memory and strategy use. Presented at the Annual Meeting of the Association for Psychological Science, Boston, MA.

Franks, B. A., Therriault, D. J., Buhr, M. I., Chiang, E. S., Gonzalez, C. M., Kwon, H. K., & Schelble*, J. L. (2009, April). Logical reasoning processes with narrative texts: A cognitive developmental approach. Presented at the Biennial Meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development, Denver, CO.

*My last name changed from Schelble to Redifer in 2013.

** Denotes WKU student coauthor.