2-159 - Applications of Cognitive Science Research: Contributions to Education Across Levels of Analysis

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Integrative Statement

Cognitive science research can generate educationally-relevant knowledge, for instance, by elucidating the mechanisms that support school-relevant learning (De Smedt & Grabner, 2016). However, current challenges, including the ecological validity of laboratory-based research (Mayer, 2017; Ansari & Lyons, 2016) and an underrepresentation of theories of teaching (Battro, 2010), limit applicability to educational contexts. This symposium shares interdisciplinary work across behavioral, neural, and computational levels of analysis to highlight the contributions of cognitive science research to education and to address key challenges for moving forward. Paper 1 uses a longitudinal design to show that early childhood emotion knowledge predicts later mathematics and reading achievement for children of color, and this relation differs for US-born compared to immigrant children. Paper 2 uses longitudinal neuroimaging to show that children who do not improve their multiplication fact fluency over two years have greater functional connectivity among brain regions that support effortful arithmetic processing compared to children who improve. Paper 3 addresses overcoming methodological challenges of ecological validity in translating cognitive science research to educational contexts by presenting experimental designs that combine theoretically-grounded research with stimuli based on real-world K-16 curricula. Paper 4 informs theories of teaching by using computational methods to more precisely model optimal teaching methods, in order to better understand learning behavior. Through the use of advanced and innovative approaches, this set of papers illustrates the breadth of opportunities for integrative connections between cognitive science and education. Such connections can improve educational outcomes related to learning and teaching.

Sub Unit

• Attention, Learning, Memory

Chairs

• Rebecca Emily Martin, New York University

• Courtney Pollack, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Individual Presentations

• Early Emotion Knowledge and Later Academic Achievement among Children of Color from Low-Income Families - Presenting Author: Alexandra Ursache, New York University School of Medicine; Non-Presenting Author: Kathleen Gouley, NYU School of Medicine; Non-Presenting Author: Gabriela Barajas-Gonzalez, NYU School of Medicine; Non-Presenting Author: Spring Dawson-McClure, New York University; Non-Presenting Author: Keith Goldfeld, NYU School of Medicine; Non-Presenting Author: Laurie Brotman, NYU School of Medicine

• Lower Math Gains are Associated With Lack of Automaticity of Multiplication Facts in Long-Term Memory - Presenting Author: Macarena Suarez-Pellicioni, Vanderbilt University; Non-Presenting Author: Jérôme Prado, Institut des Sciences Cognitives, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS); Université de Lyon; Non-Presenting Author: James Booth, Vanderbilt University

• Using K-16 Curricular Materials in Cognitive Psychology Experiments - Presenting Author: Priya Kalra, University of Wisconsin-Madison

• Optimizing Learning using Machine Teaching - Presenting Author: Pamela J Osborn Popp, NYU Center for Neural Science; Non-Presenting Author: Todd Gureckis, New York University