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Degrees: Ph.D. Alberta
Building: 2217 Dunton Tower
Phone: 613-520-2600 x2693

My research interests are in cognitive development and cognition, focusing on individual differences and developmental differences in mathematics. We are currently pursuing various topics in numerical cognition including (a) the types of mental codes adults use to solve arithmetic problems, (b) the role of working memory in mental arithmetic, and (c) the development of early numeracy skills in preschool and kindergarten children. Applied projects include research on the role of language in mathematical learning for children in elementary school and the development of tools for assessing early numeracy skill.

Students
  • James Vellan
  • Tae Bourque
  • Ayushi Chitranshi
  • Jenna Rice
  • Steph Gunning
  • Liza Kahwaji
  • Sarah Kelly
  • Alex Kirby
  • Shuyuan Yu (Post-doctoral Scholar)
  • Heather Douglas (Post-doctoral Scholar)

Ph.D. Student, Cognitive Science

Previous Degrees:

  • Master of Cognitive Science (Carleton University), B.Sc. (Laurentian University)

Research Interests:

  • Bilingualism and its effect on mathematical cognition
  • Role of domain-general and domain-specific vocabulary in bilingual children’s math performance
  • Reading difficulties, dyslexia, and approaches to intervention
  • Differences in individual’s acquisition of quantifying words (e.g., some, more, most)

Postdoctoral Scholar, Cognitive Science

Previous Degrees:

  • M.A., Psychology, the Ohio State University; Ph.D., Psychology, the Ohio State University

Research Interests:

Shuyuan is a postdoctoral researcher with Dr. Jo-Anne LeFevre. Shuyuan’s research investigates children’s mathematical development and learning mechanisms underlying conceptual changes. Her past research examines cognitive supports to facilitate fraction learning by analogy, e.g., spatial alignment between integers and fractions on number lines. She is also interested in interventions to help students with math learning disabilities. Her another research line explores the automaticity of spatial-numerical associations. Shuyuan’s current work explores early mathematics assessment to track developmental changes in early numerical skills and examine how individual differences in early numeracy profiles predict later math proficiency.

Selected Publications:

Yu, S., Kim, D., Fitzsimmons, C. J., Mielicki, M. K., Thompson, C. A., & Opfer, J. E. (2022). From integers to fractions: The role of analogy in developing a coherent understanding of proportional magnitude. Developmental Psychology, 58(10), 1912–1930. https://doi-org.proxy.lib.ohio-state.edu/10.1037/dev0001398

Yu S, Li B, Zhang M, Gong T, Li X, Li Z, et al. (2020) Automaticity in processing spatial-numerical associations: Evidence from a perceptual orientation judgment task of Arabic digits in frames. PLoS ONE 15(2): e0229130. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0229130

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