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PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR |
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Janet Metcalfe
Current research centers on how people know what they know, that is, their metacognitive abilities, and whether they use this evolutionarily unique ability efficaciously--for effective self-control. We have been studying people's abilities to make judgments of their own learning, focusing on a theoretical perspective that proposes that they are able to hone in on their own Region of Proximal Learning--items on which further study yield maximum learning payoffs. Recent theoretical efforts have been directed at clearly specifying the heuristics underlying how people isolate this region. Thus, we investigate what it is that people choose to study. However, it is also necessary to investigate whether what they choose to study is advantageous or not. Of course, the limitations in human metacognitive judgments figure large in this research program. (Curriculum Vitae) |
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POST-DOCTORAL FELLOWS |
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David Miele
My primary research interests are in the area of self-regulated learning. My work in this area has focused on cognitive and motivational differences in how people metacognitively assess their own learning and then use these assessments to control their study. (Personal Web Page)
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GRADUATE STUDENTS |
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Karen Kelly, 4th Year PhD
In very broad terms I am interested in understanding the self, self-awareness, and deficits in self-awareness. Specifically, I would like to purse the questions related to how individuals understand themselves and their abilities (metacognition) and how this relates to their ability to understand others (Theory of Mind). I am particularly interested in exploring deficits in these areas to better understand their developmental and evolutionary significance.
I am also hoping to explore agency and the specific conditions under
which individuals feel in control of events along with factors that contribute to errors in judgments of agency. Ultimately, the way that metacognition, agency, and (although in a different sense) Theory of Mind contribute to the overall sense of knowing one's self.
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Barbie Jean Huelser, 2nd Year PhD
I am interested in investigating how to apply what we have learned from the field cognitive psychology to enhance student learning and how social factors, such as motivation, might mediate memory and learning.
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AFFILIATED GRADUATE STUDENTS |
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Elina Kanellopoulou, 3rd Year PhD
I was born in Athens, Greece where I lived until the age of 18 when I
completed the International Baccalaureate Bilingual Diploma. I
obtained a Bachelors of Arts and a Masters from the University of
Oxford, UK where I majored in Mathematics and Philosophy (MMathPhil).
My anthropocentric focus in my philosophy studies and a desire to
employ a more applied approach to the issues I was interested in was
what led me to the field of experimental psychology. In my current
project with Prof. Janet Metcalfe we are looking into people’s sense
of being in control and the implications that different levels of
control have on processes such as learning, creativity and strategy
formation. I am also engaged in another line of research with Prof.
Betsy Sparrow, on existential awareness and its implications on
decision making.
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Ljubica Chapman, 3rd Year PhD
After having studied Developmental Psychology at the University of Belgrade, I came to Columbia to complete my undergraduate degree in Psychology. I have worked with COCI, Cherish Our Children International, and organized fundraisers to raise money for orphaned children in Belgrade.
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Matthew Kirkpatrick, 5th Year PhD
In general my interests lie in better understanding the acute cognitive effects produced by drugs of abuse and factors that may mediate drug-taking behavior. Currently, I am investigating judgments of metacognition of agency under acute methamphetamine administration.
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Jared Van Snellenberg, 6th Year PhD
Broadly speaking, I am interested in how it is that the brain instantiates our internal mental experiences. More specifically, I'm interested in the functional neuroimaging of higher cognitive processes (particularly working memory and cognitive control) and in what can be revealed about normal cognition by studying patient populations. To this end, I am currently working on a project with Ed Smith and Janet Metcalfe on binding (i.e. the process by which multiple aspects of a stimulus or event become associated with each other in memory) and the possibility that it underlies both episodic memory formation and multiple-category learning. As an undergraduate at Simon Fraser University, I also carried out electro-and magnetoencephalographic studies of working memory as well as a meta-analysis of functional neuroimaging studies of working memory in schizophrenia.
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