Wiley Eyetracking and Cognition Laboratory
	2068-75 Behavioral Sciences Building     (312) 996-5591     Principal Investigator: Jennifer Wiley, PhD     1054B BSB  (312) 355-2501 jwiley@uic.edu
	Many lines of research in the lab focus on the effects of domain knowledge, working memory capacity and spatial ability on learning from text and problem solving.  We also explore the role of constructing causality-based situation models in text comprehension and metacomprehension.  Current projects are funded by the Cognition and Student Learning Program of the Institute for Educational Sciences, and the National Science Foundation, with previous funding from the Office of Naval Research, and the Paul G. Allen Virtual Education Foundation. We use a number of different methodologies to investigate the contexts that promote the most successful text comprehension and problem solving.  Manipulations in text and problem features, recall and verification tasks, open-ended problem solving, video and think-aloud protocols, gesture and discourse analysis, sketching and essay writing tasks are all used to provide converging evidence about what contexts may lead to the best understanding and performance.  Investigations also typically use an individual differences approach looking at differences in domain knowledge, working memory capacity and spatial ability, their effects on performance, and aptitude-by-treatment interactions. In addition, eyetracking is often used to provide additional information about patterns of processing, by recording how long people spend looking at different parts of texts, images or problems. We use two eyetrackers, one is a Fourward Dual-Purkinje-Image (DPI) Eyetracker. The second is a headmounted EYELINK II from SR Research which provides greater range of movement and more naturalistic computer use during tracking.
Alumni: Robert Ariel   now PhD Student at Kent State Ivan Ash  now Asst Prof at Old Dominion Tim Miura  now Visiting Asst Prof at Loyola Ben Jee  now PostDoc at Northwestern Mindy Jensen  now PhD student at UIUC Chris Sanchez  now Asst Prof at Ariz State Greg Colflesh now PostDoc at GaTech Jason Braasch now PostDoc at CNRS, Poitiers France	Current Lab Members: <> Jennifer Wiley Thomas Griffin, Assistant Research Professor in Psychology, UIC Patrick Cushen, Graduate Student Researcher Travis Ricks, Graduate Student Researcher Andrew Jarosz, Graduate Student Researcher Scott Hinze, Graduate Student Researcher Allison Jaeger, Graduate Student Researcher Carlos Salas, Graduate Student Researcher

Undergraduate Research Assistants Fall 2009:
Arina Ratner, Ilse Salinas, Muhammad Haq, Hassan Noorani,

Undergraduate Research Assistants Spring 2009:
Toral Patel, Erik Schuster, Erin Strand, Natalie Kats, Stephanie Stolen, Jennifer Suk, Arina Ratner, Zaineb Darabu, Camille Spurgeon

Undergraduate Research Assistants Fall 2008:
Kelly Painter, Toral Patel, Erik Schuster, Rak Mehta, Jonathan Jackson, Zaineb Darabu, Sarah Browne

Undergraduate Research Assistants Summer 2008:
Erik Schuster, Carlos Salas

Current Funding and Projects:

In this IES funded project, we are investigating whether and when students can make accurate judgements of their own understanding of scientific texts. The current grant on this topic is looking at how practice tests, reading instructions and feedback on both test performance and metacomprehension accuracy can improve metacomprehension skill.  We are also extending our work into middle school grades.  Jason Braasch and Scott Hinze have both collaborated on projects related to this grant, including investigating how practice tests may affect later performance on tests of comprehension, and individual differences in metacomprehension skill and the ability to notice contradictions. For more information on findings and publications, see the grant page linked above. The previous grant (03-07) is described here: Metacomprehension and Learning from Science Text.

REESE: Supporting Whole-Class Investigations with Spatial Simulations in Science (SWISS)
Tom Moher, PI, Computer Science, UIC
Co-PIs: Jennifer Wiley (Psychology), Joel Brown (Biology) and Debi Kilb (UCSD)
Allison Jaeger, Graduate Research Assistant

This NSF-funded project explores how the temporal and spatial embeddness of simulation activities can improve learning about complex scientific phenomena (earthquakes and ecosystems).

CAREER: Costs and Benefits of Small Group Problem Solving
Mindy Jensen, Research Specialist (now in PhD program at UIUC)
Pat Cushen, Graduate Research Assistant
Andrew Jarosz, Graduate Research Assistant
Scott Hinze, Graduate Research Assistant
Travis Ricks, Graduate Research Assistant
Thomas Griffin, Assistant Research Professor

This project is investigating the specific group processes and behaviors that may lead to positive learning gains from group work.  Pat Cushen and Andy Jarosz are interested generally in effective problem solving and assist on studies related to this grant.  Thomas Griffin is a collaborator on the investigation of group activities in a course context.  Travis Ricks and Scott Hinze also assisted with the course-related research.

IHRP Pilot Grant: Executive Function and Alcohol Use: Precursors and Consequences
PIs: Jennifer Wiley & Jon Kassel, Psychology, UIC with collaborator Raul Gonzales, Psychiatry
Past Collaborator: Greg Colflesh, Graduate Student Researcher
Andy Jarosz is also assisting with this project.

This project explores the effects of alcohol use on attention, and possible interactions with individual differences in WMC.  Greg Colflesh is investigating these ideas as his dissertation project, which has also received support through an APA Dissertation Award.

Individual Differences in Working Memory Capacity

Travis Ricks, Graduate Research Assistant
Andy Jarosz, Graduate Research Assistant
Pat Cushen, Graduate Research Assistant
Scott Hinze, Graduate Research Assistant
Thomas Griffin, Research Professor, UIC

Mindy Jensen, Research Specialist (now in PhD Program at UIUC)
Tim Miura, Visiting Assistant Professor, Loyola University, Chicago.
Greg Colflesh, now Post Doc at GaTech
Chris Sanchez,  now Asst Professor at Arizona State
Ivan Ash,  now Asst Professor at ODU
Andy Conway, Princeton University, Collaborator

We have investigated the effects of individual differences in working memory capacity on attentional tasks (Colflesh, Hinze & Miura), problem solving (Ash, Cushen, Colflesh, Jarosz & Ricks), skill acquisition (Hinze) and text comprehension (Sanchez & Ricks).  We have also explored WMC in bilingual populations (Sanchez & Miura) and individual differences in WMC in the context of metacomprehension tasks (Griffin).

Causal Models, Text Comprehension, and Decision Making
Tom Trabasso, University of Chicago (deceased)
Ivan Ash, Now at ODU

Before Tom Trabasso passed away, we started collaborating on several lines of research investigating how causality-based representations of texts can explain several decision making effects (availability, simulation, hindsight).  Ivan Ash elaborated on these ideas in his dissertation on hindsight bias.

Ash, I. K. (2009). Surprise, memory, and retrospective judgment making: Testing cognitive reconstruction theories of the hindsight bias effect. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition.

Trabasso, T. & Wiley, J. (in press) What happens at reunions? Exploring causal connections and their role in reunion effects. Discourse Processes.

Trabasso, T. & Wiley, J. (2005) Goal plans of action and inferences during comprehension of narratives. Discourse Processes, 39, 129-164.

Prior Funding:

ROLE: Taking a Critical Stance on Internet Sources (2001-4)
Susan Goldman, Co- PI, UIC
Art Graesser, Co- PI, University of Memphis
Chris Sanchez, now Asst Professor at Arizona State
Ivan Ash, now Asst Professor at Old Dominion University

In this project we investigated how readers learn from multiple internet sources on scientific subject matter, and what specific digital literacy skills they need before they can benefit from online research tasks.  The short answer is that learning from the internet relies on the ability to discriminate reliable from unreliable information.   The first major report of this work is now available:

Wiley, J., Goldman, S., Graesser, A., Sanchez. C., Ash,  I. & Hemmerich, J. (in press) Source evaluation, comprehension, and learning in internet science inquiry tasks. American Educational Research Journal.

Chris Sanchez helped with this project. His interests are more generally in learning from text, images and the web. He designed the reliability training exercise that was effective for improving learning from online sources. He is now a faculty member at ASU.  Ivan Ash assisted with the original design of the websites and the first set of eyetracking studies.  His main research interests are in decision making and problem solving, and generally how people build representations of problems.  He is now a faculty member at ODU.

Metacomprehension and Learning from Science Text  (2003-7)
PIs: Jennifer Wiley and Keith Thiede, Educational Psychology, Boise State
Thomas Griffin, Research Professor, UIC
Consultant: John Dunlosky, Kent State University

In this IES funded project, we investigated whether and when students can make accurate judgements of their own understanding of scientific texts and found substantial improvements using delayed summary and keyword tasks, as well as self-explantation and re-reading tasks.  Please see the grant page linked above for more information on our results and publications.

ROLE: Making the Invisible Visible: Children and Teachers Learning about Physical States and State Changes (2005-8)
Nancy Stein, PI, University of Chicago
Tom Trabasso, University of Chicago (now deceased, replaced on grant by Jim Pellegrino)
Florencia Anggoro, Post Doctoral Research Fellow (now faculty at GSU)
Melinda Jensen, Research Specialist (now in PhD program at UIUC)

In this project we are investgating how articulating the important causal relations underlying a scientific phenomena (how water changes to ice and gas) improves elementary school students' understanding of the content.  Similarly, we are investigating how depicting important relations in static drawings and animations improves comprehension.  Mindy Jensen also assisted with this project.

    Experts as Goal-Based Problem Solvers (2002-4)
Ben Jee, Pre-doctoral Fellow (now Postdoc at Northwestern University).
Ben Jee is interested in expertise and how it primes concepts in memory, as well as how the experience of problem solving in a domain contributes to expert knowledge and categorization. Ben received an NSERC Fellowship and a University Fellowship to support this research.

Jee, B. & Wiley, J. (2007) How goals affect the organization and use of domain knowledge. Memory & Cognition, 35, 837-51.

ONR: Learning from Web Pages: Images and Overviews (2000-2003)
Chris Sanchez,  now Asst Professor at Arizona State

Chris Sanchez was a collaborator on this grant examining learning from web pages by looking at the effects of overviews, images, and scrolling on the understanding of complex subject matter.

Sanchez, C. & Wiley, J. (2006) Effects of working memory capacity on learning from illustrated text. Memory & Cognition, 34(2), 344-355.

Wiley, J. (2003) Cognitive and educational implications of visually-rich media: Images and imagination. In M. Hocks and M. Kendrick (Eds.) Eloquent images: Word and Image in the Age of New Media. MIT Press.

Wiley, J. (2001) Supporting understanding through task and browser design. Proceedings of the Twenty-third annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society, (pp. 1136-1143). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

Paul G. Allen Virtual Education Foundation: Impacts of Browser Design on Learning (2000-2010)
Ivan Ash,  now Asst Professor at ODU
Chris Sanchez,  now Asst Professor at Arizona State

Ivan Ash and Chris Sanchez assisted with projects on the effects of individual differences in prior knowledge and working memory capacity on learning from web pages and how the design of pages affects the understanding of complex subject matter.

Wiley, J. & Ash, I. (2005) Multimedia learning in history.  In R. Mayer (Ed.) The Cambridge Handbook of Multimedia Learning (pp. 375-391). Cambridge University Press.

Wiley, J., Sanchez, C. & Moher, T. (2005) Research in instructional technology. In J. M. Royer (Ed.), The Impact of the Cognitive Revolution on Educational Psychology (pp. 231-248). Information Age Publishing: Greenwich, CT.

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