Thomas D. Griffin   Research Assistant Professor    1054D BSB    Department of Psychology    University of Illinois at Chicago    1007 W Harrison St (MC 285)    Chicago IL 60607    E-Mail: tgriffin@uic.edu

Assistant Research Professor, University of Illinois at Chicago, 2006-present 
Post-Doctoral Fellow, University of Illinois at Chicago, 2003-2006 
Ph.D., Social Psychology, Methods & Measurement Minor, UIC, 2003 
M.A., Social Psychology, University of Illinois at Chicago, 1999 
B.S., Psychology, California State University, San Marcos, 1996 

Grants

•  Project READi: Reading and Evidence-Based Argumentation in Disciplinary Instruction, Institute of Education Sciences, RFU, 7/1/10-6/30/15, $19.2 million (PI: Susan Goldman, UIC Co-PIs: Griffin, Goldman, Lawless, Pellegrino, Raphael, Shanahan, Wiley)
•  Improving Metacomprehension and Self-Regulated Learning from Scientific Texts, Institute of Education Sciences, CASL, 8/15/07-8/4/12, $1,837,208 (Joint PIs: Thomas Griffin, Keith Thiede, Jennifer Wiley)

Research Interests
My two main areas of research deal with factors that affect the acquisition of knowledge, including the influence of prior beliefs and the self-monitoring of one's cognitive processes and knowledge states. How do immediate contexts, stable individual differences, and educational experiences determine whether one engages in evidence-based reasoning, versus merely accepting conclusions based upon affective preferences? Belief formation goals can produce deviations from normative rationality (both in process and output), independent of any cognitive constraints related to knowledge, skill, or ability. The belief formation process can affect the structure of mental representations, thus impacting the ability to accurately represent and comprehend new belief-relevant information. My interest in comprehension also includes metacomprehension. I am interested in both the methodological obstacles to assessing learners' introspective monitoring of their comprehension states and in discovering factors that constrain the accuracy of this monitoring. I attempt to integrate cognitive, social, developmental, and educational perspectives to gain insights for theory and practice concerned with long-term intellectual development in real world contexts.
 

Publications:

       Griffin, T. D., Wiley, J., & Salas, C. (in press). Supporting effective self-regulated learning: The critical role of monitoring. To appear in R. Azevedo & V. Aleven (Eds.) International Handbook of Metacognition and Learning Technologies. Springer Science.

      Redford, J. S., Thiede, K. W., Wiley, J. & Griffin, T. D. (in press). Concept mapping improves metacomprehension accuracy among 7th graders. Learning & Instruction. 

       Griffin, T. D., Wiley, J. & Thiede, K. W. (2008) Individual differences, rereading, and self-explanation: Concurrent processing and cue validity as constraints on metacomprehension accuracy.  Memory & Cognition, 36(1), 93-103. 

         Wiley, J., Griffin. T. D., & Thiede, K. W. (2008). To understand your understanding you must understand what understanding means. In V. Sloutsky, B. Love, and K. McRae (Eds.), Proceedings of the 30th Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society. Austin, TX: Cognitive Science Society, Inc.       

       Newman, L. S., Caldwell, T. L., & Griffin, T. D. (2007). The undesired selves of repressors. Cognition and Emotion, 1-11. 

        Jee, B., Wiley, J., & Griffin, T. D. (2006). Expertise and the illusion of comprehension. Proceedings of the Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society, 387-392. 

       Thiede, K. W., Dunlosky, J., Griffin, T. D., & Wiley, J. (2005). Understanding the delayed keyword effect on metacomprehension accuracy. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory & Cognition, 31(6), 1267-1280. 

        Wiley, J., Griffin, T. D. & Thiede, K. W. (2005). Putting the comprehension in metacomprehension.  Journal of General Psychology, 132(4), 408-428. 

        Newman, L. S., Caldwell, T. L., Chamberlin, B., Griffin, T. D. (2005). Thought suppression, projection, and the development of stereotypes. Basic and Applied Social Psychology, 27, 259-266. 

        Griffin, T. D. (2003). Learning: Formal and Informal Reasoning. Encyclopedia of Education, 2nd Ed. Macmillan Reference, USA. 

        Skitka, L. J., Mullen, E., Griffin, T. D., Hutchinson, S., & Chamberlin, B.  (2002). Dispositions, ideological scripts, or motivated correction?  Understanding ideological differences in attributions for social problems. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 470-487. 

        Griffin, T. D., & Ohlsson, S. (2001). Knowledge versus beliefs: A necessary distinction for predicting, explaining, and assessing conceptual change. In J. Moore and K. Stenning (Eds.), Proceedings of the Twenty-Third Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Manuscripts Under Review or in Preparation:

Griffin, T. D. (under review). Accepting Evolution: Not just the skill but the will to reason about the evidence. Science. 

Jee, B., Griffin, T. D. & Wiley, J. (invited resubmission). Expert Calibration of Comprehension: Examining the Effects of Domain Knowledge on Relative and Absolute Metacomprehension Accuracy. Memory & Cognition.

Griffin, T. D. (in preparation). Mental representations of evidential versus emotional beliefs and their effect on comprehending belief-relevant information. 

Griffin, T. D. (in preparation) “Belief  Bias” in Logical Deduction: Non-normative, but Logical Use of the Identity Principle. 

Wiley, J., Griffin, T. D., & Thiede, K. W. (in preparation). Effects of Test Expectancy and Reading Instructions on Metacomprehension Accuracy.

Invited Presentations
Griffin, T. D., & Salas, C. (2011, October). Epistemology, thinking dispositions, and learning from multiple documents. Invited talk at the Workshop for Multiple Documents Learning, Institute for Educational Research, Oslo University.

Griffin, T. D., & Wiley, J. (2011, June). Argumentation Research. Invited talk at Munich Center of the Learning Sciences, Ludwig Maximillian University, Munich.

Griffin, T. D. (2010, August). Test expectancies influence metacomprehension accuracy. Invited talk at the Society for Text and Discourse, Chicago, IL.

Griffin, T. D. (2009, April). Not just the skill but the will to reason. Colloquium presented at Ludwig Maximillian University, Munich.

Griffin, T. D. (2009, March). Metacomprehension Accuracy: Accessibilty and Selection of Valid Cues. Colloquium presented at Ludwig Maximillian University, Munich.

Griffin, T. D. (2009, March). Metacomprehension Accuracy: Accessibilty and Selection of Valid Cues. Colloquium presented at Centre de Recherches sur la Cognition et l'Apprentissage. Poitiers, France.

Griffin, T. D. (2008, April). Emotion-based Belief: Intellectual Values, Resistance to Science, & Comprehension of Belief-relevant Information. Colloquium presented at the Max Planck Institute, Berlin.

Griffin, T. D. (2006, March). Bliss is ignorance: Believing what you want can hinder understanding. Colloquium presented at Northern Illinois University.

Recent Conference Presentations (past 5 years):
Wiley, J., Britt, M. A. & Griffin, T.D. (2012, April) Approaching Reading for Understanding from Multiple Sources in History and Science: Initial Studies. Paper to be presented at the 2012  AERA Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC. 

Thiede, K.W., Redford, J., Wiley, J. & Griffin, T.D. (2012, April) Curriculum Influences the Accuracy of Comprehension Monitoring among 7th Graders. Paper to be presented at the 2012  AERA Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC. 

Griffin, T. D. (2011, July). Absolute accuracy of JOLs does not reflect metacognitive monitoring processes. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Society for Text and Discourse, Poitiers, France. 

Salas, C.R., & Griffin, T.D. (2011, July). Selective use of more valid evidence-based arguments depends on the underlying basis of prior beliefs. Poster presented at the Annual Meeting of the Society for Text and Discourse, Poitiers, France. 

Salas, C.R., & Griffin, T.D. (2011, April). Belief-bases predict use of arguments varying in
evidence and affective content. Poster presented at the Midwestern Psychological
Association Meeting in Chicago, IL. 

Wiley, J., Griffin, T. D., & Britt, A. (2011, October). What is the effect of opinion-based inquiry prompts on learning from multiple documents? Talk presented at Multiple Documents Literacy Group, Oslo, Norway. 

Thiede, K., Redford, J. Wiley, J, & Griffin, t. (2011). Using concept map construction to improve metacomprehension accuracy in 7th graders.  Paper presented at the European Conference for Research on Learning and Instruction. Exeter, UK.

Jaeger, A., Wiley, J. & Griffin, T. D. (2010). Metacomprehension accuracy from illustrated text. Poster presented at the Annual Meeting of the Psychonomic Society, St. Louis, MO.

Salas, C.R., & Griffin, T.D. (2010, August). Competitive routes to belief and their impact on
future learning. Poster presented at Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society,
Portland, OR.

Salas, C.R., & Griffin, T.D. (2010, August). Testing alternative explanations for the belief basis effect on text comprehension. Poster presented at Annual Meeting of the Society for Text and
Discourse, Chicago, IL.

Salas, C.R. & Griffin T.D.(2010). A mediational analysis of the belief basis effect on text 
Comprehension. Poster presented at the Cognitive Science Annual Meeting, Portland,
OR.

Salas, C.R., & Griffin, T.D. (2010). The effect of epistemic dispositions on comprehension of belief-relevant information. Paper presented at the Midwestern Psychological Association Meeting in Chicago, IL.

Griffin, T.D., & Salas, C. R. (2009). Reduced comprehension of explanatory texts due to emotional prior beliefs and their incoherent conceptual frameworks. Poster presented at the Annual Meeting of the Psychonomic Society, Boston, MA.

Redford, J.S., Thiede, K. W., Wiley, J. & Griffin, T. D. (2009) Does Concept Mapping Improve Metacomprehension Accuracy? Poster presented at the Annual Meeting of the Psychonomic Society. 

Wiley, J., Jarosz, A, Cushen, P., Jensen, M. & Griffin, T. D. (2009) The Power of Three: Why the Third Person Matters. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Psychonomic Societ

Thiede, K. W., Redford, J. S., Griffin, T. D. & Wiley, J. (2009) Improving metacomprehension accuracy of seventh grade students.  Paper presented at the 21st Annual Convention of the Association for Psychological Science, San Francisco, CA. 
  
Braasch, J. L. G., Wiley, J., & Griffin, T. D. (2008). Who draws inferences and notices contradictions in scientific texts while reading? An individual differences analysis. Poster presented at the Annual Meeting of the Psychonomic Society, Chicago, IL.
        
Griffin, T. D. (2008). Faith: serving emotional epistemic goals rather than evidence coherence. Poster presented at the 30th Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society. Austin, TX.
        
Wiley, J., Griffin. T. D., & Thiede, K. W. (2008). To understand your understanding you must understand what understanding means. Paper presented at the 30th Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society. Austin, TX.
        
Wiley, J., Sanchez, C. A., Griffin, T. D., & Thiede, K. W. (2007, October 12) Two Routes to Improving Understanding from Expository Text: Mental Models and Metacomprehension. Developmental Science goes to School. Spencer Foundation Conference, Chicago, IL. 
      
 Thiede, K. W., Wiley, J. & Griffin, T. D. (2007) Does test expectancy affect metacomprehension accuracy? Poster presented at the Annual Meeting of the Psychonomic Society, Long Beach, CA.
        
Griffin, T. D. (2007). Individual Differences in Epistemic Goals and the Acceptance of Evolution.  Poster presented at the Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society. Nashville. 
      
Wiley, J., Sanchez, C. A., & Griffin, T. D. (2007). Designing for Understanding: The Impact of Tasks and Individual Differences on Learning Science from the Web. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Society for Text & Discourse, Glasgow, Scotland.

Thiede, K. W., Anderson, M., Wiley, J. & Griffin, T. D. (2007) Constructing Concept Maps Improves the Accuracy of Comprehension Monitoring.  Paper presented at AERA, Chicago, IL. 

        Wiley, J., Thiede, K. W. & Griffin, T. D. (2007) What does it mean to learn from and understand science text? Paper presented at AERA, Chicago, IL.

        Griffin, T. D., Wiley, J., & Thiede, K. W. (2007). Improving Metacomprehension with Comprehension Instructions. Paper presented at the Winter Text Conference, Jackson Hole, WY

        Griffin, T. D., Wiley, J., & Thiede, K. W. (2006). Interactive Effects of Rereading, Working-Memory, and Reading-Ability on Metacomprehension. Poster presented at the Annual Meeting of the Psychonomic Society, Houston, TX. 

         Thiede, K. W., Anderson, M., Griffin, T. D., & Wiley, J. (2006). Generating concept maps improves metacomprehension.  Poster presented at the Annual Meeting of the Psychonomic Society, Houston, TX. 

Griffin, T. D. (2006). Disbelief in evolution and a general tendency to favor affect over evidence.  Poster presented at the 18th Annual Convention of the Association for Psychological Science, New York, NY.

Griffin, T. D., Wiley, J., & Thiede, K. (2006). Improving Metacomprehension: Paradigms and Performance.  Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, San Francisco, CA. 

Jee, B., Wiley, J. & Griffin, T. (2006) Expertise and the illusion of comprehension. Paper presented at the Annual Conference of the Cognitive 
Science Society. Vancouver, BC. 

Teaching:
My research on evidence-based versus affect-based beliefs dovetails with my approach to teaching. My general approach is to foster students' skills in and disposition towards evidence-based reasoning within a domain and to help them grasp the logical ties between empirical methods, the quality of the evidence, and how these constrain the relative plausibility of alternative theoretical frameworks.  While certain details may be particular to the field of behaviorial science, I seek to ground these details in a larger framework of issues that are common to all scientific inquiry. 

 Courses Taught:
Spring 11: Advanced Multivariate Statistics (Graduate level)
Spring 09: Advanced Multivariate Statistics (Graduate level)
Fall     07: Introduction to Research Methods in Psychology 
Spring 07: Introduction to Research Methods in Psychology 
Fall     02: Introduction to Research Methods in Psychology 
Spring 02: Introduction to Research Methods in Psychology 

Academic Work Experience:
2003-2006, Post-Doctoral Research Associate, University of Illinois at Chicago (funded by the Institute for Education Sciences, U.S. Dept. of Education) 
2000-2000, Research Consultant, Suzuki-Orff School for Young Musicians, Chicago 1997-2002, Graduate Research Assistant, University of Illinois at Chicago 
1996-2001, Graduate Teaching Assistant, University of Illinois at Chicago 
1998-1998, Research Consultant, Public Opinion Laboratory, NIU 
1996-1996  Teaching Assistant, California State University, San Marcos 
1995-1996, Research Assistant, University of California, San Diego 

Links to Personal stuff:
 Wedding Page 
 Beer Travels