Josh Medrano

Hello! I am a Postdoctoral Scholar in the Berkeley School of Education, working with Dr. Dana Miller-Cotto. I earned my Ph.D. in Human Development at University of Maryland, College Park, where I was advised by Dr. Richard Prather. In my research, I aim to understand how students engage cognitive skills when learning math and science. Specifically, I examine executive functioning and spatial/relational reasoning. The goal of this research is to inform efforts in improving math and science learning, as these foundational skills are important for later academic and career outcomes.

Email: joshmedrano(at)berkeley.edu | Google Scholar | Bluesky
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News

  • April 2024: I am excited to attend the Modern Meta-Analysis Research Institute for an intensive five-day workshop on meta-analysis in Washington, DC.
  • April 2024: My undergraduate mentees presented at the Undergraduate Symposium for Research, Scholarship and Creative Endeavors. One of them received first place among Psychological Sciences posters.
  • March 2024: I presented my first poster as a postdoc at Cognitive Development Society in Pasadena, CA.
  • October 2023: I defended my dissertation.
  • September 2023: I started a new position as Postdoctoral Scholar at Kent State University!
  • January 2023: My literature review “Rethinking executive functions in mathematical cognition” was accepted at Journal of Cognition and Development. A preprint is available here.
  • October 2022: Published with Natalie Crnosija (Public Health), Richard Prather, and Devon Payne-Sturges (Public Health) on “Bridging the environment and neurodevelopment for children’s health: Associations between real-time air pollutant exposures and cognitive outcomes” in Frontiers in Psychology.
  • May 2022: Published with Richard Prather and others on “What does cognitive science do for people?” in Cognitive Science. A preprint is available here.
  • April 2022: Received a Diversity Award from Cognitive Development Society. Posters and talks were presented on our project on air pollution exposure and cognitive and math skills.
  • May 2020: Published with Joshua Jaffe, Doug Lombardi, and others on “Students’ scientific evaluations of water” as part of a special issue in the Water journal PDF.