Research

I study how individuals’ characteristics and contexts play a role in how they think and learn.

Learning

  • Scaffolds and conceptual change in science[1]
  • Perceptual cues[2,3]
  • External memory aids[4]
  • Fading[5]

Cognition

  • Executive functions in mathematical and science cognition[6–8]
  • Inhibitory control in arithmetic[7]
  • Spatial skills[9,10]

Context

  • The effects of air pollution[11]
  • Subgroup differences in Asian American children’s school readiness[12]

References

1. Medrano, J., Jaffe, J., Lombardi, D., Holzer, M. A., & Roemmele, C. (2020). Students’ scientific evaluations of water resources. Water, 12(7). https://doi.org/10.3390/w12072048
2. Medrano, J., & Prather, R. W. Interactions between perceptual cues and working memory during mental arithmetic: A dual-task experiment.
3. Miller-Cotto, D., Borriello, G. A., Medrano, J., & Zaborowski, S. When training is inconclusive: Making a case for supporting instead of training executive functions.
4. Medrano, J., & Miller‐Cotto, D. (2025). Understanding working memory as a facilitator of math problem‐solving: Offloading as a potential strategy. British Journal of Educational Psychology, bjep.12767. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjep.12767
5. Miller‐Cotto, D., & Medrano, J. (2025). Does working memory moderate the effect of fading on math performance? British Journal of Educational Psychology.
6. Medrano, J., Mohan, S., & Lombardi, D. (2025). Cognitive flexibility moderates shifts in plausibility judgments of claims about climate change. Discourse Processes.
7. Medrano, J., & Prather, R. W. (2023). Rethinking Executive Functions in Mathematical Cognition. Journal of Cognition and Development, 24(2), 280–295. https://doi.org/10.1080/15248372.2023.2172414
8. Medrano, J., & Prather, R. W. Associations between inhibitory control and arithmetic: A cross-sectional study.
9. Medrano, J., Borriello, G., & Miller-Cotto, D. A meta-analysis of the correlations between executive functions and spatial skills.
10. Medrano, J., Devlin, B., Shingledecker, M., Thompson, C. A., & Miller-Cotto, D. Individual differences in fraction understanding and relations to EF and spatial/relational reasoning.
11. Medrano, J., Crnosija, N., Prather, R. W., & Payne-Sturges, D. (2022). Bridging the environment and neurodevelopment for children’s health: Associations between real-time air pollutant exposures and cognitive outcomes. Frontiers in Psychology, 13. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.933327
12. Medrano, J., & Miller‐Cotto, D. Examining subgroup differences in school readiness and math achievement in asian american children through the opportunity-propensity model.