Marci DeCaro, PhD

Associate Professor

Education

Postdoctoral Fellowship, Vanderbilt University, 2009-2011

PhD, Miami University, 2009

Research Interests

My research program investigates the cognitive processes that support learning and performance. The primary focus of my current research is to examine how understanding of human cognition can be applied to improve educational instruction. I also study problem solving, particularly the factors that lead to more flexible or creative problem-solving approaches. This work is conducted in both the laboratory and classroom.

Select Publications

A complete list, and links to full-text versions, can be found on my lab website.

• DeCaro, M. S., & Van Stockum, C. A. Jr. (2023). Reconcilable differences: Working memory capacity both supports and hinders insight. International Handbook of Creative Cognition (Eds. Linden Ball and Frederic Vallee-Tourangeau). doi:10.4324/9781003009351-22

• McClellan, D. K., Chastain, R. J., & DeCaro, M. S. (2023). Embedding cognitive prompts in an online science lecture improves learning. Journal of Computing in Higher Education. doi: 0.1007/s12528-023-09379-w
• Bush, J., DeCaro, M. S., & DeCaro, D. A. (2023). Playing a social dilemma game as an exploratory learning activity before instruction improves conceptual understanding. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied. doi:10.1037/xap0000470Van 
• Stockum, C. A. Jr., & DeCaro, M. S. (2020). When working memory mechanisms compete: Predicting cognitive flexibility versus mental set. Cognition, 201. doi:10.1016/j.cognition.2020.104313
• Newman, P. M., & DeCaro, M. S. (2019). Learning by exploring: How much guidance is optimal? Learning and Instruction, 62, 49-63. doi:10.1016/j.learninstruc.2019.05.00
• Weaver, J. P., Chastain, R. J., DeCaro, D. A., & DeCaro, M. S. (2018). Reverse the routine: Problem solving before instruction improves conceptual knowledge in undergraduate physics. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 52, 36-47. doi:10.1016/j.cedpsych.2017.12.003
• DeCaro, M. S. (2016). Inducing mental set constrains procedural flexibility and conceptual understanding in mathematics. Memory and Cognition, 44, 1138-1148. doi:10.3758/s13421-016-0614-y
• DeCaro, M. S., Van Stockum, C. A., & Wieth, M. B. (2016). When higher working memory capacity hinders insight. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 42, 39-49. doi:10.1037/xlm0000152
• Bellinger, D. B., DeCaro, M. S., & Ralston, P. A. S. (2015). Mindfulness, anxiety, and high-stakes mathematics performance in the laboratory and classroom. Consciousness and Cognition, 37, 123-132. doi:10.1016/j.concog.2015.9.001
• DeCaro, M. S., & Rittle-Johnson, B. (2012). Exploring mathematics problems prepares children to learn from instruction. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 113, 552-568.
• DeCaro, M. S., Thomas, R. D., Albert, N. B., & Beilock, S. L. (2011). Choking under pressure: Multiple routes to skill failure. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 140, 390-406.

Courses Often Taught

Undergraduate

• Experimental Psychology
• Experimental Psychology (Distance Education)
• Seminar: Working Memory in Everyday Life
• Seminar: Applying Cognitive Psychology to Education

Graduate

• Cognitive Processes
• Working Memory
• Cognition and Instruction