Publications

2024

• Velić, L., & DeCaro, M. S. (in press). Comparing effectiveness of exploratory learning activities given before instruction: Generating multiple strategies vs. inventing one strategy. Instructional Science.
• DeCaro, M. S., Bego, C. R., Velić, L., & Newman, P. M. (in press). Increasing contrasting cases during exploration or practice problems given before or after instruction. Instructional Science.
• Douin, T., DeCaro, M. S., Hieb, J. L., Chastain, R. J., & Fuselier, L. (in press). Participation in a discipline-based education research project mitigates barriers and enhances drivers to teaching reform differently across faculty positions and departments. Cogent Education.
• DeCaro, D. A., DeCaro, M. S., Janssen, M., Lee, A. Graci, A. A., & Flener, D. (2024). Learning from regulatory failure: How Ostrom’s restorative justice design principle helps naïve groups create wiser enforcement systems to overcome the tragedy of the commons. PLOS ONE, 19(8): e0307832. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0307832

• DeCaro, M. S., Bego, C. R., Thompson, A., & Velic, L. (2024). Exploratory learning for Python error messages: Looking beyond the learning outcomes. Proceedings of the IEEEFrontiers in Education conference.

2023

• DeCaro, M. S., Isaacs, R., Bego, C. R., & Chastain, R. J. (2023). Bringing exploratory learning online: Problem-solving before instruction improves remote undergraduate physics learning.Frontiers in Education, 8.
• 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).
• 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.
• 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/xap0000470
• Bego, C. R.,Thompson, A., Patrick, R., Chastain, R. J., Hieb, J., Fuselier, L., & DeCaro, M. S. (2023). Exploration with ellipses helps students learn transferrable isometric drawing skills.Proceedings of theAmerican Society for Engineering Education.
• Bego, C. R., Thompson, A. K., Crockett, C., Chastain, R. J., Hieb, J., Fuselier, L., Patrick, R., & DeCaro, M. S. (2023). Exploratory learning in engineering programming. Proceedings of the IEEE Frontiers in Education conference.

2022

• Bego, C. B., Chastain, R. J., & DeCaro, M. S. (2022). Designing novel activities before instruction: Use of contrasting cases and a rich dataset.British Journal of Educational Psychology, 93, 299-317. doi:10.1111/bjep.12555
• DeCaro, D. A., & DeCaro, M. S.(2022). Politically-polarized perceptions of governmental autonomy-support impact internal motivations to comply with U.S. COVID-19 safety guidelines.Motivation and Emotion. doi:10.1007/s11031-022-09974-x
• DeCaro, D. A., DeCaro, M. S.,Hotaling, J., & Appel, R. (2022). Formalizing the fundamental Faustian bargain: Inefficacious decision-makers sacrifice their freedom of choice to coercive leaders for economic security. PLoS ONE, 17(9): e0275265. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0275265 
• DeCaro, M. S., McClellan, D. K., Powe, A., Franco, D., Chastain, R. J., Hieb, J. L., & Fuselier, L. (2022). Exploring an online simulation before lecture improves undergraduate chemistry learning. Proceedings of the International Society of the Learning Sciences.

• Derkson, S. N., & DeCaro, M. S. (2022). Does problem solving before instruction reduce the minoritized student achievement gap?Proceedings of the International Society of the Learning Sciences.

2021

• Hieb, J., DeCaro, M. S., & Chastain, R. J. (2021). Work in Progress: Exploring before instruction using an online Geogebra™ activity in introductory engineering calculus.Proceedings of theAmerican Society for Engineering Education.  
• Farag, A., Ali, A., Alkabbany, I., Foreman, C., Tretter, T., DeCaro, M. S.,& Hindy, N. C. (2021). Toward a quantitative engagement monitor for STEM education. Proceedings of theAmerican Society for Engineering Education.  
• Weaver, J. P., Ralston, P. A. S., & DeCaro, M. S. (2021). Limited support for use of a social-belonging intervention with first-year engineering students. Journal for STEM Education Research, 4, 47-72. doi:10.1007/s41979-020-00041-z

2020

• Van Stockum, C. A. Jr., & DeCaro, M. S. (2020). When working memory mechanisms compete: Predicting cognitive flexibility versus mental set.Cognition. doi:10.1016/j.cognition.2020.104313
• DeCaro, D. A., DeCaro, M. S., Hotaling, J., & Johnson, J. G. (2020). Procedural utility in decision making: Trading freedom of choice to avoid economic losses.Judgment and Decision Making, 15, 517-533.
• Neace, S. M., Hicks, A. M., DeCaro, M. S., & Salmon, P. G. (2020). Trait mindfulness and intrinsic exercise motivation uniquely contribute to exercise self-efficacy.Journal of American College Health. doi:10.1080/07448481.2020.1748041
• Farag, A., Ali, A., Alkabbany, I., Foreman, C., DeCaro, M. S., & Tretter, T. (2020). Towards a multi-dimensional biometric approach to real-time measurement of student engagement in the STEM classroom. Proceedings of the American Society for Engineering Education.

2019

• 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.2019.05.005
• Fries, L., DeCaro, M. S., & Ramirez, G. (2019). The lure of seductive details during lecture learning. Journal of Educational Psychology, 111, 736-749. doi:10.1037/edu0000301

• Bellinger, D. B., & DeCaro, M. S. (2019). Note-taking format and difficulty impact learning from instructor-provided lecture notes.Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 72, 2807-2819. doi:10.1177/1747021819879434

2018

• DeCaro, M. S. (2018). When does higher working memory capacity help or hinder insight problem solving? In F. Vallee-Tourangeau (Ed.), Current Issues in Thinking and Reasoning. Psychology Press.
• 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, doi:10.1016/j.cedpsych/2017.12.003
• DeCaro, M. S., & Van Stockum, C. A. Jr. (2018). Ego-depletion improves insight. Thinking and Reasoning, 24, 315-343. doi:10.1080/13546783.2017.1396253
• Newman, P. M., & DeCaro, M. S. (2018). How much support is optimal during exploratory learning? Proceedings of the 40th Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society. Madison, WI: Cognitive Science Society.
• Bego, C. R., Chastain, R. J., Pyles, L. M., & DeCaro, M. S.(2018). Multiple representations in physics: Deliberate practice does not improve exam scores.Proceedings of the IEEE Frontiers in Education conference.

2017

• DeCaro, M. S., Van Stockum, C. A. Jr., & Wieth, M. (2017). The relationship between working memory and insight depends on moderators: Reply to Chuderski and Jastrzębski (2017). Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 43, 2005-2010. doi:10.1037/xlm0000460

2016

• DeCaro, M. S. (2016). Inducing mental set constrains procedural flexibility and conceptual understanding in mathematics. Memory & Cognition.  doi:10.3758/s13421-016-0614-
• DeCaro, M. S., Van Stockum, C. A., & Wieth, M. B. (2016). When working memory capacity hinders insight. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 42, 39-49.
• Weaver, J. P., DeCaro, M. S., Hieb, J. L., & Ralston, P. S. (2016). Social belonging and first-year engineering mathematics: A collaborative learning intervention.Proceedings of the American Society for Engineering Education. doi:10.18260/p.25818

2015

• 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.2015.09.001
• DeCaro, D. A., DeCaro, M. S., & Rittle-Johnson, B. (2015). Achievement motivation and knowledge development during exploratory learning. Learning and Individual Differences, 37, 13-26. doi:10.1016.j.lindif.2014.10.015
• Fyfe, E. R., DeCaro, M. S., & Rittle-Johnson, B. (2015). When feedback during problem-solving is cognitively-demanding: The importance of working memory capacity. Instructional Science, 73-91. doi:10.1007/s11251-014-9323-8.

2014

• Van Stockum, C. A. Jr., & DeCaro, M. S. (2014). Enclothed cognition and controlled attention during insight problem-solving. The Journal of Problem Solving, 7(1), Article 8. doi:10.7771/1932-6246.1164
• Fyfe, E. R., DeCaro, M. S., & Rittle-Johnson, B. (2014). An alternative time for telling: When conceptual instruction prior to exploration improves mathematical knowledge. British Journal of Educational Psychology. doi:10.1111/bjep.12035

2013

• DeCaro, D. A., DeCaro, M. S., & Rittle-Johnson, B. (2013). Achievement motivation and strategy selection during exploratory learning. In M. Knauff, M. Pauen, N. Sebanz, & I. Wachsmuth (Eds.), Proceedings of the 35th Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society (pp. 370-375). Berlin, Germany: Cognitive Science Society.
• Van Stockum, C., & DeCaro, M. S. (2013). The path less taken: When working memory capacity constrains insight. In M. Knauff, M. Pauen, N. Sebanz, & I. Wachsmuth (Eds.), Proceedings of the 35th Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society (pp. 3633-3638). Berlin, Germany: Cognitive Science Society.

2012

• DeCaro, M. S., & Rittle-Johnson, B. (2012). Exploring mathematics problems prepares children to learn from instruction.Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 113, 552-568.
• Fyfe, E. R., Rittle-Johnson, B., & DeCaro, M. S. (2012). The effects of feedback during exploratory mathematics problem solving: Prior knowledge matters.Journal of Educational Psychology. doi: 10.1037/a0028389.

2011

• 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.

2010

• DeCaro, M. S., Rotar, K. E., Kendra, M. S., & Beilock, S. L. (2010). Diagnosing and alleviating the impact of performance pressure on mathematical problem solving.Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 63, 619-1630.
• DeCaro, M. S., & Beilock, S. L. (2010). The benefits and perils of attentional control. In B. Bruya and M. Csikszentmihalyi (Eds.), Effortless Attention: A New Perspective in the Cognitive Science of Attention and Action. MIT Press.
• DeCaro, M. S., & Maricle, D. E. (2010). Working Memory. In S. Goldstein and J. A. Naglieri (Eds.), Encyclopedia of Child Behavior and Development. Springer: Boston.

2009

• DeCaro, M. S., Carlson, K. D., Thomas, R. D., & Beilock, S. L. (2009). When and how less is more: Reply to Tharp & Pickering.Cognition, 111, 415-421.
• Mutter, S. A., DeCaro, M. S., & Plumlee, L. F. (2009). The role of contingency and contiguity in young and older adults’ causal learning.Journal of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences, 64, 315-323.

2008

• DeCaro, M. S., Thomas, R. D., & Beilock, S. L. (2008). Individual differences in category learning: Sometimes less working memory capacity is better than more.Cognition, 107, 284-294.

2007

• Beilock, S. L., & DeCaro, M. S. (2007). From poor performance to success under stress: Working memory, strategy selection, and mathematical problem solving under pressure.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 33, 983-998.
• DeCaro, M. S., Wieth, M., & Beilock, S. L. (2007). Methodologies for examining problem solving success and failure. Methods, 42, 58-67.
  
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