Meredith Minear, Ph.D.

Associate Professor

Spatial Cognition & Individual Differences in Cognition

Ph.D., University of Michigan, Ann Arbor 2004

B. S., University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign 1994

mminear2@uwyo.edu - (307) 766-4327 - Bio Sciences Bldg 120

*Dr. Minear is currently accepting graduate students

Spatial Cognition Lab

Academic Positions:

Assistant Professor, University of Wyoming, 2013-present

Assistant Professor, The College of Idaho, 2008-2013

Post-doctoral Research Scholar, Washington University in St. Louis, 2004-2007

 

Research Interests:

My research interests are focused around spatial cognition as well as individual differences in executive function, memory and working memory. A major focus of my work is in the plasticity of cognitive processes i.e. how our environment and experiences can affect cognitive ability. For example, I am currently collaborating on a large NSF funded project studying how individual differences in spatial ability can 1) affect performance GIS based courses as well as 2) whether learning and using certain technologies such as GIS can affect spatial abilities. I am also collaborating with math and engineering faculty to examine the relationship between spatial ability and persistence and performance in STEM majors. In my lab, we measure both electrophysiological data (EEG & ERPs) as well as behavioral performance in immersive virtual reality environments (HTC Vive). 

Teaching:

PSYC 2080 Biological Psychology

PSYC 4080 Physiological Psychology

PSYC 5120 Neuropsychology of Human Behavior

Representative Publications:

Minear, M., Coane, J. H., Boland, S., Cooney, L., & Albat, M. (2018). The benefits of retrieval practice depend on item difficulty and fluid intelligence. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory and Cognition. 44(9), 1474-1486. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/xlm0000486

Minear, M., Lutz, L., Clements, N. & Cowen, M. (2017). Individual and gender differences in spatial ability and three forms of engineering self-efficacy. In Barkowsky, T., Burte, H., Hölscher, C., Schultheis, H. (Eds.), Spatial Cognition X: Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence, Springer-Verlag, Berlin Heidelberg. 3-18.

Minear, M., Brasher, F., Brandt Guerrero, C., Moore, A., Sukeena, J. & Brasher, M. (2016). A simultaneous examination of two forms of working memory training: Evidence for specific transfer only. Memory & Cognition, 44, 1014-1037. DOI: 10.3758/s13421-016-0616-9.

Minear, M., Brasher, F., McCurdy, M., Lewis, J., & Younggren, A. (2013). Working memory, fluid intelligence and impulsiveness in heavy media multi-taskers. Psychonomic Bulletin and Review, DOI 10.3758/s13423-013-0456-6.

Minear, M. & Shah, P. (2008). Training and transfer effects in task-switching. Memory & Cognition, 36, 1470-1483.

Minear, M. & Shah, P. (2006). Sources of working memory deficits in children and possibilities for remediation. In S.J. Pickering (Ed.) Working memory and Education. Elsevier Press 273-307.

Park, D.C., Polk, T., Park, R., Minear, M., & Savage, A. (2004). Aging reduces neural specialization in ventral visual cortex. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 101, 13091-13095.