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Student’s Cognitive Development in Context

Understanding the development of cognition is an essential first step in developing school-based strategies to support children's learning. This basic science strand of my research lays the foundation for understanding how cognitive processes develop and are shaped by children's experiences in school. In this work, I examine the behavioral and neural correlates of cognitive control, executive functions, attention, and related processes that support children's ability to regulate cognition, emotion, and behavior. I am particularly interested in how these processes develop, how they relate to academic learning, and how individual differences in children's skills can be measured.

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A central focus of this strand of research has been advancing methods for studying cognitive development in children from diverse backgrounds. We have pioneered the use of EEG methods for collecting neuroscientific data directly in schools, allowing us to move beyond traditional laboratory-based approaches and examine the cognitive skills of children who have historically been underrepresented in neuroscience research. As part of this effort, I developed and validated a child-friendly EEG measure of cognitive control that has been widely adopted in developmental, educational, and clinical research.

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More recently my collaborators and I have begun to examine how cognitive control interacts with emotion, motivation, persistence, anxiety, and other processes that influence learning. By integrating neural and behavioral measures with an understanding of children's experiences, this research aims to better characterize the cognitive processes that support learning and the factors that contribute to individual differences in development.

 

• Grammer, J. K., Carrasco, M., Gehring, W. J., & Morrison, F. J. (2014). Age-related differences in error processing in young children. Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience.

• Grammer, J. K., Gehring, W. J., & Morrison, F. J. (2018). Associations between developmental changes in error-related brain activity and executive functions in early childhood. Psychophysiology, 55(3). https://doi.org/10.1111/psyp.13040

• Isbell, E., & Grammer, J. K. (2022). ERP data quality in young children: Standardized measurement error of the ERN and Pe. Developmental Psychobiology, 64(4), e22245. https://doi.org/10.1002/dev.22245

• Morrison, F. J., & Grammer, J. K. (2016). Conceptual clutter and measurement mayhem: A proposal for a cross-disciplinary approach to conceptualizing and measuring executive function. In Executive function in preschool-age children: Integrating measurement, neurodevelopment, and translational research (pp. 327–348). APA.

• Torgrimson, S. J., Tan, P. Z., & Grammer, J. K. (2021). Associations among response inhibition, motivational beliefs, and task persistence in early elementary school. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 208. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2021.105141

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The Impact of Classroom Experience on Student Cognition

Children's cognitive development unfolds through their interactions with the environments in which they learn. Although research has demonstrated the importance of school experiences for children's brain and behavioral development, questions remain about how specific features of the classroom environment shape cognition and learning. To explore this, I examine how instructional practices, classroom activities, and features of the physical learning environment influence the development of children's attention, cognitive control, memory, and academic skills.

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My early work focused on the role of teachers' instructional language in supporting children's strategic memory and metacognitive development. Building on this foundation, my research has expanded to examine the neural and behavioral processes that unfold as students engage in learning activities. Using mobile EEG and classroom observation, my collaborators and I have developed methods to study attention and cognitive control directly in classrooms, allowing us to examine how students respond to different instructional contexts in real time. More recently, we have begun integrating neural, physiological, motor, and behavioral measures to better understand the complex processes that contribute to student engagement in real-world learning environments. We are also extending this work to examine how features of the physical classroom environment, including acoustics and background noise, influence cognitive control and language development. Together, these studies aim to move beyond identifying which learning environments support student cognition toward understanding how and why specific experiences shape learning, with the ultimate goal of informing classroom practices that better support diverse learners.

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• Grammer, J. K., Coffman, J. L., & Ornstein, P. A. (2013). The impact of teachers' memory-relevant language on children's strategy use and knowledge. Child Development, 84, 1989–2002.

• Morrison, F. J., Kim, M. H., Connor, C. M., & Grammer, J. K. (2019). The causal impact of schooling on children's development: Lessons for developmental science. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 28(5), 441–449. https://doi.org/10.1177/0963721419855661

• Grammer, J. K., Xu, K., & Lenartowicz, A. (2021). Effects of context on the neural correlates of attention in a college classroom. npj Science of Learning, 6, 15. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41539-021-00094-8

• Ahmed, S. F., Grammer, J. K., & Morrison, F. J. (2021). The development and validation of classroom-based executive function assessments in school-aged children. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 208. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2021.105131

• Grammer, J. K., & Ahmed, S. F. (2023). Informing the development of school-based strategies to promote children's executive function skills: Considerations, challenges, and future directions. Mind, Brain, and Education. https://doi.org/10.1111/mbe.12368

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Educator’s Knowledge about Cognition and Learning

Educators play a central role in shaping children's experiences in school, yet relatively little is known about how teachers understand cognitive development and how this knowledge informs their classroom practices. In this strand of research, I examine educators' knowledge and beliefs about cognition, attention, and learning, the strategies they use to support students, and the professional and systemic factors that shape their understanding. Drawing on qualitative interviews and statewide surveys of teachers and teacher education faculty, my colleagues and I are investigating how educator knowledge develops and influences classroom practice. Through my work with the UC|CSU Collaborative for Neuroscience, Diversity, and Learning, we are extending this research to examine educator learning at scale, including how professional learning opportunities can strengthen connections between developmental science and educational practice. Together, this work aims to inform educator preparation and professional learning that supports the diverse strengths and needs of students.​

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