When we think about our mental processes, we are said to be engaging in metacognition. Our lab studies various aspects of metacognition as they relate to studying and learning, including how people evaluate their current state of learning and how they incorporate these evaluations into their study behaviors.

Study materials often present information to learners both visually and verbally at the same time (e.g., text with diagrams, narrated animation), and this is known to improve learning. Our lab studies the mental processes that occur when such materials are studied to uncover why learning is improved.