Illinois Mobile App Master Calendar

Assistant Professor LaTasha R. Holden is the April speaker in the First Friday Psychology-Beckman Colloquium Series, a monthly event designed to bring together members of the Department of Psychology, Beckman Institute, and beyond for engaging, cross-area conversations. 

A vast amount of scientific evidence demonstrates the power of higher test scores and the impact that these scores have on the trajectory of students’ lives. Higher scores on many cognitive ability measures correlate with a variety of better physical, and mental health outcomes, in addition to better economic prospects—making these scores important for more than just entrance into higher education institutions. Due to the power of test scores, it’s important to understand factors promoting or interfering with students being able to perform their best. As such, my work aims to consider “the whole person” by investigating the roles of diversity and individual differences in student learning and achievement across cognitive, social, and developmental psychology. First, I will discuss the importance of the cognitive factor of working memory capacity for test performance and mental resilience in psychologically threatening situations. Second, I will talk about how diversity, equity, and inclusion concerns relate to replicability in science and how this has informed my current work. I will then discuss two intervention studies conducted to better understand individual differences in effect heterogeneity we observe when aiming to boost student learning and achievement. Lastly, I will provide a summary and discuss future directions.