Almaz Mesghina
Assistant Professor of Instruction; Weinberg College Adviser
- mesghina@northwestern.edu
- 847-467-1946
- 1908 Sheridan
Research Interests
My research interests lie at the intersection of cognitive, social, and educational psychology. Broadly, I am interested in understanding the cognitive mechanisms that underlie choking under pressure in the classroom. I explore how phenomena like stress and anxiety disrupt (or promote!) our capacity to engage in deep STEM learning. Accordingly, I also design social, pedagogical, and emotion regulation interventions to offset any detrimental impacts of such negative affective experiences on learning.
Selected Publications
Mesghina, A., Au Yueng, C. Y. N., & Richland, L. E. (In press). Performing up to par? Performance pressure increases undergraduates’ cognitive performance and effort. Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition. https://doi.org/10.1037/mac0000023
Lyons, E. M., Mesghina, A., & Richland, L. E. (2022). Complicated gender gaps in mathematics achievement: Elevated stakes during performance as one explanation. Mind, Brain, & Education, 16(1), 36-47. https://doi.org/10.1111/mbe.12312
Mesghina, A., Wong, J. T., Davis, E. L., Lerner, B. S., Jackson-Green, B. T., & Richland, L. E. (2021). Distressed to distracted: Examining undergraduate learning and stress regulation during the COVID-19 pandemic. AERA Open, 7(1), 1-20. https://doi.org/10.1177/23328584211065721
Mesghina, A. & Richland, L. E. (2020). Impacts of expressive writing on children’s anxiety and math learning: Developmental and gender variability. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 63. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cedpsych.2020.101926
Russo-Johnson, C., Troseth, G., Duncan, C., & Mesghina, A. (2017). All tapped out: Touchscreen interactivity and young children’s word learning. Frontiers in Psychology, 8, 578. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00578