Kathryn McCarthy
Assistant Professor - Educational Psychology Learning Sciences- Education
Ph.D., Psychology, University of Illinois at Chicago, 2016
M.A., Psychology, University of Illinois at Chicago, 2012
B.A., Psychology and Theatre Arts, Augustana College, 2009
- Specializations
Individual differences in reading and learning for adolescents and adults
Cognition and the science of learning
AI-driven supports for learning strategies
Educational technology
Reading comprehension
Discipline-specific literacy (STEM, social sciences, humanities)
- Biography
Kathryn McCarthy is an assistant professor in the Department of Learning Sciences. Prior to joining the faculty, she was a postdoctoral scholar at Arizona State University's Science of Learning and Educational Technology lab.
McCarthy’s research interests are in the cognitive processes involved in reading comprehension and how these processes vary across individual differences and across disciplines. Her research explores how innovative activities and educational technologies can personalize learning in ways that help students to use effective learning strategies and deeply understand the information they encounter in their courses and in their everyday lives.
Her research aims to:
- Identify and address individual learning needs in high school and college courses, promoting deeper understanding and academic success
- Design personalized learning that supports the skills, knowledge and experiences of diverse learners
- Develop adaptive reading interventions that dynamically adjust to individual comprehension levels
- Evaluate the impact of educational technologies on student learning outcomes and engagement
McCarthy serves on the steering committee for the Society for Computation in Psychology. She is an Associate Editor for Learning and Individual Differences and serves on the editorial boards for Discourse Processes, Cognitive Science, Journal of Educational Psychology and Learning and Instruction. She is actively involved in mentoring undergraduate and graduate researchers.
- Publications
Individual Differences
McCarthy, K. S., and McNamara, D. S. (2021). “The Multidimensional Knowledge in Text Comprehension Framework.” Educational Psychologist, 56(3), 196-214. https://doi.org/10.1080/00461520.2021.1872379
McCarthy, K. S., Yan, E. F., Sonia, A., Allen, L. K., Magliano, J. P., and McNamara, D. S. (2022). “On the Basis of Source: Impacts of Individual Differences on Integrated Reading and Writing Tasks.” Learning & Instruction, 79, 101599, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.learninstruc.2022.101599
McCarthy, K. S., and Goldman, S. R. (2019). “Constructing Interpretive Inferences About Literary Text: The Role of Domain-Specific Knowledge.” Learning and Instruction, 60, 245-251. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.learninstruc.2017.12.004
Educational Technology to Support Learning
McCarthy, K. S., and Yan, E. F. (2023). “Reading Comprehension and Constructive Learning: Policy Considerations in the Age of AI.” Policy Insights from the Brain and Behavioral Sciences. https://doi.org/10.1177/23727322231218891
McCarthy, K. S., Crossley, S. A., Meyers, K., Boser, U., and Zampieri, M. (2022). “Toward More Effective and Equitable Learning: Identifying Barriers and Solutions for the Future of Online Education.” Technology, Mind and Behavior, 3(1), https://doi.org/10.1037/tmb0000063
McCarthy, K. S., Roscoe, R. D., Allen, L. K., Likens, A. D., and McNamara, D. S. (2022). “Automated Writing Evaluation: Does Spelling and Grammar Feedback Support High-Quality Writing and Revision?” Assessing Writing, 52, 100608. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.asw.2022.100608
McCarthy, K. S., Likens, A. D., Johnson, A. M., Guerrero, T. A., and McNamara, D. S. (2018). “Metacognitive Overload!: Positive and Negative Effects of Metacognitive Prompts in an Intelligent Tutoring System.” International Journal of Artificial Intelligence in Education, 28, 420-438. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40593-018-0164-5
Elara, L., and McCarthy, K. S. (2023). “Exploring Supports to Enhance Learning from Online Science Simulations.” American Journal of Distance Education. https://doi.org/10.1080/08923647.2023.2267932
Technology to Study Learning
Magliano, J. P., Flynn, L., Feller, D. P., McCarthy, K. S., McNamara, D. S., and Allen, L. K. (2022). “Leveraging a Multidimensional Linguistic Analysis of Constructed Responses Produced by College Readers.” Frontiers in Psychology. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.936162
McCarthy, K. S., Allen, L. K., and Hinze, S. R. (2020). “Predicting Reading Comprehension from Constructed Responses: Explanatory Retrievals as Stealth Assessment.” In Proceedings of the International Conference on Artificial Intelligence in Education (AIED). Ifrane, Morocco. Springer.
McNamara, D. S., Fang, Y., Butterfuss, R., Arner, T., Watanabe, M., McCarthy, K. S., Allen, L. K., and Roscoe, R. D. (2022). “iSTART: Adaptive Comprehension Strategy Training and Stealth Literacy Assessment.” International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction, 39(11), 2239-2252. https://doi.org/10.1080/10447318.2022.2114143
Learning and Comprehension Strategies
McNamara, D. S., Newton, N. N., Christilf, K., McCarthy, K. S., Magliano, J. P., and Allen, L. K. (2023). “Anchoring Your Bridge: The Importance of Paraphrasing to Inference Making in Self-Explanations.” Discourse Processes, 60(4-5), 337-362. https://doi.org/10.1080/0163853X.2023.2225757
McCarthy, K. S., and Hinze, S. R. (2021). “You've Got Some Explaining To Do: Effects of Explanation Prompts on Science Text Comprehension.” Applied Cognitive Psychology, 35(6), 1608-1620. https://doi.org/10.1002/acp.3875
Kim., M. K., and McCarthy, K. S. (2020). “Improving Summary Writing Through Formative Feedback in a Technology-Enhanced Learning Environment.” Journal of Computer Assisted Learning. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcal.12516