Associate Professor of Psychology
Associate Provost for Academic Services
Christopher Newport University, 1 University Place
Newport News, VA 23606
(757) 594-7949
Email: kewright@cnu.edu
Research Interests:
My
research applies work in cognitive developmental science to better
understand literacy learning and instruction. I am especially
interested in the impact of
cognitive flexibility (or
the flexiblity with which individuals can process concurrently many
aspects of a task)
on reading comprehension in particular, and on literacy teaching and
learning
more broadly. Because struggling readers are typically inflexible
in their thinking, focusing on sounds of printed words without
attention to meaning, work in cognitive development has tremendous
implications for improving children's reading comprehension. Other
areas
of research include
preschool children's vocabulary and literacy acquisition, and family
and gender influences on children's developing
reading skill.
Selected Publications:
Cartwright, K. B. (in press). The role of cognitive flexibility in
reading comprehension: Past, present, and future. In S. E. Israel &
G. Duffy (Eds.) Handbook of Reading Comprehension Research. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
Cartwright, K. B. (Ed.) (2008). Literacy processes: Cognitive flexibility in learning and teaching. NY: Guilford Press.
Cartwright, K. B. (2008). Cognitive flexibility and reading comprehension: Relevance to the future. In C. C. Block & S. R. Parris (Eds.) Comprehension instruction: Research-based best practices (2nd edition). NY: Guilford Press.
Cartwright, K. B. (2007). The contribution of graphophonological-semantic flexibility to reading comprehension in college students: Implications for a less simple view of reading. Journal of Literacy Research, 39, 173-193.
Cartwright, K. B. (2006). Fostering flexibility and comprehension in elementary students. The Reading Teacher, 59, 628-634.
Cartwright, K. B., Bock, A. M., Guiffre, H. N., & Montano, M. J. (2006). Using classification tasks to assess and improve reading-specific cognitive flexibility. The International Journal of Cognitive Technology, 11(2), 23-29.
Cartwright, K.B., Isaac, M. C., & Dandy, K. L. (2006). The development of reading-specific representational flexibility: A cross-sectional comparison of second graders, fourth graders, and college students. In. A. V. Mittel (Ed.) Focus on Educational Psychology. NY: Nova Science Publishers.
Cartwright, K. B. (2002). Cognitive development and reading: The relation of reading-specific multiple classification skill to reading comprehension in elementary school children. Journal of Educational Psychology, 94, 56-63.
Behrend, D. A., Harris, L. L., & Cartwright, K. B. (1995). Morphological cues to verb meanings: Verb inflections and the initial mapping of verb meanings. Journal of Child Language, 22, 89-106.
Cartwright, K. B. (Ed.) (2008). Literacy processes: Cognitive flexibility in learning and teaching. NY: Guilford Press.
Cartwright, K. B. (2008). Cognitive flexibility and reading comprehension: Relevance to the future. In C. C. Block & S. R. Parris (Eds.) Comprehension instruction: Research-based best practices (2nd edition). NY: Guilford Press.
Cartwright, K. B. (2007). The contribution of graphophonological-semantic flexibility to reading comprehension in college students: Implications for a less simple view of reading. Journal of Literacy Research, 39, 173-193.
Cartwright, K. B. (2006). Fostering flexibility and comprehension in elementary students. The Reading Teacher, 59, 628-634.
Cartwright, K. B., Bock, A. M., Guiffre, H. N., & Montano, M. J. (2006). Using classification tasks to assess and improve reading-specific cognitive flexibility. The International Journal of Cognitive Technology, 11(2), 23-29.
Cartwright, K.B., Isaac, M. C., & Dandy, K. L. (2006). The development of reading-specific representational flexibility: A cross-sectional comparison of second graders, fourth graders, and college students. In. A. V. Mittel (Ed.) Focus on Educational Psychology. NY: Nova Science Publishers.
Cartwright, K. B. (2002). Cognitive development and reading: The relation of reading-specific multiple classification skill to reading comprehension in elementary school children. Journal of Educational Psychology, 94, 56-63.
Behrend, D. A., Harris, L. L., & Cartwright, K. B. (1995). Morphological cues to verb meanings: Verb inflections and the initial mapping of verb meanings. Journal of Child Language, 22, 89-106.