Michael Miller
IES Postdoctoral Fellow
Research Area: Developmental Science
My research examines the relations, causes, and consequences of cognitive and social development in early childhood.
My early graduate research focused on young children’s theory of mind (e.g., false belief understanding) and its relation to gender role development and different cognitive processes (e.g., counterfactual reasoning). My recent and current research primarily has focused on young children’s development of executive function (e.g., working memory, inhibitory control, cognitive flexibility) and how it relates to other knowledge domains, including problem-solving and basic academic skills. Presently, I am working with Dr. Bethany Rittle-Johnson and her research team, integrating my research on executive function with children’s knowledge of mathematics.
Representative Publications
Miller, M. R., Müller, U., Giesbrecht, G. F., Carpendale, J. I. M., & Kerns, K. A. (in press). The contribution of executive function and social understanding to preschoolers' letter and math skills. Cognitive Development.
Miller, M. R., Giesbrecht, G. F., Müller, U., McInerney, R. J., & Kerns, K. A. (2012). A latent variable approach to determining the structure of executive function in preschool children. Journal of Cognition and Development, 13, 395-423.
Giesbrecht, G. F., Miller, M. R., & Müller, U. (2010). The anger-distress model of temper tantrums: Associations with emotional reactivity and emotional competence. Infant and Child Development, 19, 478-497.
Giesbrecht, G. F., Müller, U., & Miller, M. R. (2010). Psychological distancing in the development of executive function and emotion regulation. In B. W. Sokol, U. Müller, J. I. M. Carpendale, A. R. Young, & G. Iarocci (Eds.), Self- and social-regulation: Social interaction and the development of social understanding and executive functions (pp. 337-357). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Müller, U., Miller, M. R., Michalczyk, K., & Karapinka, A. (2007). False belief understanding: The influence of person, grammatical mood, counterfactual reasoning, and working memory. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 25, 615-632.