Irene P. Kan

ONGOING RESEARCH


The broad goals of our research are to understand human cognition and behavior. We use a combination of behavioral (experimental and survey) and neuroscience (neuropsychology, fNIRS) methods in our systematic investigations. Listed below are some of the key areas of ongoing research. For a list of recent publications, please visit the Publications page on this website, and to download reprints of the publications, please visit Dr. Kan's ResearchGate Profile.

NEWS & RECENT PUBLICATIONS

  • Along with collaborators Dr. Christa Bialka (Department of Education & Counseling, Villanova) and Dr. Nicole Hansen (Department of Educational Studies, Seton Hall University), Dr. Kan received a 3-year grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Education to assess the impact of the PA Disability Inclusive Curriculum Pilot the PA Disability Inclusive Curriculum Pilot ProgramProgram. Click here to learn more about the DIC pilot program.
  • It‘s been a busy conference season! Current and former lab members presented (or will present) our collaborative projects with Dr. Anna Drummey, Dr. Elizabeth Pantesco and Dr. Lila Chrysikou (Drexel University) at six different conferenc wo(APS, EPA, SBM, SPA, CNS, and SLEEP). Great work, Isabel Lima, Victoria Martin, Ryan Krieger, Natalie Kita, Ella Kole, James Corliss, Cody Triplett, Reet Patel, Gaby Molina, Ranya Al-Khayyat, Olivia Glazer, Alexa Gonzalez, and Dr. Meghan Caulfield!
  • Bialka, C., Hansen, N., Kan, I. P., *Mackintosh, D., & *Jacobson, R. (2024, Open Access). From deficit to difference: Understanding the relationship between K-12 teacher training and disability discussion. AERA Open, 10. DOI link.
  • Pantesco, E. J. & Kan, I. P. (2023). Racial and ethnic disparities in self-reported sleep duration: Roles of subjective socioeconomic status and sleep norms. Sleep Medicine, 112, 246-255. DOI link.
  • Flynn, A. J., Herbers, J. E., Kurko, S., & Kan, I. P. (2023). Using spreading activation to understand repetitive negative thinking. Cognition & Emotion, 37, 453-465. DOI link.
  • Pantesco, E. J. & Kan, I. P. (co-first author, 2023, Open Access). Short and long sleeper prototypes: Perceptions of sleep duration and personality traits, Sleep Epidemiology, 3, 100051. DOI link.
  • Hansen, N., Kan, I. P., Bialka, C., & Lundell, A. (2023). Are teachers talking about disability?: An investigation of factors associated with discussion in PK-12 classrooms. International Journal of Disability, Development & Education. DOI link.

MEMORY

  • Investigate the cognitive architecture and neural bases of human long-term memory.
  • Assess the independence and interdependence of episodic and semantic memory.
  • Examine factors that affect pre-retrieval strategic planning and post-retrieval monitoring.
  • Explore factors that mitigate the continued influence of misinformation.

SLEEP

  • Examine the association between sleep knowledge and behavior.
  • Understand how demographic factors impact sleep-related beliefs and behaviors.
  • Characterize perceptions of different sleeper prototypes (i.e., short sleepers and long sleepers) and investigate their implications for sleep health.
  • Identify factors associated with sleep health disparities.

AGING

  • Characterize age-related changes in episodic memory and emotion processing.
  • Investigate the influence of lifestyle and demographic factors on cognitive abilities in healthy older adults.
  • Explore age-related changes in resting state functional connectivity across brain networks associated with executive control.

INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES

  • Explore how learning and mnemonic processes may be associated with behavioral inhibition.
  • Examine repetitive negative thinking tendencies using a cognitive lens (i.e., spreading activation in semantic memory).
  • Investigate how individual differences in sleep profiles may be linked to cognitive abilities.

DISABILITY

  • Identify the barriers and facilitators to teachers' discussions of disability in the K-12 classrooms and how those discussions affect the education experience for students who self-identify as having a disability.
  • Understand the impact of disability-related teacher training on disability conversations.
  • Explore how social media shapes public perceptions of #disability.