Kelly Mix

Research Interests

cognitive development, mathematics, symbol grounding

Bio

Kelly Mix earned her Ph.D. at the University of Chicago in 1995 and has held faculty positions in the Department of Psychology at Indiana University and the College of Education at Michigan State University. She has received research funding from the Institute of Education Sciences, the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, and the Spencer Foundation. Her research is focused on the development of number concepts and mathematical reasoning, with a particular interest in the use of cognitive science principles to improve children's learning.

Fellowships

Irving B. Harris Fellowship, University of Chicago (1991-1995).

Honors & Awards

Boyd McCandless Award (American Psychological Association, Division 7, Early Career Award), 2002.

Publications

Mix, K. S., Levine, S. C., Cheng, Y.-L. Stockton, J. D., & Bower, C. (2020). Does spatial training improve mathematics performance? A comparison of training type, age, and mathematics outcome. Journal of Educational Psychology.

Mix, K.S.. & Kalish, C. K.. (2019) Foreword to the Special Issue: Found in Translation. Journal of Cognition and Development, 20(2), 107-109, doi:10.1080/15248372.2019.1605997.

Mix, K. S. (2019). Why are spatial skill and mathematics related? Child Development Perspectives, 13(2), 121-126. doi: 10.1111/cdep.12323

Mix, K. S., Smith, L. B. & Crespo, S. (2019) Leveraging relational learning mechanisms to improve place value instruction. In M. W. Alibali & E. A. Norton (Eds.) Constructing Number: Merging Perspectives from Psychology and Mathematics Education (pp.87-121). Cham, Switzerland: Springer.

Yuan, L., Prather, R., Mix, K. S., & Smith, L.B. (2019) Preschoolers and multi-digit numbers: A path to mathematics through symbols themselves. Cognition, 189(1), 89-104. doi: 10.1016/j.cognition.2019.03.013

Mix, K. S., Hambrick, D. Z., Satyam, V. R., Burgoyne, A., & Levine, S. C. (2018). The latent structure of spatial skill: A test of the 2x2 typology. Cognition, 268-278. doi: 10.1016/j.cognition.2018.07.012

Mix K.S., Levine S.C. (2018) Part II Commentary 2: Disparities and Opportunities: Plotting a New Course for Research on Spatial Visualization and Mathematics. In K.S. Mix & M. Battista (Eds.) Visualizing Mathematics: Research in Mathematics Education (pp.347-353). Cham, Switzerland: Springer.

Young, C.J., Levine, S. C., & Mix, K. S. (2018). What processes underlie the relation between spatial skill and mathematics? In K.S. Mix & M. Battista (Eds.) Spatial Visualization in Mathematics (pp. 117-148). Cham, Switzerland: Springer.

Young, C.J., Levine, S. C., & Mix, K. S. (2018). The connections between spatial skill and mathematics ability across development. In H.-C. Nuerk, K. Cipora, F. Domahs & M. Haman (Eds.) On the Development of Space-Number Relations: Linguistic and Cognitive Determinants, Influences, and Associations (pp. 122-128). Lausanne: Frontiers Media SA. doi: 10.3389/978-2-88963-588-7

Mix, K. S., Smith, L. B., Stockton, J. D., Cheng, Y. L., & Barterian, J. A. (2017). Grounding the Symbols for Place Value: Evidence From Training and Long-Term Exposure to Base-10 Models. Journal of Cognition and Development, 18(1), 129-151.

Mix, K. S., Levine, S. C., Cheng, Y., Young, C., Hambrick, D. Z., Ping, R. & Konstantopolous, S. (2016). Separate but correlated: The latent structure of space and mathematics across development. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 145(9), 1206-1227.

Mix, K. S., Levine, S. C., & Newcombe, N. S. (2016). Development of quantitative thinking across correlated dimensions. In A. Henik (Ed.) Continuous Issues in Numerical Cognition: How Many or How Much (pp. 3-35), New York: Elsevier.

Grants & Projects

Place Value as a System of Mappings, $1,800,000, National Science Foundation, 2016-2021 (Role; PI, Collaborative Research Project with co-PI Linda Smith, Indiana University)

SL - CN: A Research-Practice Collaboration to Improve Math Learning in Young Children, $749,998, National Science Foundation, 2015-2018, (Role: Group Leader; PIs are Susan Levine, Sian Beilock, & Jennifer Kubota, Univ. of Chicago).

Is Spatial Ability a Malleable Factor for Math Learning?, $1,500,000, Institute of Education Sciences, 2012-16, (Role: Lead PI; Co-PI is Susan Levine, Univ. of Chicago).

Support for Teachers' Implementation of the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics, $700,000, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, 2013-16, (Role: Co-PI; Lead PI is William Schmidt, MSU).

Making Sense of Concrete Models for Mathematics, $1,340,000, Institute of Education Sciences, 2008-2012, (Role: Lead PI; Co-PI was Linda Smith, Indiana Univ.)

Key Transitions in Preschoolers’ Number and Arithmetic Development: The Psychological Foundations of Early Childhood Mathematics Education, $460,050, Spencer Foundation, 2003-2008 (Role: Co-PI; Lead PI was Arthur Baroody, University of Illinois).

Early Number Development: A Domain General Approach, $277,000, National Institutes of Health (NICHD), 1999-2004 (Role: Sole PI).

Labs

Learning and Cognition Lab