B.A. (Hons.), M.A., Ph.D. University of British Columbia Professor

Office: SN3077

Phone:(709) 864-4871

Email: darcy@mun.ca

Lab: https://sites.google.com/view/rcdmc

Affiliations: Developmental

Research Interests 

My primary research interests concern mathematical cognition. As a Developmental Psychologist, I am particularly interested in how children’s mathematical knowledge develops as they progress through school. Many aspects of mathematical cognition fascinate me, and I am also interested in how to apply this knowledge to improve mathematics teaching and learning. My current projects focus on children’s conceptual and procedural knowledge regarding fractions as well as the investigation of individual differences in how children develop their mathematic cognition. More specifically, I explore the varying developmental pathways that lead to the different approaches taken by children when solving a math problem.

More information can be found about my current projects at my lab website.

 

Student Mentoring

Graduate Students: I am currently recruiting graduate students who are interested in conducting research in mathematical cognition. Students would have the opportunity to develop their own research project but would also be welcome to be a part of my current research program. Prospective students are encouraged to contact me once they have checked, by reading the above “Research Interests” section, that their interests are compatible with my interests and expertise.

Honours Students: I welcome the opportunity to supervise Honours projects. Students who are interested in mathematical cognition should contact me and set up an appointment. Students will receive hands-on experience in all aspects of study design, data collection, data analysis and presentation of research results.

Background

I received my Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology, with a minor in Psychometrics, from the University of British Columbia under the supervision of Michael Chandler. After finishing my Ph.D., but before coming to Memorial, I also completed a two-year SSHRC Post-doctoral Fellowship at the University of Oxford working with Terezinha Nunes and Peter Bryant.

Recent Publications

Morrissey, K. R., Hallett, D., Wynes, R., Kang, J. & Han, M. (In press). Finger counting habits, not finger movements, predict simple arithmetic problem solving. Psychological Research.

Fitzpatrick, C. L., & Hallett, D. (Accepted). Early understanding of fractions via early understanding of proportion and division. In K. M. Robinson, H. Osana, & D. Kotsopoulos (Eds.), Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Early Mathematical Minds. Springer.

O’Leary, K., Fitzpatrck, C. L., & Hallett, D. (2017). Math anxiety is related to some, but not all, experiences with math. Frontiers in Psychology, 8:2067. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2017.02067

Peterson, C., Hallett, D., & Compton-Gillingham, C. (2017). Childhood Amnesia in Children: A Prospective Study Across 8 Years. Child Development. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1111/cdev.12972

Drover, J. R., Cornick, S. L., Hallett, D., Drover, A., Mayo, D., & Kielly, N. (2017). Normative Pediatric Data for Three Tests of Functional Vision. Canadian Journal of Opthamology, 52(2), 198-202. doi:10.1016/j.jcjo.2016.08.016

Morrissey, K. R., Liu, M., Kang, J., Hallett, D., & Wang, Q. (2016). Cross-cultural and intra-cultural differences in finger-counting habits and number magnitude processing: Embodied numerosity in Canadian and Chinese university students. Journal of Numerical Cognition, 2(1), 1–19. doi:10.5964/jnc.v2i1.14

Nunes, T., Bryant, P., Evans, D., Bell, D., & Hallett, D. (2013). Promovendo a compreensão da composição aditiva em crianças surdas (Promoting the comprehension of additive composition by deaf children). Cadernos CEDES, Campinas (CEDES Notebook), 33(91), 319-332.

Hallett, D., Nunes, T., Bryant, P., & Thorpe, C. M. (2012). Individual Differences in Conceptual and Procedural Fraction Understanding: The Role of Abilities and School Experience. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 113, 469-486.

Thorpe, C. M., Hallett, D., Murphy, M., Fitzpatrick, C. L., & Bakhtiar, A. (2012). Interval time-place learning in young children. Behavioural Processes, 91, 198-201.

Neath, I., Earle, A., Hallett, D., & Surprenant, A. M. (2011). Response time accuracy in Apple Macintosh computers. Behavior Research Methods, 43(2), 353-362.

Hallett, D., Nunes, T., & Bryant, P. (2010). Individual differences in conceptual and procedural knowledge when learning fractions. Journal of Educational Psychology, 102(2), 395-406.

Recent Presentations

Fitzpatrick, C. L., Hallett, D., Morrissey, K. R., Yildiz, N. R., & Ayesu, F. (2017, June). When a half and a half don’t equal a whole: Putting word problems into context. Paper presented at the 27th annual meeting of the Canadian Society for Brain, Behaviour, and Cognitive Science, Regina, Canada.

Ayesu, F., Hallett, D., & Fitzpatrick, C. L. (2017, June). Unmasking the differences: Profiles of conceptual and procedural understanding of algebra. Paper presented at the 27th annual meeting of the Canadian Society for Brain, Behaviour, and Cognitive Science, Regina, Canada.

Morrissey, K. R., Hallett, D., & Wynes, R. (2017, June). Finger-counting and adult arithmetic fluency: Fingers may help, calculators may not. Paper presented at the 27th annual meeting of the Canadian Society for Brain, Behaviour, and Cognitive Science, Regina, Canada.

Cornick, S. L., Hallett, D., Higgins, J., & Drover, J. R. (2017, May). A Comparison of the Developmental Rates of Three Visual Functions. Poster presented at the 17th annual meeting of the Vision Sciences Society, St. Pete Beach, FL, USA.

Ayesu, F., Hallett, D., Morrissey, K., & Bahktiar, A. (June, 2016). Differences in question answering style and motivational variables across profiles of conceptual and procedural understanding of fractions. Poster presented at the 26th annual meeting of the Canadian Society for Brain, Behaviour, and Cognitive Science, Ottawa, Canada.

Morrissey, K., Hallett, D., & Kang, J. (June, 2016). Handedness does not modulate embodied numerical cognition, except when it does: An investigation of cross-cultural and individual differences in finger-counting habits. Poster presented at the 26th annual meeting of the Canadian Society for Brain, Behaviour, and Cognitive Science, Ottawa, Canada.

Fitzpatrick, C. L., & Hallett, D. (June, 2016). Improving the use of real world information when solving math word problems. Poster presented at the 26th annual meeting of the Canadian Society for Brain, Behaviour, and Cognitive Science, Ottawa, Canada.

Yildiz, N., Hallett, D., Morrissey, K., & Fitzpatrick, C. L. (June, 2016). The effects of mathematics automaticity training on math anxiety. Poster presented at the 26th annual meeting of the Canadian Society for Brain, Behaviour, and Cognitive Science, Ottawa, Canada.

Morrissey, K. R., Liu, M., Kang, J., Hallett, D., & Wang, Q. (2015, June). Embodied Numerosity in Chinese and Canadian University Students. Paper presented at the 25th annual meeting of the Canadian Society for Brain, Behaviour, and Cognitive Science, Ottawa, Canada.

Fitzpatrick, C. L., Hallett, D., Pelley, N., Morrissey, K. (2015, June). Doing what they want instead of what they are taught: Methods of division used by fourth and fifth grade students. Paper presented at the 25th annual meeting of the Canadian Society for Brain, Behaviour, and Cognitive Science, Ottawa, Canada.

Fitzpatrick, C. L., Pelley, N., & Hallett, D. (2014, June). Methods of division: What works best for fourth grade students? Poster presented at the 24th annual meeting of the Canadian Society for Brain, Behaviour, and Cognitive Science, Toronto, Canada.

Morrissey, K., Bakhtiar, A., Hallett, D., & Lenehan, C. (2014, June). A differential contribution of Math and Language-gender stereotype to adolescents’ academic performance. Poster presented at the 24th annual meeting of the Canadian Society for Brain, Behaviour, and Cognitive Science, Toronto, Canada.

Thorpe, C. M., Hallett, D., Brown, A. R., Skinner, D., & Quinlan, J. A. (2014, June). Developmental Changes in Interval Time-Place Learning. Poster presented at the 24th annual meeting of the Canadian Society for Brain, Behaviour, and Cognitive Science, Toronto, Canada.

Hallett, D., Nunes, T., Bryant, P., & Thorpe, C. (2014, May). Finding individual differences in conceptual and procedural knowledge: The use of residuals in cluster analysis. Paper presented at the Development 2014 Conference, Ottawa, Canada.

Bakhtiar, A., Hallett, D., & Fitzpatrick, C. L. (2013, June). Motivational characteristic differences between procedural and conceptual fraction learners. Paper presented at the 23rd annual meeting of the Canadian Society for Brain, Behaviour, and Cognitive Science, Calgary, Canada.

Seaward, D., Hallett, D., Brace, J., Bakhtiar, A. & Fitzpatrick, C. L. (2013, April). The effectiveness of online math facts training in ninth grade students’ fractions aptitude. Poster presented at the biennial meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development, Seattle, Washington.

Brace, J., Penney, C., Hallett, D., Seaward, D., & Lehr, A. (2013, April). Evaluation of computer-delivered spelling training: Do effects generalize to reading fluency? Poster presented at the biennial meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development, Seattle, Washington.

Thorpe, C. M., Hallett, D., Crocker, J., & Carter, E. (2012, July). Children’s Understanding of Time of Day Through Time-Place Learning. Poster presented at the biennial meeting of the International Society for the Study of Behavioral Development, Edmonton, Canada.

Thorpe, C. M., Hallett, D., Murphy, M. (2012, July). Find the Moving Toy: Children’s Ability to Conjointly Learn Spatial and Temporal Information. Poster presented at the biennial meeting of the International Society for the Study of Behavioral Development, Edmonton, Canada.

Hallett, D. Payne, S., Bakhtiar, A., & Fitzpatrick, C. L. (2012, June). The varying relations between mathematical ability and working memory. Paper presented at the 22nd annual meeting of the Canadian Society for Brain, Behaviour, and Cognitive Science, Kingston, Canada.

O’Leary, K., Hallett, D., & Fitzpatrck, C. L. (2011, June). Dispositional and Experiential Factors in Math Anxiety. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Canadian Psychological Association, Toronto, Canada.

Hallett, D., Smith, P., White, M., Snow, C., & Fitzpatrck, C. L. (2011, March). Profiles of Conceptual and Procedural Knowledge of Fractions in Grade 8 Students. Poster presented at the biennial meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development, Montreal, Canada.

Hallett, D., Smith, P., White, M., Snow, C., & Fitzpatrck, C. L. (2011, May). Developing profiles of conceptual and procedural knowledge in fractions from Grade 6 to Grade 8. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Jean Piaget Society, Berkeley, CA.

Hallett, D. (2010, June). The relations between non-symbolic and symbolic processing in whole numbers and fractions. Paper presented at the 20th annual meeting of the Canadian Society for Brain, Behaviour, and Cognitive Science, Halifax, Canada.

Hallett, D., Smith, P., White, M., Nunes, T., & Bryant, P. (2010, May). The nature of procedural knowledge in Grade 6 students' understanding of fractions. Paper presented at the Development 2010 Conference, Ottawa, Canada.

White, M. & Hallett, D. (2010, May). The Role of Conceptual and Procedural Knowledge in Grade 8 Fraction Understanding. Poster presented at the Development 2010 Conference, Ottawa, Canada.