Representative Publications (see CV for comprehensive list)
Brown, M. C., McNeil, N. M., & Glenberg, A. M. (in press). Using concreteness in education: Real problems, potential solutions. Child Development Perspectives.
McNeil, N. M. (2008). Limitations to teaching children 2 + 2 = 4: Typical arithmetic problems can hinder learning of mathematical equivalence. Child Development, 79, 1524-1537.
McNeil, N. M. (2007). U-shaped development in math: 7-year-olds outperform 9-year-olds on equivalence problems. Developmental Psychology, 43, 687-695.
McNeil, N. M., Grandau, L., Knuth, E. J., Alibali, M. W., Stephens, A. S., Hattikudur, S., & Krill, D. E. (2006). Middle-school students’ understanding of the equal sign: The books they read can’t help. Cognition and Instruction, 24, 367-385.
McNeil, N. M., & Alibali, M. W. (2005b). Why won’t you change your mind? Knowledge of operational patterns hinders learning and performance on equations. Child Development, 76, 883-899.
McNeil, N. M., & Alibali, M. W. (2005a). Knowledge change as a function of mathematics experience: All contexts are not created equal. Journal of Cognition and Development, 6, 385-206.
McNeil, N. M., & Alibali, M. W. (2004). You’ll see what you mean: Students encode equations based on their knowledge of arithmetic. Cognitive Science, 28, 451-466.

 

Recent Posters
Fyfe, E. R., & McNeil, N. M. (October, 2009). Benefits of "concreteness fading" for children with low knowledge of mathematical equivalence. Poster presented at the Biennial Meeting of the Cognitive Development Society (CDS), San Antonio, TX.
McNeil, N. M., Dunwiddie, A. E., Petersen, L. A., Fyfe, E. R., & Brletic-Shipley, H. (June, 2009). Arithmetic practice that promotes conceptual understanding and computational fluency: Year 2. Poster presented at the Annual Research Conference of the Institute of Education Sciences (IES), Washington, DC.
Petersen, L. A., & McNeil, N. M. (July, 2008). Using perceptually rich objects to help children represent number: Established knowledge counts. Poster presented at the 30th Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society, Washington, DC.
McNeil, N. M., Dunwiddie, A. E., Brletic-Shipley, H., Petersen, L. A., & Gibson, M. H. (June, 2008). Arithmetic practice that promotes conceptual understanding and computational fluency. Poster presented at the Annual Research Conference of the Institute of Education Sciences (IES), Washington, DC.
Petersen, L. A., & McNeil, N. M. (October, 2007). How do different types of concrete objects affect children's developing counting skill? Poster presented at the Biennial Meeting of the Cognitive Development Society (CDS), Sante Fe, NM.
McNeil, N. M., Jarvin, L., Sternberg, R. J., Uttal, D. H. (March, 2007). Trade-offs between more and less concrete manipulatives. In D. H. Uttal (Organizer), Concreteness and cognitive development: New perspectives on a classic developmental issue. Symposium presented at the Biennial Meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development (SRCD), Boston, MA.