Thomas Daniel Griffin

Thomas Daniel Griffin is a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC), affiliated with the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and the Brain and Cognitive Sciences program. His research focuses on cognitive processes underlying knowledge acquisition, metacognition, and self-regulated learning, particularly how prior beliefs and contextual factors influence evidence-based reasoning.

Education:

• PhD in Social Psychology (with Methods & Measurement minor), UIC, 2003
• MA in Social Psychology, UIC, 1999
• BS in Psychology, California State University, San Marcos, 1996

Research interests include:

• Belief formation and epistemic goals
• Metacomprehension accuracy and monitoring
• Learning strategies in educational contexts
• Developmental aspects of cognitive processes

He integrates cognitive, social, and educational perspectives to address long-term intellectual development.

Grants:

• Co-PI on Project READi ($19.2M IES grant, 2010–2015)
• Co-PI on Improving Metacomprehension ($1.8M IES grant, 2007–2012)

Awards: 2003 Upshaw Award for Excellence in Teaching at UIC.

Labs/Teams: Collaborates on interdisciplinary projects involving educational psychology and cognitive science, including multiple-document inquiry tasks and evidence-based argumentation in disciplinary instruction.