Dr. Jennifer Wiley

1054C BSB

jwiley at uic.edu

Department of Psychology

University of Illinois at Chicago

1007 W. Harrison St (MC 285)
Chicago IL 60607

Office Phone: 312 355 2501, but UIC is disconnecting office phones, so best contact is via email

Research Interests:

Learning, comprehension, metacomprehension and problem solving. Effects of individual differences in prior knowledge, working memory capacity, and spatial ability, and the impact of collaboration on learning and problem solving. Conditions that enable people to think creatively. 

Courses:

Spring 2026 - PSCH 353 Cognition and Memory Lab (Undergraduate Lab Course)

(No textbook required)

Information for Former Students:

So you want a letter of recommendation...

Lab News:

• New Book: The Emergence of Insight Link to Book Info 

• Recent papers on Insight:

  • Miller, T. S., Wiley, J., & Ohlsson, S. (2026). Testing the independence of representational change theory processes. Thinking & Reasoning, 32(2), 177-212. https://doi.org/10.1080/13546783.2025.2535758 

  • Wiley, J., & Danek, A. H. (2024). Restructuring processes and Aha! experiences in insight problem solving. Nature Reviews Psychology, 3(1), 42-55. https://doi.org/10.1038/s44159-023-00257-x

• Recent papers on Metacomprehension:

  • Wiley, J., George, T. & Griffin, T.D. (2025). Benefits from sketching for improving comprehension monitoring from illustrated texts. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 32(6), 3252-3263. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13423-025-02730-5 

  • Griffin, T. D., Guerrero, T. A., Mielicki, M., & Wiley, J. (2025). Improving self-regulated learning of less-prepared college students with lessons about inferences. Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition, 14(3), 392–404. https://doi.org/10.1037/mac0000207

  • Hildenbrand, L., Sarmento, D., Griffin, T. D., & Wiley, J. (2024). Conceptual overlap among texts impedes comprehension monitoring. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 31(2), 750-760. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13423-023-02349-4

• Lane Adams wins Graduate Research Award for project on dance expertise

• Undergraduates Brie Chacon, Darvi Griffin-Simmons, Beyza Ozbudak, Isha Patel and Grad Mentor Taylor Strickland Miller present on project exploring Effects of Math Anxiety on Learning from Problem-First Instruction in Math at MPA and the UIC Student Research Forum

• Lena Hildenbrand wins Psychonomic Research Award

• Lamorej Roberts wins Society for Text  & Discourse Undergraduate Research Award

• Dr. Jennifer Wiley wins Inaugural MPA Mentoring Award