Our lab examines how people learn versus how people think they learn. Leveraging both basic and applied research methodologies, we are particularly interested in identifying procedures that promote long-term learning and foster metacognitive sophistication to optimize self-regulated learning—that is, learning that is initiated and managed by the learner. Our research informs contemporary theories of learning and memory, and our lab seeks to serve as a nexus between the science of learning and real-world educational practices.

 

ACCEPTING NEW GRADUATE STUDENTS? YES, I AM LOOKING TO RECRUIT A NEW GRADUATE STUDENT TO START IN THE FALL OF 2027! 

 

Are you Interested in joining the lab as an undergraduate or graduate student? Please get in touch with Dr. Soderstrom at nicholas.soderstrom@montana.edu.

Principal Investigator

Dr. Nick Soderstrom

Assistant Professor

Department of Psychology

nicholas.soderstrom@montana.edu

406-994-3816

Current Graduate Students:

Sjon Quinn

 

Select Representative Publications

Wei, Y., Soderstrom, N. C., & Meade, M. L. (2026). Making judgments of learning (JOLs) for oneself versus others: A review and proposed model. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 33(1), paper 14. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13423-025-02816-0

Wei, Y., Meade, M. L., & Soderstrom, N. C. (2025). Collaborative review enhances note-taking, especially after a longer delay, but does not boost test performance. Memory, 33(10), 1293-1305. https://doi.org/10.1080/09658211.2025.2573272

Soderstrom, N. C., & Bjork, E. L. (2023). Pretesting enhances learning in the classroom. Educational Psychology Review, 35(3), 88. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10648-023-09805-6

Soderstrom, N. C., Kerr, T. K., & Bjork, R. A. (2016). The critical importance of retrieval—and spacing—for learning. Psychological Science, 27(2), 223-230. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0956797615617778

Soderstrom, N. C., & Bjork, R. A. (2015). Learning versus performance: An integrative review. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 10(2), 176-199. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1745691615569000

Soderstrom, N. C., Clark, C. T., Halamish, V., & Bjork, E. L. (2015). Judgments of learning as Memory modifiers. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 41(2), 553-558. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0038388

Soderstrom, N. C., & Bjork, R. A. (2014). Testing facilitates the regulation of subsequent study time. Journal of Memory and Language, 73, 99-115. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jml.2014.03.003

McCabe, D. P., & Soderstrom, N. C. (2011). Recollection-based metamemory judgments are more accurate than those based on confidence: Judgments of Remembering and Knowing (JORKs). Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 140(4), 605-621. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0024014

Soderstrom, N. C., & McCabe, D. P. (2011). The interplay between value and relatedness as bases for metacognitive monitoring and control: Evidence for agenda-based monitoring. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 37(5), 1236-1242. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0023548

Soderstrom, N. C., & McCabe, D. P. (2011). Are survival processing memory advantages based on ancestral priorities? Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 18(3), 564-569. http://dx.doi.org/10.3758/s13423-011-0060-6