Draft:Anahid Modrek

Anahid S. Modrek (Armenian: Անահիտ Սանտալճևան մoտրէգ) is an Armenian American psychologist with a tenure track faculty appointment at California State University at San Bernardino, Department of Psychology.^[1][2] Anahid Modrek's research spans developmental psychology, cognitive science, and education and her work has been funded by private, federal and international granting institutions.

Modrek was awarded the Deeper Learning Fellowship with the American Institutes for Research^[3] and American Educational Research Association,^[4][5] a project funded by the Hewlett Foundation where Dr. Modrek was principal investigator studying learning outcomes.^[6][7][8]

Anahid Modrek serves as an Editorial Fellow for American Psychological Association's journal, Developmental Psychology^[9] and currently serves as an Editorial Board member for journals Learning & Instruction^[10] and Learning and Individual Differences.^[11]

Anahid Modrek completed a Bachelors degree at the University of California, Berkeley under the mentorship of Robert Reich. Modrek simultaneously worked as a researcher for the Greater Good Science Center under Dacher Keltner,^[12] and multiple labs in the Department of Psychology.

Anahid Modrek went on to investigate individual differences in self-regulation that support scientific thinking and inductive learning and, at the age of 25, received her PhD in Developmental Psychology from Columbia University, under Deanna Kuhn. ^[13]

As a doctoral student, Modrek was an international Luys Fellow, with her training supported by the Luys Foundation for five consecutive years.^[14][15] Modrek went on to a National Science Foundation postdoctoral scholar position, under William A. Sandoval,^[16] subsequently completing postdoctoral fellowships at University of California, Los Angeles and University of California, San Diego, as well as a micro-sabbatical at Princeton University ^[17],.^[18]

Prior to her current position, Dr. Modrek started tenure track in the Psychology Department at Thomas Jefferson University,^[19][20][21] and taught in the Department of Psychology as faculty at University of Pennsylvania and Columbia University.

Modrek grew up figure skating competitively,^[22] and after retiring from a back injury, was subsequently hired as a coach at the Wollman Rink and Chelsea Piers training facility in New York City.

Modrek is granddaughter of musician and microminiature sculptor Hagop Sandaldjian.

Modrek is featured in At Berkeley, a documentary film by Frederick Wiseman shot while Modrek was an undergraduate at the institution.^[23]

Modrek's research spans developmental psychology, cognitive science, and education by examining the interplay between self-regulation and executive functioning, socio-cultural factors, and inductive reasoning in relation to real-world outcomes. This spans early childhood to adolescence, employing both laboratory and field-based methodologies.^[24][25]

Select Publications:

• Modrek, A. S., & Drew, S. (2025) Integrating imagination with evidence when writing. Creativity Research Journal.^[26]
• Modrek, A. S., & Lombrozo, T. (2024) Allow me to explain: Benefits of explaining extend to distal academic performance. Cognitive Science.^[27]
• Modrek, A. S., & Wolf, S. (2024) Is the development of diversification in executive functioning universal? Longitudinal evidence from Ghana. Social Development.^[28]
• Modrek, A. S. et al (2021) Do adolescents want more autonomy? Testing gender differences in autonomy across STEM. Journal of Adolescence, 92, 237-246.^[29]
• Modrek, A. & Ramirez, G. (2021) Cognitive regulation outdoes behavior regulation in predicting state standardized test scores over time. Metacognition & Learning, 16, 113-134.^[30]
• Modrek, A. S. (2021) Accounting for cognitive costs: Can scientists be creative? Philosophical Psychology, 34(5), 756-759.^[31]
• Modrek, A. S., & Sandoval, W. A. (2020) Can autonomy play a role in causal reasoning? Cognitive Development, 54(C), 1-9.^[32]
• Modrek, A. S. et al (2019) Cognitive regulation, not behavior regulation, predicts learning. Learning and Instruction, 60(C), 237 - 244.^[33]
• Modrek, A. S., & Kuhn, D. (2017). A cognitive cost of the need to achieve? Cognitive Development, 44, 12-20.^[34]