Michelle Miller, PhD  

Professor
PhD UCLA, 1997
Major: Cognitive psychology
Post-doctoral researcher at Rice University, 1997-1999
Email Address: michelle.miller@nau.edu 

Professional Interests

Dr. Miller's research focuses on language and memory. Specifically, she has studied how normal aging affects the ability to produce and comprehend language, language production in brain-injured individuals, and how people produce and comprehend descriptions of interpersonal violence, such as crime reports published in the mass media.

Dr. Miller also has interests in applied cognitive psychology, particularly how different pedagogical strategies affect student comprehension and retention of material in the social and natural sciences.

Dr. Miller was honored to become one of NAU’s President’s Distinguished Teaching Fellows in 2011.

Recent publications

  • Dickson, K.L., & Miller, M.D. (2005). Authorized crib cards do not improve exam performance. In press, Teaching of Psychology.
  • Dickson, K.L., & Miller, M.D. Effect of crib card construction and use on exam performance. In press, Teaching of Psychology (Faculty Forum).
  • Dickson, K.L., Devoley, M.S., & Miller, M.D. Effect of multiple-choice exercises on multiple-choice exam performance in introductory psychology. In press, Teaching of Psychology (Faculty Forum).
  • Dickson, K.L, Miller, M.D., & Devoley, M. (2005). Effect of textbook study guides on student performance in introductory psychology. Teaching of Psychology, 32, 34-39.
  • Miller, M.D., & Johnson, J.S. (2004). Phonological and lexical-semantic short-term memory and their relationship to sentence production in older adults. Aging, Neuropsychology, and Cognition, 11, 395-415.
  • Martin, R.C., Miller, M.D., & Vu, H. (2004). Lexical-semantic retention and speech production: Further evidence from normal and brain-damaged participants for a phrasal scope of planning. Cognitive Neuropsychology, 21, 625-644.
  • Henley, N.M., Miller, M.D., Beazley, J.A., Nguyen, D.N., Kaminsky, D., & Sanders, R. (2002). Frequency and specificity of referents to violence in news reports of anti-gay attacks. Discourse and Society, 13, 75-104.
  • Martin, R.C., & Miller, M.D. (2002). Sentence comprehension deficits: Independence and interaction of syntax, semantics, and working memory. In A. Hillis (Ed.), Handbook of Adult Language Disorders : Integrating Cognitive Neuropsychology, Neurology, and Rehabilitation. New York: Psychology Press.

Courses

PSY 101: Introduction to Psychology
PSY 302W: Research Methods in Psychology
PSY 420: Human Cognition
PSY 621: Cognitive Processes

Dr. Miller teaches graduate and undergraduate courses on cognitive psychology, as well as foundational undergraduate courses (Introduction to Psychology; Research Methods).