David Rapp
Faculty Profile
Charles Deering McCormick Professor of Teaching Excellence
Professor, Learning Sciences
Professor, Department of Psychology
Director of Undergraduate Education
Room 220
2120 Campus Drive
Evanston, IL 60208-0001
Phone: (847) 467-1871
Biography
David N. Rapp, the Charles Deering McCormick Professor of Teaching Excellence, is a professor in both the School of Education and Social Policy and the Department of Psychology at Northwestern University. He serves as director of undergraduate education for SESP.
His research examines language and memory, focusing on the cognitive mechanisms responsible for successful learning and knowledge failures. He investigates the ways in which prior knowledge, text and visual materials, and learning goals influence the processes and products of our discourse experiences. This has included the evaluation of technologies intended to support formal and informal learning, the design of effective presentation systems, and the iterative development of tools intended to support literacy.
Recent published articles examine how memory is influenced by (a) the plausibility and importance of everyday events, (b) the credibility of sources, and (c) the collaborative nature of group discussions. His most recent book is a co-edited volume entitled Processing Inaccurate Information: Theoretical and Applied Perspectives from Cognitive Science and the Educational Sciences.
Rapp’s projects have been funded by the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Department of Education, and the National Institute on Aging. For his work, he has received a McKnight Land-Grant Professor award from the University of Minnesota in 2006, the Tom Trabasso Young Investigator Award from the Society for Text & Discourse in 2010, and is a fellow of the Association for Psychological Science. He has served as associate editor at the Journal of Educational Psychology and is currently Editor at the journal Discourse Processes.
Research Interests
Reading comprehension; memory following learning experiences; updating prior knowledge; the acquisition of accurate and inaccurate information; translation of cognitive science research to educational settings; multimedia learning; visualizations as learning tools.
Websites
Awards/Honors
- 2022 – American Psychological Association Fellow of Division 15
- 2021 – Undergraduate Research Assistant Program Award (URAP), Northwestern
University - 2019 – Outstanding Professor Award, School of Education and Social Policy, Northwestern University
- 2019 – Gratitude Honor for Service, Residential College Services, Northwestern University
- 2018 – Fellow, Society for Text and Discourse
- 2017 – Undergraduate Research Assistant Program (URAP) Award
- 2016 – Undergraduate Research Assistant Program (URAP) Award
- 2015 – Midwestern Psychological Association (MPA) Fellow
- 2015 – Undergraduate Research Assistant Program (URAP) Award
- 2010 – Tom Trabasso Young Investigator Award, Society for Text and Discourse
- 2010 – Association for Psychological Science (APS) Fellow
- 2009 – Undergraduate Psychology Association Award for Excellence in Teaching
- 2008 – Residential College Fellow Assistant Researcher Award (FARA), Northwestern University
- 2006 – McKnight Land-Grant Professorship Award, University of Minnesota
- 2002 – The Jason Albrecht Outstanding Young Scientist Award, Society for Text and Discourse
Education
| Year | Degree | Institution |
| 2000 | PhD, Experimental Psychology | State University of New York, Stony Brook |
| 1996 | MA, General Psychology | New York University |
| 1994 | BA, Psychology | State University of New York, Albany |
Selected Publications
Dissertation
| Year | Title | |
| 2000 | Reader Preferences and the Application of Temporal Situation Models |
Selected Publications 2018 – Present
Rich, P., Donovan, A.M, & Rapp, D.N. (in press). Cause typicality and the continued influence effect. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied.
Salovich, N.A., Imundo, M.N., & Rapp, D.N. (in press). Story stimuli for instantiating true and false beliefs about the world. Behavior Research Instruments.
Salovich, N.A., Kirsch, A.M., & Rapp, D.N. (in press). Evaluative mindsets can protect against the influence of false information. Cognition.
Imundo, M.A., & Rapp, D.N. (2022). When fairness is flawed: Effects of false balance reporting and weight-of-evidence statements on beliefs and perceptions of climate change. Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition, 11, 258-271.
Spikes, M.A., & Rapp, D.N. (2022). Examining instructional practices in news media literacy: Shifts in instruction and co-construction. Information and Learning Sciences, 123, 26-44.
Lea, R.B., Elfenbein, A., & Rapp, D.N. (2021). Rhyme as resonance in poetry comprehension: An expert-novice study. Memory & Cognition, 49, 1285-1299.
Andrews-Todd, J.J., Salovich, N.A., & Rapp, D.N. (2021). Differential effects of pressure on social contagion of memory. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, 27, 258-275.
Mensink, M.C., Kendeou, P., & Rapp, D.N. (2021). Do different kinds of introductions influence comprehension and memory for scientific explanations? Discourse Processes, 58, 491-512.
Salovich, N. A, Donovan, A. M., Hinze, S. R., & Rapp, D. N. (2021). Can confidence help account for and redress the effects of reading inaccurate information? Memory & Cognition, 49, 293-310.
Salovich, N.A., & Rapp, D.N. (2021). Misinformed and unaware: Metacognition and the influence of inaccurate information. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory and Cognition, 47, 608-624.
Donovan, A.M., & Rapp, D.N. (2020). Look it up: Online search reduces the problematic effects of exposure to inaccuracies. Memory & Cognition, 48, 1128-1145.
Donovan, A.M., Zhan, J., & Rapp, D.N. (2018). Supporting historical understandings with refutation texts.Contemporary Educational Psychology: 54, 1-11.
Nzinga, K., Rapp, D.N., Leatherwood, C., Easterday, M., Rogers, L.O., Gallagher, N., & Medin, D.L. (2018). Should social scientists be distanced from or engaged with the people they study? Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America: 115, 11435-11441.
Rapp, D.N., & Donovan, A.M. (2018). The challenge of overcoming pseudoscientific ideas. Behavior Therapist: 41, 4-11.
Rapp, D.N., & Salovich, (2018). Can’t we just disregard fake news? The consequences of exposure to inaccurate information. Policy Insights from the Behavioral and Brain Sciences: 5, 232-239.
Service/Recognition
Professional Organizations
| 2006 – 2006 |  |
Society for Text & Discourse Secretary |
Editorial Boards
| Year | Journal Name | Position |
| 2008 | Memory & Cognition | Consulting Board Member |
| 2007 | Discourse Processes | Associate Editor |
| 2006 | Mechamedia | Consulting Board Member |
| 2004 | Computers in Human Behavior | Consulting Board Member |
Grants/Funding
| Year | |
Title | |
Source | |
Period | |
Amount | |
Status |
| 2009 | |
Collaborative Proposal: Students� Attempts at Understanding the Unobservable: A Multi-Method Approach to Visualization Analysis and Design | |
National Science Foundation | |
2009 – 2012 | |
$~800,000 | |
Pending |
|
PI: Co-PI: Mary Jane Shultz
|
||||||||||
| 2007 | |
Health Literacy and Cognitive Function Among Older Adults | |
National Institute of Aging | |
2007 – 2010 | |
$1,900,000 | |
Funded |
|
PI: Wolf, M. S.
|
||||||||||
|
My Role: Co-Investigator
|
||||||||||
| 2008 | |
Understanding 3-D Topography from 2-D Maps | |
(Spatial Intelligence and Learning Center) seed grant, National Science Foundation | |
2008 – 2009 | |
$11,684 | |
Funded |
|
PI:
|
||||||||||
| 2004 | |
Improving Comprehension of Struggling Readers: Connecting Cognitive Science and Educational Practice | |
Institute of Education Sciences | |
2004 – 2007 | |
$1,500,000 | |
Funded |
|
PI: Rapp, David Paul van den Broek, Kristen McMaster
|
||||||||||
| 2004 | |
Development of Children’s Comprehension Processes: Phase IV Longitudinal Study | |
Office of the Associate Dean for Research, College of Education and Human Development, University of Minnesota | |
2004 – 2006 | |
$24,395 | |
Funded |
|
PI: Rapp, David Paul van den Broek
|
||||||||||
| 2003 | |
Reader Preferences and Narrative Inferences | |
Office of the Dean of the Graduate School, University of Minnesota | |
2003 – 2005 | |
$19,886 | |
Funded |
|
PI: Rapp, David
|
||||||||||
| 2003 | |
Reinforming Misinformation: The Impact of Visualizations on Prior Knowledge in the Earth Sciences | |
National Science Foundation | |
2003 – 2005 | |
$5,000 | |
Funded |
|
PI: Rapp, David Investigators: Panayiota Kendeou, Steve Reynolds, & Paul Morin
|
||||||||||
| 2003 | |
A Computer Laboratory for Research on Reading Fluency | |
Office of the Dean of the Graduate School, University of Minnesota | |
2003 – 2004 | |
$11,738 | |
Funded |
|
PI: Randy Fletcher, Paul van den Broek
|
||||||||||
|
My Role: Co-Investigator along with Andy Elfenbein and Brian Southwell
|
||||||||||
| 2001 | |
Spatial Navigation of Multimedia Digital Libraries – An Iterative Approach to Tools and Processes | |
Academic Technology, Tufts University | |
2001 – 2002 | |
$10,000 | |
Funded |
|
PI: Rapp, David Holly Taylor
|
||||||||||
Selected Presentations
Rapp, D.N. (April, 2009). Readers’ processing of accurate and inaccurate information. Invited talk presented at the University of Pittsburgh,. Pittsburgh, PA.
Lea, R.B., Olson, M., Long, D., & Rapp, D.N (November, 2008). The difference a day makes: Time shifts and memory-based text processing. Poster presented at the 49th Annual Meeting of the Psychonomic Society, Chicago, IL.
. Chicago, IL.
Sparks, J.R., & Rapp, D.N. (November, 2008). Readers� inferences from credible and non-credible sources.. Poster presented at the 49th Annual Meeting of the Psychonomic society
. Chicago, IL.
Bohn-Gettler, C.M., & Rapp, D.N. (July, 2008). Depending on my mood: Mood-driven influences on �strategic� processes of text comprehension. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Text and Discourse
. Memphis, TN.
Clinton, V., Seipel, B., van den Broek, P., McMaster, K., Rapp, D.N., & White, M.J (July, 2008). Gender differences in elaborative inference generation of fourth grade students. Paper presented at the 18th Annual Conference of the Society for Text and Discourse
. Memphis, TN.
Kurby, C.A. & Rapp, D.N. (July, 2008). Do perceptual representations facilitate comprehension?. Paper presented at the 18th Annual Conference of the Society for Text and Discourse
. Memphis, TN.
Mensink, M.C., Kendeou, P., & Rapp, D.N. (July, 2008). Engagement and exposition: How do introductions influence the processing of scientific explanations? . Paper presented at the 18th annual meeting of the Society for Text and Discourse
. Memphis, TN.
Woehrle, J., Magliano, J., & Rapp, D.N (July, 2008). Anticipatory processes during comprehension of poetry. Paper presented at the 18th annual meeting of the Society for Text and Discourse
. Memphis, TN.
McMaster, K., van den Broek, P., White, M.J., Carlson, S., Rapp, D.N., & Kendeou, P. (June, 2008). Identifying interventions for students who struggle with reading comprehension based on online and offline reading profiles. Poster presented at the 3rd annual Institute of Education Sciences research conference
. Washington, D.C, DC.
Rapp, D. N. (May, 2008). It takes a (multidisciplinary) community: Understanding visualization experiences.. Invited talk at the Visualization in Science Education – Gordon Research Conference planning and review meeting, National Science Foundation,
. Washington, D.C, DC.
McGowan, S.K., & Rapp, D.N. (May, 2008). Spoiler alert: Increasing and decreasing psychological experiences of suspense. Poster presented at the 80th annual meeting of the Midwestern Psychological Association
. Chicago, IL.
Peshkam, A., Kendeou, P., & Rapp, D.N. (May, 2008). Do unusual causes foster careful updating of memory? . Paper presented at the 80th annual meeting of the Midwestern Psychological Association
. Chicago, IL.
Slaten, D., Horton, W.S., & Rapp, D.N. (May, 2008). Learning facts from far-fetched sources. Paper presented to the 80th annual meeting of the Midwestern Psychological Association
. Chicago, IL.
Horton, W.S., & Rapp, D.N. (April, 2008). Updating trait-based models in narrative comprehension by younger and older readers. Paper presented at the 12th Biennial Cognitive Aging conference
. Atlanta, GA.
Bohn-Gettler, C.M., Rapp, D.N (March, 2008). The products and processes of comprehension in middle school children and adults. . Paper presented at the annual meeting of the National Consortium for Instruction and Cognition
. New York, NY.