Dr. Faria Sana is an Associate Professor in Psychology at Athabasca University, and an Adjunct Professor in Psychology at McMaster University and at the University of Alberta. Her research interests include applying cognitive principles of memory and attention into educational contexts to promote durable and efficient student learning. Dr. Sana’s research program is funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, and has been prominently featured in the New York Times, the Atlantic, Globe and Mail and numerous education media outlets.
2015 PhD, Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour, McMaster University
2009 BA, Honours in Psychology & Sociology, McMaster University
Professional affiliations
Adjunct Professor, Department of Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour, McMaster University
Adjunct Professor, Department of Psychology, University of Alberta
Kalsi, S.S., Forrin, N.D., Sana, F., MacLeod, C.M., & Kim, J.A. (2022). Attention contagion online: Attention spreads between students in a virtual classroom. Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition. Advance Online Publication.
Yan, V.X., Carvalho, P.F., & Sana, F. (accepted). How student’s decisions to space their practice are related to better learning.Chapter to appear in C. E. Overson, C. M. Hakala, L. L. Kordonowy, & V. A. Benassi, Society for the Teaching of Psychology e-Book Series (APA, Division 2).
Sana, F., Yan, V.X., & Carvalho, P.F. (2022). On rest-from-deliberate practice as a mechanism for the spacing effect: Commentary on Chen et al. (2021). Educational Psychology Review, 34, 1851-1858.
Yan, V.X., & Sana, F. ( 2021 ). The robustness of the interleaving benefit. Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition , 10(4), 589-602.
Pan, S., & Sana, F., (2021). Pretesting versus posttesting: comparing the pedagogical benefits of errorful generation and retrieval practice. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, 27(2), 237–257.
Sana, F., Park, P., Gagne, C.L., & Spalding, T.L. (2021). The interplay between inhibitory control and metaphor conventionality. Memory & Cognition, 49(6), 1267-1284.
Park, J., Sana, F., Gagne, C.L., & Spalding, T.L. (2021). Factors that influence the processing of noun-noun metaphors. Metaphor and Symbol, 36(1), 20-44.
Yan, V.X., & Sana, F. (2021). Does the interleaving effect extend to unrelated concepts? Learners’ beliefs versus empirical evidence. Journal of Educational Psychology, 113(1), 125-137.
Pan, S., Sana, F., Schmitt, A., & Bjork, E.L. (2020). Pretesting improves learning and reduced mind wandering. Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition, 9(4), 542-554.
Pan, S., Sana, F., Samani, J., Cooke, J., & Kim, J.A. (2020). Learning from errors: Students’ and Instructors’ Practices, Attitudes and Beliefs. Memory, 28(9), 1105-1122.
Park, J., Sana, F., Gagne, C.L., & Spalding, T.L. (2020). Is inhibition involved in the processing of opaque compound words? A study of individual differences. The Mental Lexicon, 15(2), 258-294.
Sana, F., Forrin, N., Sharma, M., Jalal, E., Ho, P., Dubljevic, T., & Kim, J.A. (2020). Optimizing the efficacy of learning objectives through pretests. CBE-Life Sciences Education, 19(3).
Carvalho, P.F., Sana, F., & Yan, V.X. (2020). Self-regulated spacing in a massive open online course is related to better learning outcomes. npj Science of Learning, 5(1), 1-7.
Yan, V.X., & Sana, F. (2019). Interleaving benefits the learning of complex perceptual categories: Evidence against the discriminative-contrast hypothesis. Journal of Cognitive Education and Psychology, 18(1), 35-50.
Sana, F., Yan, V.X., Kim, J.A., Bjork, E.L., & Bjork, R.A. (2018). Does working memory capacity moderate the interleaving benefit? Journal of Applied Research in Memory & Cognition, 7(3), 361–369.
Sana, F., Yan, V.X., & Kim, J.A. (2017). Study sequence matters for the inductive learning of cognitive concepts. Journal of Educational Psychology, 109(1), 84-98.
Fenesi, B., & Sana, F. (2015). What is your degree worth? The relationship between post–secondary programs and employment outcomes. Canadian Journal of Higher Education, 45(4), 383-399.
Fenesi, B., Sana, F., Shore, D.I., & Kim, J.A. (2015). Reconceptualizing working memory in educational research. Educational Psychology Review, 27(2), 333-351.
Fenesi, B., Sana, F., & Kim, J.A. (2014). Evaluating the effectiveness of combining the use of corrective feedback and high-level practice questions. Teaching of Psychology, 41(2), 135-143.
Weston, T., Sana, F., & Wiseheart, M. (2014). Effets directs et indirects de l’utilisation multitâche du portable en classe en enseignement supérieur [The direct and indirect effects of laptop multitasking in university classrooms]. Pedagogie Collegiale, 27(2), 32-34.
Sana, F., Weston, T., & Cepeda, N.J. (2013). Laptop multitasking hinders classroom learning for both users and nearby peers. Computers & Education, 62, 24-31.
Sana, F., & Fenesi, B. (2013). Grade 12 vs. Grade 13: Benefits of an extra year of high school. The Journal of Educational Research, 106(5), 384-392.