What Does the Punched Holes Task Measure? BY

ii DEDICATION I would like to dedicate this thesis to my husband Chris and my mother Phyllis. Without your unending love, support and patience none of this would have been possible. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First, I must thank my advisor, Jennifer Wiley. Throughout my graduate career Jenny has always had my best interests in mind. She worked hard to make sure her students were supported both intellectually and emotionally, while at the same time pushing us to think more deeply. I feel so blessed to have had such a wonderful mentor and friend. I would also like to thank Jim Pellegrino and Mike Stieff for making time to discuss the development of my work, ask the really tough questions, and provide me with advice on career development. To Tom Moher, thank you for bringing your applied perspective to my work. Your passion for creating tools for the classroom is something I plan to take with me in the future. I would also like to thank Kate Zinsser for being willing to take a leap into Cognitive and bring with it her applied perspective as well. Furthermore, I must express thanks to the others members of my lab and my cohort for their endless support and feedback, and to Chelsea Perschon for her assistance in the completion of this work. Finally, I could not have made it through graduate school without week night meetings at Haymarket with my friends