
Maya M. Khanna, PhD
Professor
College of Arts and Sciences
Expertise/Specializations
- Cognition and Development; Developmental Neuroscience
- Scholarship of Teaching and Learning
- Word Processing, Attention, and Memory
Academic Appointments
Department
- Psychological Science
Position
- Professor
Publications and Presentations
Books
- Khanna, Maya M. Adolescent and adult development: Designing a retirement and care plan for older adults, Promoting Student Engagement, 15-19, 2011
- Khanna, Maya M. Community service engagement: How our students benefit from this service and how to encourage them to pursue community service., Promoting Student Engagement, 41-45, 2011
- Khanna, M. M. Engaging Students in Community-Based Research, Developing, Promoting, and Sustaining the Undergraduate Research Experience in Psychology, 156-161, 2008
Articles
Cortese, M. J., Toppi*, S., Santo, J. & Khanna, M. M. (accepted). AoA Effects in Reading Aloud and Lexical Decision: Locating the (Semantic) Locus in Terms of the Number Backward Semantic Associations. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology
, Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 2020- Khanna, M. M. (in Press). Using Cognitive Science to Improve Pedagogical Practice. Ebsco Information Services, Ebsco Information Services, 2020
Cortese, M. J., Von Nordheim*, D., & Khanna, M. M. (in press). Word length negatively predicts recognition memory performance. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology.
, Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 2020
Earl, A. K. K, Robinson*, A. M., Mills, M. S., Khanna, M. M., Bar-Haim, Y., & Badura-Brack, A. S. (In Press). Attention bias variability and posttraumatic stress symptoms: The mediating role of emotion regulation difficulties. Cognition and Emotion, DOI: 10.1080/02699931.2020.1743235.
, Cognition & Emotion, DOI: 10.1080/02699931.2020.1743235., 2020
Badura Brack, A. S., Earl, A. K., Stephen, J., Mills, M. S., Khanna, M. M., Embury*, C., Calhoun, V. D., Wang, Y. P., & Wilson, T. W. (2020). Hippocampal and Parahippocampal Volumes Vary by sex and traumatic life events in children. Journal of Psychiatry & Neuroscience. DOI: 10.1503/jpn.190013.
, Journal of Psychiatry & Neuroscience, DOI: 10.1503/jpn.190013, 2020
Khanna, M. M. & Cortese, M. J. (in press). General Psychology - Memory and Cognition: Topics, Methods, and Research-Based Strategies for Teaching Cognition. International Handbook of Psychology Learning and Teaching, D. Bernstein, J. Zumbach, S. Narciss, & G. Marsico (eds.) Springer.
, Springer, 2019
Mills, M. S., Embury*, C. M., Klanecky, A. K., Khanna, M. M., Calhoun, V. D., Stephen, J. M., Wang, Y-P., Wilson, T. W., & Badura-Brack, A. S. (2019). Traumatic Events are associated with diverse psychological symptoms in typically-developing children. Journal of Child and Adolescent Trauma.DOI: 10.1007/s40653-019-00284-y.
, Journal of Child and Adolescent Trauma, DOI: 10.1007/s40653-019-00284-y, 2019
Cortese, M. J., Khanna, M. M., & Von Nordheim*, D. (2019). Incidental memory for color word associates processed in color naming and word naming tasks: Is a blue ocean more memorable than a yellow one? Memory, 27(7), 924-930, DOI: 10.1080/09658211.2019.1607877
, Memory, 27 (7), 924 - 930, 2019- Khanna, M. M., Badura-Brack, A. S., McDermott*, T. J., Shepherd*, A., Heinrichs-Graham*, E., Pine, D. S., Bar-Haim, Y., & Wilson, T. W. (2016). Attention training normalises combat-related post-traumatic stress disorder effects on emotional Stroop performance using lexically matched word lists. Cognition and Emotion, 30(8), 1521-152, Cognition & Emotion, Volume 30, Issue 8, 1521-1528, 2018
- Minnich, M., Chapple, H., Kirkpatrick, A., J., Whittaker, A. A., Goodman, J. T., Schoening, A. M., Khanna, M. M. (2018). Writing across the Curriculum: Reliability Testing of a Standardized Rubric., Journal of Nursing Education, 57 (6), 366 - 370, 2018
- Badura-Brack, A. S., McDermott*, T. J., Heinrichs-Graham, E., Ryan, T. J., Khanna, M. M., Pine, D. S., Bar-Haim, Y., Wilson, T. W., (2018). Veterans with PTSD demonstrate amygdala hyperactivity while viewing threatening faces: A MEG study, Biological Psychology, 132, 228-232, 2018
- Khanna, M. M., Badura-Brack, A. S., McDermott*, T. J., Embury*, C. M., Wiesman*, A. I., Shepherd*, A., Ryan*, T. J., Heinrichs-Graham*, E., Wilson, T. W. (2017). Veterans with PTSD exhibit altered emotional processing and attentional control during an emotional Stroop task. Psychological Medicine. 11, 2017-2027, Psychological Medicine, Volume 11, 2017 - 2027, 2017
Badura Brack, A.S., Heinrichs-Graham, E., Becker, K.M., McDermott*, T.J., Ryan, T.J., Khanna, M.M., Pine, D.S., Bar-Haim, Y., Wilson, T.W. (2017) Resting-state neurophysiological abnormalities in posttraumatic stress disorder: A Magnetoencephalography study. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 11, 1- 8.
, Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, Volume 11, 1 - 8, 2017- McDermott*, T.J., Badura Brack, A.S., Becker, K.M., Ryan*, T.J., Bar-Haim, Y., Pine, D.S., Abend, R., Khanna, M.M., Heinrichs-Graham*, E., & Wilson, T.W. (2016). Attention training improves aberrant neural dynamics during working memory encoding in veterans with PTSD. Cognitive, Affective, and Behavioral Neuroscience, Cognitive, Volume 16, Issue 6, , 1140-1149, 2016
Cortese, M. J., Khanna, M. M., Kopp*, R., Santo, J. B., Preston*, K. S., & Van Zuiden*, T. (2017). Participants shift response deadlines based on list difficulty during reading aloud megastudies. Memory & Cognition, 45(4), 589 – 599.
, Memory & Cognition, Volume 45, Issue 4, 589 - 599, 2016- The Benefits of quizzing in content-focused versus skills-focused Courses., Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in Psychology, 2(1), 87-97, 2016
- Khanna, Maya M. Ungraded pop quizzes: Test-enhanced learning without all the anxiety, Teaching of Psychology, 42, 174-178, 2015
- Khanna, Maya M. Boys, Not Girls, Are Negatively Affected on Cognitive Tasks by Lead Exposure: A Pilot Study, Journal of Environmental Health, 77, 72-77, 2015
- Khanna, M. M., Badura-Brack, A. S., McDermott, T. J., Shepherd, A., Heinrichs-Graham, E., Pine, D. S., Bar-Haim, Y., & Wilson, T. W. Attention training normalises combat-related post-traumatic stress disorder effects on emotional Stroop performance using lexically matched word lists. Cognition and Emotion., Cognition and Emotion, 2015
- Ungraded Pop-Quizzes: Test-Enhanced Learning Without All the Anxiety, Teaching of Psychology, 42(2), 174-178, 2015
- Khanna, Maya M., Brack, Amy S. B., Finken, Laura L. Short- and Long-Term Effects of Cumulative Finals on Student Learning, Teaching of Psychology, 40, 175-182, 2013
- Khanna, M. M., Badura Brack, A., & Finken, L. L. Short- and long-term effects of cumulative finals on student learning., Teaching of Psychology, 40(3), 175-182, 2013
- Schock, Jocelyn, Cortese, Michael J., Khanna, Maya M., Toppi, Sean Age of acquisition estimates for 3,000 disyllabic words, Behavior Research Methods, 44, 971-977, 2012
- Schock, Jocelyn, Cortese, Michael J., Khanna, Maya M. Imageability estimates for 3,000 disyllabic words, Behavior Research Methods, 44, 374-379, 2012
- Age of acquisition estimates for 3,000 disyllabic words., Behavior Research Methods, 44(4), 971-977, 2012
- Khanna, M. M., Cortese, M. J. Age of acquisition estimates for 1,208 ambiguous and polysemous words, Behavior Research Methods, 43, 86-96, 2011
- Age of acquisition ratings for 1,208 ambiguous and polysemous words., Behavior Research Methods, 43(1), 89-96, 2011
- Khanna, Maya M., Cortese, Michael J., Birchwood, Katharine S. Learning New Words Affects Nonword Pronunciation in Children, Scientific Studies of Reading, 14, 407-439, 2010
- Cortese, Michael J., Khanna, Maya M., Hacker, Sarah Recognition memory for 2,578 monosyllabic words, Memory, 18, 595-609, 2010
- Khanna, Maya M., Boland, Julie E. Children's use of language context in lexical ambiguity resolution, Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 63, 160-193, 2010
- Khanna, Maya M., Boland, J. E. The development of context-use for lexical ambiguity resolution., Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 63, 160-193, 2010
- Khanna, Maya M., Cortese, Michael J. Children and adults are differentially affected by presentation modality in the DRM paradigm, Applied Cognitive Psychology, 23, 859-877, 2009
- Cortese, Michael J., Khanna, Maya M. Age of acquisition ratings for 3,000 monosyllabic words, Behavior Research Methods, 40, 791-794, 2008
- Cortese, Michael J., Khanna, Maya M., White, Katherine K., Veljkovic, Ilija, Drumm, Geoffery The activation and monitoring of memories produced by words and pseudohomophones, Journal of Memory & Language, 58, 393-414, 2008
- Cortese, Michael J., Khanna, Maya M. Age of acquisition predicts naming and lexical-decision performance above and beyond 22 other predictor variables: An analysis of 2,342 words, Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 60, 1072-1082, 2007
- Cortese, M.J., Watson, J.M., Khanna, M. M., & McCallion*, M. (2006). Revisiting distinctive perceptual processes in memory., Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 13, 446-451, 2006
- Bleckley, M. K., Durso, F. T., Crutchfield, J. M., Engle, R. W., & Khanna, M. M. (2003). Individual differences in working memory capacity predict visual attention allocation., Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 10, 884 - 889, 2003
Publications
- Imageability estimates for 3,000 disyllabic words., Behavior Research Methods, 44, 374-379, 2012
Presentations
Khanna, M. M., Guenther, C., & Fairchild, J. A. L. (2020, January). Are Freshmen ready to use research-based study strategies? Presented at the National Institute on the Teaching of Psychology 42nd annual meeting, St. Pete Beach, FL.
, 2020
Khanna, M. M., Budesheim, T. L., Guenther, C. L., & Klanecky, A. K. (2019, January). Internships boost retrospective ratings of education satisfaction and relevance, especially for those entering the workforce. Presented at the National Institute on the Teaching of Psychology 41st annual meeting, St. Pete Beach, FL.
, 2019
Khanna, M. M. (2018, November). Will vigorous exercise improve your verbal GRE score? Spoken presentation made at the department brown bag series.
, 2018
Guenther, C. L., Khanna, M. M., Budesheim, T. L., & Klanecky, A. K. (2018, October). Internships boost retrospective ratings of education satisfaction and relevance, especially for those entering the workforce. Poster presented at the Creighton University Assessment Day.
, 2018
Reyelts, C., Hwang, S., Khanna, M. M., Kratochvil, C., Vaughan, B., Knott, N., Coolidge, N., Wilson, T.W., & Blair, J. (2018, October). The utility of magneto-encephalography in measuring of irritability in pediatric populations. Poster presented at the Annual meeting of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Seattle, Washington, USA.
, 2018
Khanna, M. M. (2018, July). Should we introduce research-based learning strategies to freshmen? Spoken presentation at the Biennial International Seminar on the Teaching of Psychological Science, Paris, France.
, 2018- Mills MS, Embury CM, Warren DE, Robinson AM, Meredith CK, Manker BR, Khanna MM, Klanecky AK, Calhoun VD, Stephen JM, Wang YP, Wilson TW, & Badura-Brack AS. (2018). Amygdala, Hippocampal, and Parahippocampal Volumes Vary By Sex and Traumatic Life Events in Healthy Children. Poster presented at the Association for Psychological Science (APS) Annual Convention 2018, San Francisco, CA, USA., 2018
Cortese, M. J., Khanna, M. M., and von Nordheim, D. (2018, May). Incidental Memory for Color Word Associations Processed in Color Naming and Word Naming Tasks: Is a Blue Sky More Memorable Than a Green One? Poster to be presented at the Association for Psychological Science (APS) Annual Convention 2018, San Francisco, CA, USA.
, 2018
Yeh, M. E., & Khanna, M. M. (2018, April). The Effect of Moderate-to-high Intensity exercise on cognitive function. Presented at the annual Nebraska Academy of Science Meeting, Lincoln, NE.
, 2018
Khanna, M. M. (2017, November). Closing the Loop: How cognitive science can guide pedagogical development and how applied classroom research can guide cognitive science theory. Presented at the Univ. of Nebraska at Omaha Topics in Education Seminar.
, 2017
Begley, K., Khanna, M. M. , & Mayer, A. (2017, October). Fighting the cram and dump: Classroom strategies to improve student learning. Creighton office of Academic Excellence and Assessment lunch series.
, 2017
Khanna, M. M. (2017, April). The neurocognitive effects of lead exposure on the developing brain. Invited presentation at the Omaha Earth Day March for Science.
, 2017
Khanna, M. M. (2017, February). Emotional Stroop Task Performance in PTSD Reveals Alterations in Emotional Processing and Attention Allocation. Presented at the UNMC Mind and Brain Health Seminar Series.
, 2017
Khanna, M. M. (2016). The psychological impact of lead exposure in North Omaha. Presented at South Omaha Community Forum on Lead at The Salvation Army Kroc Center.
, 2016
Fernandes*, R.C., Toalson*, S.K., McDermott*, T.J., Khanna, M.M., Bar-Haim, Y., & Badura Brack, A.S. (2016). Attention Training Exerts Therapeutic Effects on PTSD Symptoms in Only Four Sessions. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Association for Psychological Science, Chicago, IL.
, 2016
McDermott*, T.J., Badura Brack, A.S., Kemp, C.M., Khanna, M.M., Heinrichs-Graham*, E., & Wilson, T.W. (2016). Patterns of Neural Activation during Trauma Provocation in Combat Veterans with PTSD. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Association for Psychological Science, Chicago, IL.
, 2016- McDermott*, T.J., Badura Brack, A.S., Merrill*, B.M., Khanna, M.M., Abend, R., Bar-Haim, Y., Heinrichs-Graham, E., & Wilson, T.W. (2016). Neurophysiological Correlates of Attention Bias Variability and PTSD: A Magnetoencephalography Study. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Association for Psychological Science, Chicago, IL., 2016
- Cortese, M. J., Khanna, M. M., Kopp*, R. J. B., & Preston*, K. S. (2015, November). Does blocking words by difficulty in a reading aloud task improve the predictive power of standard variables on performance measures, 2015
- McDermott*, T. J., Badura-Brack, A. S., Khanna, M. M., Shepherd*, A. J., Heinrichs-Graham*, E., & Wislon, T. W., (2015, May). Magnetoencephalography reveals neurocognitive deficits during an emotional Stroop task in veterans with PTSD, 2015
- Khanna, M. M. & Dickel, C. T. (2014, May) Neurological effects of lead exposure and a new cognitive intervention. Invited presentation at the Omaha Healthy Housing Summit., 2015
- Dickel, C.T., & Khanna, M.M. (March, 2014). “Lessons and Dilemmas: Implementing and Evaluating a College-Wide iPad Project.” EDUCAUSE Connect, Chicago, Illinois, March 17-19, 2014., 2014
- Khanna, M. M., Badura Brack, A. S., and Finken, L. L. (2013, October). Cumulative Final Exams and Pop Quizzes: Practical ways to integrate repeated testing into courses. Presented at the Society for Teaching of Psychology, Best Practices: Research-Based Approaches for Teaching Psychology., 2013
- Khanna, M. M. (2013, October). Neurological effects of lead exposure and the educational implications. Invited presentation at the Lead & Healthy Housing Midwest Regional Conference., 2013
- Dickel, C.T., Khanna, M.M., Ishii-Jordan, S.R., & Turner, M. (2013, October). Preparing the faculty: Ongoing pedagogical issues in iPad-only university courses. Presentation made at the E-Learn World Conference on E-Learning , Las Vegas, Nevada., 2013
- Dickel, C.T., & Khanna, M.M. (April, 2013). “Evidence-Based Learning: An Interactive Case Study Evaluating the Impact of iPads on Student Learning. Sloan/Merlot 7th Annual Emerging Technologies for Online Learning International Symposium, Dallas, Texas, April 9-11, 2013., 2013
- Khanna, M. M. (2012, May). Cognitive impact of lead exposure on Omaha children. Invited presentation to the Omaha and Sarpy county public schools Early Childhood Network., 2012
- Khanna, M. M. (2012, March). Cognitive impact of lead exposure on Omaha children. Invited presentation to the Douglas County Health Department Board of Directors., 2012
- Centeno, L. & Khanna, M. M. (2011). The Impact of verb type on explicit and implicit memory. Presented at the 52nd Annual Meeting of the Psychonomics Society. Seattle, WA., 2011
- Khanna, M. M. & DiFolco, K. (2011). Improving children’s comprehension and memory: Reciprocal teaching vs. repeated testing. Presented at the 2011 Annual Meeting of the Midwestern Psychological Association Meeting. Chicago, IL., 2011
- Centeno, L. & Khanna, M. M. (2011). The effects of verb complexity on reading comprehension. Presented at the 2011 Annual Meeting of the Midwestern Psychological Association Meeting. Chicago, IL., 2011
- Khanna, M. M. (2010, December ). The Relationship Between Neurocognitive Development and Cognitive Functioning. Presented at The University of Vermont, Medical Center Departments of Neurology and Psychiatry Grand Rounds, Burlington, VT., 2010
- Khanna, M. M., Cortese, M. J., Murphy, B.* & Daniels, K*. (2010, November) Dominance and Subordination: Age of Acquisition Estimates for Ambiguous Word Senses. Presented at the 51st Annual Meeting of the Psychonomics Society. St. Louis, MO., 2010
Research and Scholarship
Research and Scholarship Interests
- Language processing, executive functions, attention, word recognition, megastudies, pedagogical applications of cognitive science research
Current Research Projects
- See above
Grant Funding Received
- National Institutes of Health – Working Memory Intervention in Elementary School Children Exposed to Lead
- Haddix Presidential Faculty Research Fellowship – Cognitive Training for Lead Exposed Children
- Creighton University Summer Faculty Fellowship Program – How do you know what I mean by match?-
- Creighton University Office for Academic Excellence and Assessment Grant – Impact of iPad Use on Student Learning.
- Creighton University Summer Faculty Fellowship Program – The Impact of Lead Exposure on Executive Function and Reading Skill Development
- Creighton University Summer Faculty Fellowship Program – Children’s use of sentence level and word level context for meaning selection
- Creighton University Office for Academic Excellence and Assessment Grant – Cumulative Final Exams: A Continual Review of the Impact on Student Learning-
- National Science Foundation – EPSCoR Program – Developmental Chronnecto-Genomic (Dev-CoG): A Next Generation Framework for Quantifying Brain
- Creighton University Summer Faculty Fellowship Program –The Impact of Lead Exposure on the Adolescent Brain
- EPSCOR Major Research Instrumentation - Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to support novel neuroscience research in Nebraska
- At Ease, USA – Randomized Clinical trials of Computer-based Attention Control Training for PTSD
- NASA – Nebraska Space Mini-Grant – The Effects of Moderate to High-Intensity Exercise on Cognitive Functioning
Awards and Honors
- At Ease U.S.A. and the Robert B. Daugherty Foundation Grant for - Attention Bias Modification Treatment for Combat-Related PTSD: A Randomized Clinical Trial Magnetoencephalogy Study. (PI- Amy Badura Brack, Ph. D.)., 2012
- Recipient of the University Distinguished Educator in Teaching as Scholarship award, Creighton University, 2018