Publications and Presentations

Journal publications (peer reviewed)

Galla, B., Karanam, A., Pelakh, A., & Goldberg, S. B. (2024) Adolescents do not benefit from universal school-based mindfulness interventions: a reanalysis of Dunning et al. (2022). Frontiers in Psychology, https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1384531

*Kalinowski, S. T., & Pelakh, A. (2023). A hypothetico-deductive theory of science and learning. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 1-27. https://doi.org/10.1002/tea.21892 * Wiley top-viewed article in 2023

Manuscripts in preparation or under review

Pelakh, A., Good, M. L., Kuo, E., Tumminia, M., Jamal-Orozco, N., Adelman, A., Antoan, Jordann, Galla, Brian, & Nokes-Malach, T. J. (under review at Physical Review – Physics Education Research). Thematic analysis of student perceptions of resources and demands experienced in introductory physics. arXiv. https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2502.14692

Benson-Greenwald, T. M., Pelakh, A., Tumminia, M.J., Jahanian, S., Diamond, M.S., Kuo, E., Good, M. Nokes-Malach, T.J. & Galla, B.M. (under revision). Building courage, strength, and knowledge: Mindfulness training reduces psychological threat in introductory physics courses. PsyArXiv. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/uq3v7

Pelakh, A., Singh, C., Rottman, B., Nokes-Malach, T. (in prep). Unifying two threads of research on physics problem solving through their relation to a cognitive theory of insight.

Pelakh, A., Good, M. L., Kuo, E., Tumminia, M. J., Jahanian, S., Nokes-Malach, T., Galla, B. (in prep). Psychological threat and problem solving in physics: Relations and effects of mindfulness training as an intervention.

Conference presentations (External)

*Postbaccalaureate advisee

*Langley, T., Pelakh, A., Benson-Greenwald, T. M., Tumminia, M. J., Jahanian, S., Kuo, E., Galla, B. M., Nokes-Malach, T. (2023, November). Does Mindfulness Promote Student Beliefs About Transfer? Poster presented at the Annual Meeting of the Psychonomic Society, San Franscisco, CA.

Benson-Greenwald, T. M., Galla, B., Nokes-Malach, T., Kuo, E., Good, M., Tumminia, M., Pelakh, A., & Jahanian, S. (2023, April). Engaging mindfully: Mindfulness training promotes psychological engagement in physics. Oral presentation given at the 94th Annual Meeting of the Midwestern Psychological Association, Chicago, IL.

Galla, B. M., Tumminia, M. J., Pelakh, A., Jahanian, S., Good, M. Kuo, E., Nokes-Malach, T. (2023, February). Can mindfulness training support college students’ stress management, mental health, and engagement? Poster presented at the annual conference of the International Society for Contemplative Research (ISCR), San Diego, CA.

Pelakh, A., Good, M. L., Kuo, E., Tumminia, M. J., Jahanian, S., Nokes-Malach, T., Galla, B. (2022, November 19). Testing associations between mindfulness training, psychological threat, and perceptions of confidence, difficulty, and anxiety during problem solving. Talk presented at the 63rd Annual Meeting of the Psychonomic Society, Boston, MA.

Good, M.L., Pelakh, A., Galla, B., Nokes-Malach, T., Tumminia, M. J., Hinshaw, K., Jahanian, S., Kuo, E. (2022, July 13-14). Psychological Threat and Demands in an Introductory Physics Class. Poster presented at the Physics Education Research Conference, Grand Rapids, MI.

Pelakh, A., Good, M. L., Kuo, E., Tumminia, M. J., Jahanian, S., Nokes-Malach, T., Galla, B. (2022, April 4-5). Examining associations between stress appraisals, problem categorization, and solution times in undergraduate physics students. Poster presented at the Center for Integrative Research on Cognition, Learning, and Education Conference, St. Louis, MO.

Pelakh, A., Good, M. L., Kuo, E., Nokes-Malach, T., Tumminia, M. J., Jamal-Orozco, N., Diamond, M. S., Adelman, A., Galla, B. (2021, July 26-29). The relationship between intelligence mindset and test anxiety as mediated by effort regulation. Poster presented at the 43rd Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society.

Pelakh, A., Kalinowski, S. T., & Hutchison, K. A. (2020, March). Heuristics and Biases in Scientific Reasoning. Poster accepted at the Rocky Mountain Psychological Association Annual Convention, Denver, CO. (Conference canceled)

McNamee, M., Brito, J., Pelakh, A., Gameon, J. A., & Skewes, M. C. (2020, March). Associations between historical trauma, quality of life, and substance use among American Indians in rural Montana. Poster accepted at the National Conference on Undergraduate Research Conference, Bozeman, MT. (Conference canceled)

Pelakh, A., Kalinowski, S. T., & Hutchison, K. A. (2020, March). Heuristics and biases in scientific reasoning. Poster accepted at the National Conference on Undergraduate Research, Bozeman, MT. (Conference canceled)

Conference presentations (Internal)

*Undergraduate advisee

Pelakh, A. (2024, October). A case study in experiment refinement: Identifying effects of mindfulness training on motivation and engagement in introductory physics. Talk presented at the Cognitive Talks Series, Department of Psychology, University of Pittsburgh.

Pelakh, A. (2024, March). Creating dynamic data visualizations with Shiny in R. Talk presented at the CAMeL (Community for Advanced Methodological Learning) Talks Series, Department of Psychology, University of Pittsburgh.

Pelakh, A. (2024, January). A mixed-methods analysis of student experiences in introductory physics. Talk presented at the Cognitive Talks Series, Department of Psychology, University of Pittsburgh.

Pelakh, A., Good, M., Kuo, E., Tumminia, M. J., Jahanian, S., Nokes-Malach, T., & Galla, B. (2023, November). Investigating the relations between mindfulness training, psychological threat, and physics problem solving. Poster presented at the Learning Research and Development Center Board of Visitors, Pittsburgh, PA.

Pelakh, A. (2023, March). Does mindfulness training affect students’ perceptions during problem solving? Results from a randomized controlled trial among undergraduate physics students reporting psychological threat. Talk presented at the Cognitive Talks Series, Department of Psychology, University of Pittsburgh.

Pelakh, A. (2022, March). Examining associations between stress appraisals, problem categorization, and solution times in undergraduate physics students. Talk presented at the Cognitive Talks Series, Department of Psychology, University of Pittsburgh.

*Zewail, A., Pelakh, A. (2021, August). The role of psychological framing and effort in physics courses. Poster presented at the Learning Research and Development Center Summer Undergraduate Internship Poster Session, Pittsburgh, PA.

Pelakh, A. (2021, April). Slow down, you’re moving too fast: Psychological threat, mindfulness, and problem solving behaviors in physics. Talk presented at the Cognitive Talks Series, Department of Psychology, University of Pittsburgh.

Pelakh, A., Kalinowski, S.T., & Hutchison, K.A. (2019, December). Heuristics and biases in scientific reasoning. Poster presented at the Montana State University Student Research Celebration, Bozeman, MT.

Invited professional development panels and talks

Pelakh, A. (2024, July). Introductory statistics workshop. Talk presented at the Learning Research and Development Center Summer Internship Program. University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA.

Pelakh, A. (2023, July). Introductory statistics workshop. Talk presented at the Learning Research and Development Center Summer Internship Program. University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA.

Pelakh, A. (2022, July). Correlations and linear regression models. Talk presented at the Learning Research and Development Center Summer Internship Program. University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA.