Cultural Historical Research SIG 30
Cultural Historical Research SIG 30
 
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Communications Chair: Karlyn R. Adams-Wiggins, Ph.D.

Associate Professor of Applied Developmental Psychology (Black Studies
Affiliate Faculty)

Portland State University

karlyn@pdx.edu

Dr. Karlyn R. Adams-Wiggins is an associate professor and critical developmental psychologist in the Applied Developmental Psychology program. Karlyn’s research focuses on the intersection of academic achievement motivation and identity, with a specific focus on how marginal identities are constructed in social interactions in science learning environments. This involves two major strands: 1) achievement motivation and science identity from a situative perspective in science learning environments in secondary and postsecondary contexts and 2) a decolonial perspective on Black/African diaspora youths’ construction of identities in context. Across projects, Karlyn employs a critical and sociohistorical psychology lens in service of addressing social justice aims. This work has primarily involved microgenetic analysis of video-recorded observations, ethnographic fieldwork, and qualitative interviewing. They currently are an editorial collective member for the journal Mind, Culture, and Activity and its related outlet Cultural Praxis. She previously served as past-president of the Scholarly Consortium for Innovative Psychology in Education (SCIPIE) and was in the 2021 National Academy of Education/Spencer Foundation postdoctoral fellowship cohort.

Selected Publications

Adams-Wiggins, K.R., Adeoye Olenloa, T.F., Lira., A.K., Rivera Ramirez, A., Cerda-Lezama, S.D. (In press, 2026). Exploring the promise of decolonial perspectives for advancing racial equity-oriented projects inside the field (Chapter 12). In F.A. López, J. DeCuir-Gunby, & D. Gray (Eds.), Handbook of Race, Equity, and Asset-based Research in Educational Psychology.

Rogat, T. K., Adams-Wiggins, K. R., Tan, D., & Adeoye Olenloa, T. F. (2024). Students’ Constructions of Mastery-Approach Goals Contextualized in Inquiry-Based and Traditional Science Curricula. The Journal of Experimental Education, 1–29. https://doi.org/10.1080/00220973.2024.2351953

Adams-Wiggins, K. R. (2024). Coloniality and anti-Black racism in Black adolescent girls’ lived experiences. In K. L. Clay & K. L. Lawrence (Eds.), The Promise of Youth Anti-citizenship: Race and Revolt in Education (pp. 85–108). University of Minnesota Press.

Adams-Wiggins, K. R., & Dancis, J. S. (2023). Marginality in inquiry-based science learning contexts: The role of exclusion cascades. Mind, Culture, and Activity, 29(4), 356–373. https://doi.org/10.1080/10749039.2023.2178014

Adams-Wiggins, K. R., & Taylor-García, D. V. (2020). The Manichean division in children’s experience: Developmental psychology in an anti-Black world. Theory & Psychology, 30(4), 485–506. https://doi.org/10.1177/0959354320940049