Dr Sabrina Burr

School of Psychology

Lecturer in Psychology

s.burr@sheffield.ac.uk

Interdisciplinary Centre of the Social Sciences (ICOSS)

Full contact details

Dr Sabrina Burr
School of Psychology
Interdisciplinary Centre of the Social Sciences (ICOSS)
219 Portobello
Sheffield
S1 4DP

Profile

I am a cognitive scientist, and I am part of the Sheffield Cognitive Development Research Group. My research focuses on cognitive development, both from a neural and behavioural perspective. Predominantly, I am interested in children’s numerical and mathematical cognition and the factors that influence mathematics achievement.

I completed my BA(Hons) in Psychology at Western University (London, Ontario, Canada), my MSc and EdS in Counselling and Human Systems at The Florida State University (Tallahassee, Florida, USA) and my PhD in Cognitive Science at Carleton University (Ottawa, Ontario, Canada). My doctoral dissertation investigated the developmental trajectories of ADHD symptoms, anxiety and depression symptoms, academic achievement, and school performance for adolescents with and without ADHD who did and did not enrol in postsecondary studies (i.e., college or university). After graduating, I was a postdoctoral research and teaching fellow at The University of British Columbia (Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada). During my postdoctoral fellowship, I used functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) to investigate the development of large-scale neural networks responsible for key cognitive processes during the first two years of life.

Qualifications: PhD Cognitive Science (Carleton University, Canada)
EdS Counselling and Human Systems (Florida State University, USA)
MSc Counselling and Human Systems (Florida State University, USA)
BA Psychology (Western University, Canada)

Research interests

I am interested in factors that contribute to mathematics learning and influence early development, including cognitive processes, language, input from the home environment, formal instruction, emotions, available resources, and neurodevelopmental disorders. In my research, I use a variety of methods (e.g., behavioural paradigms, eye-tracking, fNIRS) and statistical techniques (e.g., Bayesian analyses, structural equation modelling) to investigate the extent to which these factors impact learning and achievement.

I am also interested in intervention work, with a focus on computer tutors to help children with complex mathematical subjects, such as fractions.

I am part of the Sheffield Cognitive Development Group, where we conduct infant and child development studies with families and local schools. To find out more about our lab group, please visit the Sheffield Cognitive Development Research Group webpage.

Publications

Journal articles

Xu C, Di Lonardo Burr S, Rodgers LJ, Wylie J, Si J, Huang B, Guo K & Li H (2025) A longitudinal investigation of the co-development and bidirectional relations among whole number arithmetic and conceptual and procedural fraction knowledge. Journal of Educational Psychology. View this article in WRRO
Xu C, Di Lonardo Burr S, McNally-Edwards N, McShane C, Wan L & Wylie J (2024) A holistic investigation of fraction learning: examining the hierarchy of fraction skills, misconceptions, mathematics anxiety and response confidence. Journal of Cognitive Psychology. View this article in WRRO
Susperreguy MI, Di Lonardo Burr SM, Xu C, Douglas HP, Bourque T, del Río MF, Salinas V & LeFevre J-A (2024) The role of mathematical vocabulary in the development of mathematical skills for Spanish-speaking students. Cognitive Development, 70. View this article in WRRO
Xu C, Di Lonardo Burr S, Li H, Liu C & Si J (2024) From whole numbers to fractions to word problems: hierarchical relations in mathematics knowledge for Chinese Grade 6 students. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 242. View this article in WRRO
Burr SM, Pirazzoli L, Dopierala AW, Bejjanki VR, Nelson CA, Emberson LL & The Gates Foundation fNIRS Consortium (2024) Longitudinal assessments of functional near-infrared spectroscopy background functional connectivity in low- and middle-income infants during a social cognition task. Journal of Experimental Psychology. General, 153(3), 798-813. View this article in WRRO
Xu C, Li H, Di Lonardo Burr S, Si J, LeFevre J-A & Zhuo X (2024) We cannot ignore the signs: the development of equivalence and arithmetic for students from grades 3 to 4. Journal of Cognition and Development, 25(1), 46-65. View this article in WRRO
Xu C, Di Lonardo Burr S & LeFevre J-A (2023) The hierarchical relations among mathematical competencies: from fundamental numeracy to complex mathematical skills.. Canadian Journal of Experimental Psychology / Revue canadienne de psychologie expérimentale, 77(4), 284-295. View this article in WRRO
Xu C, LeFevre J-A, Di Lonardo Burr S, Maloney EA, Wylie J, Simms V, Skwarchuk S-L & Osana HP (2023) A direct comparison of two measures of ordinal knowledge among 8-year-olds. Journal of Numerical Cognition, 9(2), 253-267. View this article in WRRO
Xu C, Di Lonardo Burr S, LeFevre J-A, Skwarchuk S-L, Osana HP, Maloney EA, Wylie J, Simms V, Susperreguy MI, Douglas H & Lafay A (2023) Development of children’s number line estimation in primary school: regional and curricular influences. Cognitive Development, 67. View this article in WRRO
Burr SM, LeFevre J-A, Arnold LE, Epstein JN, Hinshaw SP, Molina BSG, Hechtman L, Hoza B, Jensen PS, Vitiello B , Pelham WE et al (2022) 27.1 Paths to Postsecondary Education Enrollment Among Adolescents With and Without Childhood ADHD. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 61(10), S37-S37.
Di Lonardo Burr SM, Xu C, Douglas H, LeFevre J-A & Susperreguy MI (2022) Walking another pathway: The inclusion of patterning in the pathways to mathematics model. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 222. View this article in WRRO
Xu C, Di Lonardo Burr S, Skwarchuk S-L, Douglas H, Lafay A, Osana HP, Simms V, Wylie J, Maloney EA & LeFevre J-A (2022) Pathways to learning mathematics for students in French-immersion and English-instruction programs.. Journal of Educational Psychology, 114(6), 1321-1342. View this article in WRRO
Di Lonardo Burr SM, LeFevre J, Arnold LE, Epstein JN, Hinshaw SP, Molina BSG, Hechtman L, Hoza B, Jensen PS, Vitiello B , Pelham WE et al (2022) Paths to postsecondary education enrollment among adolescents with and without childhood attention‐deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD): A longitudinal analysis of symptom and academic trajectories. Child Development, 93(5), e563-e580. View this article in WRRO
Di Lonardo Burr SM, Xu C, Li H, Si J, LeFevre J & Wang Y (2022) Fraction mapping and fraction comparison skills among grade 4 Chinese students: An error analysis. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 92(4), 1335-1353. View this article in WRRO
Xu C, Li H, Di Lonardo Burr S, Si J, LeFevre J-A & Huang B (2022) Divide and conquer: Relations among arithmetic operations and emerging knowledge of fraction notation for Chinese students in Grade 4. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 217. View this article in WRRO
Susperreguy MI, Di Lonardo Burr S, Douglas H, Xu C, LeFevre J-A, del Río MF & Salinas V (2022) Home mathematics environment and math performance of Chilean students in kindergarten and Grades 1 to 3. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 59, 84-95. View this article in WRRO
Xu C, Lafay A, Douglas H, Di Lonardo Burr S, LeFevre J-A, Osana HP, Skwarchuk S-L, Wylie J, Simms V & Maloney EA (2022) The role of mathematical language skills in arithmetic fluency and word-problem solving for first- and second-language learners. Journal of Educational Psychology, 114(3), 513-539. View this article in WRRO
MacLeod B & Di Lonardo Burr SM (2022) Phonetic imitation of the acoustic realization of stress in Spanish: production and perception. Journal of Phonetics, 92. View this article in WRRO
Di Lonardo Burr SM, Turner J, Nietmann J & LeFevre J-A (2021) When does the story matter? No evidence for the foregrounding hypothesis in math story problems. Journal of Numerical Cognition, 7(3), 259-274. View this article in WRRO
Retanal F, Johnston NB, Di Lonardo Burr SM, Storozuk A, DiStefano M & Maloney EA (2021) Controlling-supportive homework help partially explains the relation between parents’ math anxiety and children’s math achievement. Education Sciences, 11(10). View this article in WRRO
Di Lonardo Burr SM & LeFevre J-A (2021) The subject matters: relations among types of anxiety, ADHD symptoms, math performance, and literacy performance. Cognition and Emotion, 35(7), 1334-1349. View this article in WRRO
Xu C, LeFevre J-A, Skwarchuk S-L, Di Lonardo Burr S, Lafay A, Wylie J, Osana HP, Douglas H, Maloney EA & Simms V (2021) Individual differences in the development of children’s arithmetic fluency from grades 2 to 3.. Developmental Psychology, 57(7), 1067-1079. View this article in WRRO
Song CS, Xu C, Maloney EA, Skwarchuk S-L, Di Lonardo Burr S, Lafay A, Wylie J, Osana HP, Douglas H & LeFevre J-A (2021) Longitudinal relations between young students’ feelings about mathematics and arithmetic performance. Cognitive Development, 59. View this article in WRRO
Xu C, Burr SDL, Douglas H, Susperreguy MI & LeFevre J-A (2021) Number line development of Chilean children from preschool to the end of kindergarten. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 208. View this article in WRRO
Di Lonardo Burr S & LeFevre J-A (2021) Fixated in more familiar territory: providing an explicit midpoint for typical and atypical number lines. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 74(3), 523-535. View this article in WRRO
Di Lonardo Burr SM, Douglas H, Vorobeva M & Muldner K (2020) Refuting misconceptions: computer tutors for fraction arithmetic. Journal of Numerical Cognition, 6(3), 355-377. View this article in WRRO
Silinskas G, Di Lonardo Burr S, Douglas H, Xu C, LeFevre J-A, Garckija R, Gabrialaviciute I & Raiziene S (2020) Responsive home numeracy as children progress from kindergarten through Grade 1. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 53, 484-495.
Susperreguy MI, Di Lonardo Burr S, Xu C, Douglas H & LeFevre J (2020) Children’s home numeracy environment predicts growth of their early mathematical skills in kindergarten. Child Development, 91(5), 1663-1680. View this article in WRRO
Di Lonardo Burr SM & LeFevre J-A (2020) Confidence is key: unlocking the relations between ADHD symptoms and math performance. Learning and Individual Differences, 77. View this article in WRRO
Di Lonardo Burr SM, Huebner MG, Newman K & LeFevre J-A (2020) Fixated in unfamiliar territory: Mapping estimates across typical and atypical number lines. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 73(2), 279-294.
Lafay A, Adrien E, Di Lonardo Burr S, Douglas H, Provost-Larocque K, Xu C, LeFevre J-A, Maloney EA, Osana HP, Skwarchuk S-L & Wylie J () Transcoding of French numbers for first- and second-language learners in third grade. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 174702182311743-174702182311743.

Book chapters

Di Lonardo Burr SM, Xu C, Susperreguy MI, Skwarchuk S-L & LeFevre J-A (2025) The Intersections of the Home Literacy and Home Numeracy Environments in Different Countries and Contexts, Literacy Studies (pp. 69-84). Springer Nature Switzerland

Research group

Neuroscience and Cognition

I am part of the Sheffield Cognitive Development Research Group.

Current PhD Students

Rosemary Wareham-O’Brien - How deaf infants learn to communicate during parent-infant interaction. Co-supervised by Prof. Danielle Matthews

Grants

Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) postdoctoral fellowship ($90,000 CAD)
Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) doctoral scholarship ($60,000 CAD)

Teaching activities

Undergraduate:

PSY2004 (Developmental Psychology)
PSY2005 (Research Methods)
PSY331 (Extended Essay)
Personal tutor

Postgraduate:

PSY6121 (Research Methods)
MSc Research Project

I also supervise PhD students.

PhD Opportunities

I am happy to receive applications for PhD study in my area of research.

We advertise PhD opportunities (Funded or Self-Funded) on FindAPhD.com

See PhD studentship opportunities with S abrina Burr

For further information, please see the department PhD Opportunities page.