Dr Amy Devine

Dr Amy Devine

Senior Research Manager

Amy manages research supporting the validation of Cambridge Assessment English examinations, including new product development, examinations for young learners, impact research and admissions tests provided by Cambridge Assessment Admissions Testing. Her background is in Psychology, and Amy received her Master’s from the University of Otago and recently completed a PhD at the University of Cambridge. Amy’s research interests include socio-biological explanations for gender differences in performance and the role of affective variables in learning, with a particular focus on test anxiety, self-beliefs and motivation.

Amy was born and raised in New Zealand and moved to the UK in 2007. Prior to joining Cambridge Assessment English, she worked on several funded research projects investigating primary and secondary school students’ mathematics and science learning (Faculty of Education and Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge). Amy also worked for Cambridge Assessment’s Research Division in 2013. In her spare time, Amy enjoys yoga, running, reading, independent film and art.

Key publications and conference presentations

Devine, A, Cheung, K Y F, Gallacher, T and McElwee, S (2017) Preparation for the BioMedical Admissions Test (BMAT): Candidates’ use of free and commercial resources, paper presented at the Association for Medical Education in Europe (AMEE) Annual Conference, Helsinki, Finland, August 2017.

Devine, A, Hill, F, Carey, E and Szűcs, D (2017) Cognitive and emotional math problems largely dissociate: Prevalence of developmental dyscalculia and mathematics anxiety, Journal of Educational Psychology, available online: http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/edu0000222

Devine, A, Taylor, L and Cross, B (2017) The biomedical school applicant: Considering the test taker in test development and research, in Cheung, K Y F, McElwee, S and Emery, J (Eds) Applying the Socio-cognitive Framework to the BioMedical Admissions Test: Insights from Language Assessment, Studies in Language Testing volume 49, Cambridge: UCLES/Cambridge University Press, 17-34.

Fyfe, M, Devine, A, Cheung, K Y F and McElwee, S (2017) Prospective medical school applicants’ perceptions of various selection methods: Implications for widening participation, paper presented at the Association for Medical Education in Europe (AMEE) Annual Conference, Helsinki, Finland, August 2017.

Fyfe, M, Devine, A and Emery, J (2017) The relationship between test scores and other measures of performance, in Cheung, K Y F, McElwee, S and Emery, J (Eds) Applying the Socio-cognitive Framework to the BioMedical Admissions Test: Insights from Language Assessment, Studies in Language Testing volume 49, Cambridge: UCLES/Cambridge University Press, 143-180.

Cheung, K Y F, McElwee, S, Shannon, M and Devine, A (2016) The predictive validity of the BioMedical Admissions Test (BMAT) for multiple mini interview (MMI) performance, paper presented at the EBMA Assessment in Medical Education Conference, Exeter, UK, October 2016.

Devine, A, Fawcett, K, Szűcs, D and Dowker, A (2012) Gender differences in mathematics anxiety and the relation to mathematics performance while controlling for test anxiety, Behavioral and Brain Functions 8 (33), available online: https://behavioralandbrainfunctions.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1744-9081-8-33