Cognitive development

Overview

Overview

letters and images in book

Introduction

Research in cognitive development focuses largely on typical and atypical patterns of language, literacy, and memory development in children. This work is funded by the Wellcome Trust, Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), The Royal Society, Nuffield Foundation, UK Big Lottery Fund, Royal Society, Enhancing Literacy Development in European Language (ELDEL) and the Wolfson Foundation.

Centre for Reading and Language

The Centre for Reading and Language uses a range of methodologies including experimentation, longitudinal studies, intervention studies, cross-linguistic studies and behavioural genetics, to examine typical development and the underpinnings of developmental disorders in children, particularly those related to language and literacy. The Centre's researchers also work in collaboration with a range of external organisations and professionals, these include speech and language therapists, teachers and teaching assistants, council employees and researchers based in Newcastle, Warwick, Leeds and Sheffield Universities.

Lab meetings of the Centre for Reading and Language are held weekly during term-time and give students and staff the opportunity to hear about their colleagues'/peers' research. The Centre also runs a private assessment clinic for families of children with reading and language difficulties.

Centre for Working Memory and Learning

The Centre for Working Memory and Learning carries out developmental research on working memory in children, and its role in typical and disordered learning. It incorporates translational research within the field of education. Current projects focus on the cognitive and behavioural characteristics of children with developmental disorders of attention (ADHD) and working memory, and on the impact of training and classroom support programmes on the associated learning difficulties. Working Memory lab meetings are held regularly during term.

Further research

Further associated work includes the development of auditory processing in children (Summerfield), connectionist simulations of knowledge acquisition (Quinlan), and infant reactions to expectancy violation (Zentner).

Pat Johnston's research team is currently conducting a project examining children's time perception. The project has a particular emphasis on the understanding of the elapse of time and duration of events in children with autism/autism spectrum condition and how these may be associated with aspects of social and motor cognition.

People

People

Academic staff

Research staff

Research students

Projects

Projects

Centre for Working Memory and Learning

Working memory training

This is a series of projects evaluating the impact of the CogMed Working Memory Training Program, developed in Sweden, in different populations: children with ADHD, children with low working memory, typically developing children in the classroom, and undergraduate students. This research is being carried out by Professor Susan Gathercole (University of Cambridge), Dr Joni Holmes (Northumbria University), Darren Dunning (University of York), Professor Maurice Place (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services, Hartlepool and Northumbria University), Kerry Hilton (Durham University) and Professor Julian Elliot (Durham University).

Children with reading difficulties

This project focuses on the role played by executive functions – such as working memory, attention, inhibitory control and planning – in children’s reading difficulties. This work is being led by Shinmin Wang as part of her PhD, supervised by Professor Susan Gathercole and Dr Emma Hayiou-Thomas.

Working memory and following instructions

An experimental analysis of the subcomponents of working memory involved in following instructions. This work is being led by Tianxiao Yang as part of her PhD, supervised by Professors Susan Gathercole and Alan Baddeley, and in collaboration with Dr Richard Allen (University of Leeds).

Older students with learning difficulties

An investigation of the cognitive profiles and study skills of young adult students in tertiary educations, who have been diagnosed with specific learning difficulties. This work is being led by Kartini Abd Ghani as part of her PhD, supervised by Professor Susan Gathercole and Dr Tom Hartley.

Centre for Reading and Language

ELDEL/Wellcome Reading and Numeracy Project

Seeks to understand the different developmental pathways in literacy and numeracy that can take place in children within the same family. The participants are the older siblings of children taking part in the Wellcome Language and Reading Project. The ELDEL study is part of a European network examining early language and literacy development in different European languages, including Czech and Slovak. The work in York is being carried out by Kristina Moll, Ariana Loff, Maggie Snowling and Charles Hulme.

Heritability of speech and language impairments

A longitudinal study examining the genetic and environmental bases of speech and language impairments, as well as their relationship to literacy skills, using behavioural genetic methodology. This work is being led by Emma Hayiou-Thomas, in collaboration with the Twins Early Development Study.

Nuffield Language for Reading

This project is working with young children at preschool and school-entry age, to assess whether a structured oral language intervention at this age can help ameliorate later literacy problems in children with speech and language difficulties. This work is being carried out by Kristina Moll, Claudine Bowyer-Crane (Sheffield Hallam), Silke Fricke (Sheffield), Ally Haley, Charles Hulme and Maggie Snowling.

YARC

The CRL developed a new test of reading comprehension for children aged 4-16, called the YARC: York Assessment of Reading Comprehension.  The Primary Edition was published by GL Assessments in March 2009; the Secondary Edition was published in 2010. The project was led by Dr Sue Stothard, in collaboration with Paula Clarke, Claudine Crane, Charles Hulme and Maggie Snowling.

Reading Difficulties in Kannada

This project examines the characteristics of poor readers in Kannada, a southern Indian language. Kannada uses an alphasyllabary rather than an alphabet, and one of the aims of the project is to compare the factors that lead to poor reading in Kannada to those that underlie poor reading in alphabetic languages. The project is a collaboration between Sonali Nag and Maggie Snowling.

REVI + (Down Syndrome)

A reading and language program designed to improve the literacy skills of children with Down Syndrome.  This project is being carried out by Fiona Duff, with Rose Birkinshaw, Charles Hulme and Maggie Snowling, and in collaboration with Down Syndrome Education International.

Wellcome reading and language project

This 5-year study examines the overlap between dyslexia and specific language impairment. By comparing children with early speech and language problems, those at family-risk of dyslexia, and a control group, it aims to clarify the factors that underlie ongoing difficulties in language and literacy.  This project is being carried out by Hannah Nash, Debbie Gooch, Lorna Hamilton, Ruth Leavett, Katy Grainger, Maggie Snowling, Charles Hulme and Emma Hayiou-Thomas.

PhD Projects

Reading and language in Down Syndrome

This project focuses on the role of oral language skills, including vocabulary knowledge and word learning ability, in the development of literacy in children with Down Syndrome. The work is led by Silvana Mengoni, as part of her PhD research, supervised by Charles Hulme.

Impact of school intake policies on early literacy

A project focusing on the impact of the varying intake policies of schools on the phonic and early literacy development of Reception and Y1 pupils, particularly those younger in the school year, and on how writing and spelling development follows teaching. This work is led by Alison Bailey as part of her PhD research, supervised by Maggie Snowling, and is being carried out in collaboration with the City of York Local Authority.

Home literacy environment

This study focuses on the role of the home literacy environment in the development of literacy skills in young children at family risk of dyslexia. This work is led by Lorna Hamilton, as part of her PhD research, supervised by Maggie Snowling and Emma Hayiou-Thomas.

Arithmetic development

A study investigating the longitudinal predictors of arithmetic development in young children. This work is led by Sarah Watson, as part of her PhD research, supervised by Silke Göbel.

Publications

Publications

In press

  • Alloway, T.P., Gathercole, S.E., Holmes, J., Place, M., and Elliott, J. (in press). The diagnostic utility of behavioral checklists in identifying children with ADHD and children with working memory deficits. Child Psychiatry and Human Development.
  • Bowyer-Crane, C. and Snowling, M.J (in press). Turning frogs into princes: Can children make inferences from fairy tales? Reading and Writing.
  • Duff, F., Fieldsend, E., Crane, C., Hulme, C., Smith, G., Gibbs, S., Snowling, M.J. (in press). Reading with Vocabulary Intervention: Evaluation of an Instruction for Treatment Non-responders. Journal of Research in Reading,
  • Lervag A., Braten, I., and Hulme, C. (in press) The cognitive and linguistic foundations of early reading development: A Norwegian latent variable longitudinal study. Developmental Psychology.
  • Lown, J., Dunderdale, S. and Nash, P. (in press) Key Stage 2 Circle Time Curriculum. City of York Council.
  • Nash, P. (in press) Supporting vulnerable learners in their transition to secondary school.
  • Hayiou-Thomas, M.E., Harlaar, N., Dale, P.S. and Plomin, R. (in press). Preschool speech and language skills and reading at 7, 9 and 10 years: aetiology of the relationship. Journal of Speech, Language and Hearing Research.
  • Holmes, J., Gathercole, S.E., Place, M., Dunning, D.L., Hilton, K.A., and Elliott, J.G. (in press). Working memory deficits can be overcome: Impacts of training and medication on working memory in children with ADHD, Applied Cognitive Psychology. DOI: 10.1002/acp.
  • Holmes, J., Gathercole, S.E., Place, M., Alloway, T.P., Elliott, J.G., and Hilton, K.A. (in press). An Assessment of the diagnostic utility of executive function assessments in the identification of ADHD in children, Child and Adolescent Mental Health.
  • Snowling, M.J. and Carroll, J.M. (in press). Dyslexia. In Hogan, P. (Ed.) Cambridge Encyclopedia of the Language Sciences. Cambridge University Press.
  • Zentner, M., and Eerola, T. (in press). Rhythmic engagement with music in infancy. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

2010

  • Snowling, M.J. and Hayiou-Thomas, M. (2010) Specific Language Impairment. In Yeates, K.O., Ris, D., Taylor, G. and Pennington, B. Pediatric Neuropsychology: Research, Theory, and Practice

2009

  • Archibald, L. M. D., Gathercole, S. E., Joanisse, M. F. (2009). Multisyllabic nonwords: More than a string of syllables. Journal of Acoustical Society of America, 3, 1712-1722.
  • Alloway, T. P., Gathercole, S. E., Kirkwood, H. J., Elliott, J. G. (2009). The Working Memory Rating Scale: A classroom-based behavioral assessment of working memory. Learning and Individual Differences, 19, 242-245.
  • Alloway, T. P., Gathercole, S. E., Kirkwood, H., and Elliott, J. (2009). The cognitive and behavioural characteristics of children with low working memory. Child Development, 80, 606-621.
  • Hayiou-Thomas, M.E. (2009). Genetic and environmental aetiology of dyslexia. In Brunswick, N. (Ed). The British Dyslexia Association Handbook 2009. BDA: Reading.
  • Holmes, J., Gathercole, S.E., and Dunning, D.L. (2009). Adaptive training leads to sustained enhancement of poor working memory in children, Developmental Science
  • Hulme, C. and Snowling, M. (2009) Developmental Cognitive Disorders Oxford: Blackwell/Wiley.
  • Hulme, C., Stothard, S.E., Clarke, P., Bowyer-Crane, C., Harrington, A., Truelove, E., and Snowling, M.J., (2009). York Assessment of Reading for Comprehension: Early Reading. GL Assessment
  • Moll, K., Fussenegger, B., Willburger, E. and Landerl, K. (2009). RAN is not a measure of orthographic processing. Evidence from the asymmetric German orthography. Scientific Studies of Reading, 13, 1-25.
  • Moll, K. and Landerl, K. (2009). Double dissociation between reading and spelling deficits. Scientific Studies of Reading. 13, 359-382.
  • Snowling, M.J., Stothard, S.E., Clarke, P., Bowyer-Crane, C., Harrington, A., Truelove, E., Nation, K. and Hulme, C. (2009). York Assessment of Reading for Comprehension: Passage Reading. GL Assessment

2008

  • Alloway, T.P., Gathercole, S. E., Kirkwood, H. J., and Elliott, J. G. (2008).  Evaluating the validity of the Automated Working Memory Assessment. Educational Psychology, 28, 725-734.
  • Alloway, T.P., Gathercole, S.E. (2008). The role of sentence recall in reading and language skills of children with learning difficulties. Learning and Individual Differences. 15, 271-282.
  • Bishop, D.V.M. and Hayiou-Thomas, M.E. (2008). Heritability of specific language impairment depends on diagnostic criteria. Genes, Brain and Behavior, 7, 365-372.
  • Bishop, D. Snowling, M.J., Blakemore, S-J. (2008) (Eds) Neurocognitive Approaches to Developmental Disorders: A Festschrift for Uta Frith: A Special Issue of the Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology. Psychology Press.
  • Bowyer-Crane, C., Snowling, M. J., Duff, F. J., Fieldsend, E., Carroll, J. M., Miles, J., Götz, K., and Hulme, C. (2008). Improving early language and literacy skills: Differential effects of an oral language versus a phonology with reading intervention. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 49, 422-432.
  • Duff, F. J. (2008). Defining reading disorders and evaluating reading interventions: Perspectives from the Response to Intervention model. Educational and Child Psychology, 25, 31-36.
  • Duff, F. J., Fieldsend, E., Bowyer-Crane, C., Hulme, C., Smith, G., Gibbs, S., and Snowling, M. J. (2008). Reading with vocabulary intervention: Evaluation of an instruction for children with poor response to reading intervention. Journal of Research in Reading, 31, 319-336.
  • Snowling, M. J., Nash, H. M., and Henderson, L. M. (2008). The Development of Literacy Skills in Children with Down Syndrome: Implications for Intervention.
  • Engel, P.M.A., Santos, F.H., and Gathercole, S.E., (2008) Are working memory measures free of socioeconomic influence? Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 51, 1580-1587.
  • Fricke, S., Szczerbinski, M., Stackhouse, J., and Fox-Boyer, A. V. (2008). Predicting individual differences in early literacy acquisition in German: The role of speech and language processing skills and letter knowledge. Written Language and Literacy (Special Issue-The Role of Phonology in Reading), 11(2), 103-146
  • Gathercole, S. E. and Alloway, T. P. (2008). Working memory and learning: A practical guide. Sage Press.
  • Gathercole, S. E., Alloway, T. P., Kirkwood, H. J., Elliott, J. G., Holmes, J., and Hilton, K. A. (2008). Attentional and executive function behaviours of children with poor working memory. Learning and Individual Differences, 18, 214-223.
  • Gathercole, S. E., Briscoe, J., Thorn, A., and Tiffany, C. (2008). Deficits in verbal long-term memory and learning in children with poor phonological short-term memory skills. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 61, 474-490.
  • Gathercole, S.E., Durling, M.,Evans, S., Jeffcock, E., and Stone, S., (2008) Working memory abilities and children’s performance in laboratory analogues of classroom activities. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 22, 1019-103
  • Goetz, K., Brigstocke, S. Snowling, M., Carroll, J., Nasir, L., and Hulme, C. (2008). Training reading and phoneme awareness skills in children with Down syndrome. Reading and Writing, 21, 395-412.
  • Harlaar, N., Hayiou-Thomas, M. E., Dale, P.S., and Plomin, R. (2008). Why do preschool language abilities correlate with later reading? A twin study. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 51, 688-705.
  • Hayiou-Thomas, M.E. (2008). Genetic and environmental influences on early speech, language and literacy development. Journal of Communication Disorders, 41, 397–408.
  • Joseph, H., Liversedge, S. P., Blythe, H., White, S., Gathercole, S. E. and Rayner, K. (2008). Children’s and adults processing of anomaly and plausibility during reading: Evidence from eye movements. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 61, 708-723.
  • Moulin, C. J. A., and Gathercole, S .E. (2008).  Memory changes across the lifespan. In: Cohen, G. and Conway, M. A. (Eds), Memory in the real world. (3rd ed), pp. 306-326. Psychology Press: Hove.
  • Nash, H. M and Snowling, M. J. (2008). Semantic and phonological fluency in children with Down syndrome: Atypical organisation of language or less efficient retrieval strategies?
  • Snowling, M.J. and Hulme, C. (2008). Reading Intervention for children with language learning impairments. In Norbury, C.F., Tomblin, J.B. and Bishop, D.V.M. (Eds.). Understanding developmental language disorders: From theory to practice (175-188). Hove,Sussex: Psychology Press.
  • Snowling, M.J. and Hulme, C. (2008) Reading and other specific learning difficulties. In Rutter, M., Bishop, D., Pine, D., Scott, S., Stevenson, J., Taylor, E., and Thapar, T (Eds) Rutter’s Textbook of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. Fifth edition (802-819) Oxford: Blackwell.
  • Snowling, M.J., Nash, H.M., and Henderson, L.M. (2008). The development of literacy skills in children with Down syndrome: Implications for intervention. Down Syndrome Research and Practice.
  • Thorn, A. S. C., Frankish, C. R., and Gathercole, S. E. (2008). The influence of long-term knowledge on short-term memory: Evidence for multiple mechanisms, pp. 198-219. In A. S. C. Thorn and C. R. Frankish (Eds.), Interactions between short-term and long-term memory in the verbal domain. Psychology Press.

Grants

Grants

Centre for Working Memory and Learning

  • Leverhulme Trust
    'The impact of training on everyday use of working memory in the classroom', 3 years (2008-2011). Investigator: Susan Gathercole. Researcher: Darren Dunning

Centre for Reading and Language

  • Wellcome Trust
    Reading and Language Project, 5 years (2007-2012). Investigators: Maggie Snowling, Charles Hulme, Emma Hayiou-Thomas. Researchers:  Hannah Nash, Debbie Gooch, Lorna Hamilton.
  • European Commission Marie-Curie Initial Training Network
    ELDEL: Enhancing Literacy in European Languages, 2 years? (2009-2011?). Investigators: Maggie Snowling , Charles Hulme, Kristina Moll. Researcher: Ariana Loff.
  • Nuffield Foundation
    Language For Reading, 3 years? (2009-2012). Investigators: Claudine Bowyer-Crane, Maggie Snowling, Charles Hulme. Researchers: Silke Fricke, Ally Haley.
  • British Academy
    Reading difficulties in Kannada, an Indian alphasyllabary, 2 years (2009-2011). Sonali Nag and Maggie Snowling
  • UK Big Lottery Fund
    REVI+, 4 years (2009-2013). Investigators: Charles Hulme, Maggie Snowling. Researcher: Fiona Duff
  • Esmee Fairbairn Foundation
    Year Seven Support: Facilitating Transition, 18 months (2009-2011). Investigators:  Poppy Nash, Charles Hulme. Researcher:  Lisa Henderson