Lucy Fowler
Research Trainee
Profile
Biography
I completed my BSc in Psychology at the University of York in 2021, followed by an MSc in Development, Disorders and Clinical Practice in 2022, where my dissertation on mirror writing in children received a departmental prize. During my studies, I worked as a Research Assistant in the Numerical Cognition Lab, contributing to school-based research on children’s mathematical learning.
After obtaining a PGCE with QTS from the University of Huddersfield, I gained professional experience as a primary school teacher and SEND teaching assistant. I am currently a Research Trainee in the Learn Lab at the University of York, working on an ESRC-funded project investigating developmental changes in word learning. My research interests focus on learning, memory, and language across childhood and adolescence.
Career
- Research Trainee, Learn Lab York, University of York (2025-present)
- SEND Teaching Assistant, North Yorkshire (2024-2025)
- Primary School Teacher, West Yorkshire (2023-2024)
- Primary Education PGCE with QTS, University of Huddersfield (2022-2023)
- Student Research Assistant, Numerical Cognition Lab, University of York (2021-2022)
- MSc in Development, Disorders and Clinical Practice, University of York (2021-2022)
- BSc in Psychology with Honours, University of York (2018-2021)
Research
Overview
Word learning from childhood to adulthood
Projects
Short description of project (Current projects): Children are highly effective language learners, yet the memory mechanisms that explain why word learning differs between children and adults are not fully understood. Existing evidence highlights the importance of retrieval practice and sleep in consolidating new vocabulary, but how these processes develop over adolescence remains unclear. As a research trainee, I contribute to Dr Emma James’s ESRC-funded project which examines how memory supports word learning from childhood to adulthood, identifying when and how these processes become ‘adult-like’.
Research group(s)
- Learn Lab York
Collaborators
- Dr Emma James