Research Areas of Interest
My research has been concerned with literacy development, especially the cognitive
underpinnings of literacy and factors contributing to individual differences
in becoming literate. A good deal of this research has focused on developing
an understanding of the causes and correlates of early reading difficulties
in young children. The seminal studies in this research program were concerned
with assessing perceptual deficit explanations of dyslexia in beginning readers.
Convergent findings in this area of inquiry led to a number of studies evaluating
language and language-based theories of dyslexia, especially those associated
with phonological coding and lexical retrieval deficits. The knowledge gained
from this research naturally led to a growing interest in understanding the
factors that contribute to individual differences in literacy development and
much of my research has been concerned with these variables. My most recent
studies have been concerned with the development of assessment instruments
for identifying children at risk for early reading difficulties along with
the development of intervention models and procedures for preventing early
and long term reading difficulties in these children. Specific areas of interest
follow.
Cognitive
and Linguistic Foundations of Reading Ability Word
Identification and Coding Processes Memory
and Language Processes Causes
and Correlates of Dyslexia
Education
1964 Ph.D., Cognitive Psychology, Catholic University
of America
Cognitive
and Linguistic Foundations of Reading Ability