Our Goal
To use empirical research to advance
basic understanding of areas of typical and atypical development including
visual development and developmental disorders (e.g. reading, attention,
movement and language disorders).
To use our improved understanding of
typical and atypical development to design and improve interventions for
children with a range of atypical developmental trajectories.
Our Research
The ongoing research in the Reading
Visionaries Group is underpinned by the overall goals for the group while
reflecting the individual interests of each the group member. Our combined
interest is in furthering developmental research in areas that have practical
benefits for both typical and atypical children. As such, we combine research
into the typical developmental trajectories of children in different areas of
perception and cognition with research into ways in which developmental
trajectories can be disrupted and the effects that this has on later
development.
Typical and Atypical Visual Development
Dr Anna Horwood, Dr
Trine Langaas [Buskerud
University College, Norway], Arnulf Myklebust, Sonia Toor
and Dr Patricia Riddell
This research has investigated the role of different depth
cues in both the typical development of accommodation and convergence, and is
studying whether patterns of cue use can be identified in children with
clinical visual disorders such as hyperopia (long-sightedness) and strabismus (eye
turn). By determining the cues that are typically used in different clinical
populations, we aim to improve diagnosis of different categories of clinical
visual disorder, and to develop new interventions for some children with these
conditions. Finally, we are researching visual disorders in children born
pre-term.
Funded by MRC and DoH
Visual Aspects of
Typical Reading Development
Dr Patricia Riddell, Dr
Wendy Gibbons, Dr Rachel
Pye [Winchester University] and Prof Taeko Wydell [Brunel University]
This research has used a novel paradigm in which individual
letters within words are rotated by random amounts. This paradigm has been used
to study the Psycholinguistic Grain Size Theory which suggests that words with
regular grapheme to phoneme correspondences (e.g. /LEVEL/ or /BASE/ might be
read at a smaller unit size than words with irregular grapheme to phoneme
correspondences (e.g. /YACHT/ and /PSALM/). We have tested children in England and
Germany to look at differences between languages in which words are mostly
regular (German) or in which there are a higher proportion of irregular words
(English). We are currently studying English versus Japanese children and
adults. We have also looked at the grain size used by English adults for
regular and irregular words.
Funded by ESRC
Visual Aspects of
Atypical Reading Development
Dr Patricia Riddell, Dr
Wendy Gibbons, Dr Rachel
Pye [Winchester University], Dr Sue Cruddace, Dr Vesna Stojanovik, Jonathan Haenen, Rachael Sperring, Prof John Stein [University of
Oxford] and Grace Archer
This research has investigated the role of visual noise in
specific reading disorders using our twisted text paradigm. It has also studied
possible predictors of visual and phonological deficits in reading disorders,
and whether children with particular deficits benefit more from treatments
aimed at improving phonological or visual aspects of reading. We are currently
studying the effectiveness of different measures of magnocellular
function in detecting visual reading deficits. We have studied the
co-occurrence of reading disorders with deficits in movement and attention and
language. We are also looking at the effectiveness of a range of interventions
for older children with reading disorders. Finally, we are researching the
components skills that contribute to reading comprehension in both typical and
atypical children in order to determine whether there are specific skills that
are impaired when children show reading comprehension difficulties.
Funded by ESRC, and University Studentships
Development of Visual Function in Typical and
Premature Children
Dr Patricia Riddell and Arnulf Myklebust
This research is investigating the degree to which visual
function is affected in children born very prematurely. The basic theoretical
rationale for the questions comes from the theory that two visual processing
pathways exist. Other studies have shown
that children with Periventricular Leukomalacia (PVL:
brain damage resulting from insufficient oxygen supply frequently as a result
of cerebral bleeding in prematurely born children) often have a dysfunctional magnocellular or dorsal pathway. Deficits in visual function related to magnocellular function are being tested, along with other
visual functions that may be unaffected or even strengthened in this
group.
Funded by Norwegian Foundation for Health and
Rehabilitation via the Norwegian Prematurity Association
