Our Research
We research how language and cognition develop over childhood and how these skills support school readiness, mathematical skills and literacy. We run experimental, longitudinal, cross sectional and randomised control trial studies to examine the mechanisms underpinning cognitive changes in development.
Where we can, we aim to find out how development can be best supported. Please see the resources page for links to further advice and information for parents and educators, based on our research.
Our research covers these three areas:
Language and Communication
How children learn to talk
Pragmatic development
Language development and deafness
Socioeconomic status and language development
Executive Functions and Memory
How executive functions, including working memory, inhibitory control and cognitive flexibility develop in early childhood
Understanding executive function development in the toddler years using new methods
Why we see individual differences in executive functions
Learning and School Readiness
Understanding the cognitive skills which underpin school readiness
How to best support literacy and early mathematical development
Mechanisms underpinning attainment gaps
Research papers
Our research publications can be found on our individual University staff webpages. Please see the links on the meet the team section of our website.
Funders
We are very grateful to the several funding bodies that have made our research possible.