Research Projects

Applying Cattell’s Investment Theory to Reading Development
We examine how fluid reasoning supports the growth of crystallized knowledge and academic skills such as vocabulary and reading. Our studies have included children with and without neurodevelopmental disorders (e.g., ADHD), as well as typically developing preschoolers and adults. Preliminary findings have generated new and exciting questions about how reasoning abilities shape literacy across the lifespan. This line of work ultimately aims to inform theoretical models for academic intervention that incorporate fluid reasoning as a central component.

Cognition–Emotion Interactions and Functional Outcomes
Our research also explores how cognitive and emotional processes interact to influence important functional outcomes, including social and academic success. Recent projects have examined, for instance, how test anxiety disrupts cognitive functions critical for reading comprehension among adults referred for learning disability evaluations. This work contributes to a broader understanding of how emotion regulation and cognition jointly shape performance in everyday learning contexts.

Statistical Learning and Reading Development
Written language forms a kind of textual environment, rich with patterns and regularities. Some letter combinations occur more frequently than others, and our brains appear sensitive to these statistical features. We study how statistical learning contributes to broader reading development—how sensitivity to orthographic regularities supports literacy acquisition. To advance this work, we are developing new measures of statistical learning that can be administered across both child and adult populations.