LangCog Seminar - Emma James

Successful reading comprehension draws on a broad network of cognitive skills, extending beyond the classic components of decoding and language comprehension to include attentional and memory processes. Reading comprehension difficulties may therefore arise from heterogeneous sources that are not easily detected in small samples and whole-group analyses.

In this talk, I will present a data-driven approach to identifying profiles of readers in 6,846 children from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC). We asked whether children with comprehension weaknesses (n = 947) comprised subgroups with different cognitive risk patterns in mid-childhood, and whether their weaknesses could be predicted by an accumulation of early developmental risk factors. 

Consistent with previous research, children with comprehension weaknesses were characterised by poor oral language both concurrently in mid-childhood and retrospectively before learning to read. However, additional cognitive factors beyond language predicted the severity of their outcomes. I will discuss these findings in the context of risk and resilience frameworks for understanding reading comprehension difficulties. 

Emma is a Lecturer in Psychology and leads the research group. Her research interests span learning, language, and literacy development. 

Emma completed her undergraduate degree in Experimental Psychology (University of Oxford, 2010-2013), MSc in Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience (University of York, 2014-2015), and PhD in Understanding individual differences in learning and consolidating new vocabulary (University of York, 2015-2019). She (re-)joined the University of York as a Lecturer in 2022, and particularly enjoys teaching Advanced Research Methods using R. 

Outside of work, Emma enjoys exploring York with her local running group, cooking, and tending to her vegetable plants.