EPCL Public Seminar 2009/2010

Prof. Dennis L. Molfese

Professor and Director of the Developmental Neuroscience Laboratory, University of Louisville, USA

Chaired by Dr Kevin Chung

The use of brain responses to study the relationship between the developing brain and emerging cognitive processes

Abstract

An overview is presented on the development of the brain from the molecular and cellular level to the developing neural networks engaged in learning and language processing. This information is then related to the literature on event-related brain potentials as a means to study the dynamic interrelationships between brain and behavior as they relate to later cognitive and language development.

Dennis L. Molfese, Ph.D. is an internationally recognized expert on the use of brain recording techniques to study the emerging relationships between brain development, language and cognitive processes. He received his Ph.D. in Psychology from the Pennsylvania State University in 1972. He is a Distinguished University Scholar, Professor and Director of the Developmental Neuroscience Laboratory at the University of Louisville. Dr. Molfese served as the Chair of a number of national panels on Learning Disabilities as well as on numerous NIH, NIMH and NSF grant review panels. He is co-director of one of 15 national laboratories in the U.S.A. that make up the National Institutes of Health Reading and Learning Disabilities Research Network. He is the recipient of a number of honors for outstanding research contributions from societies such as Sigma Xi and Phi Kappa Phi and received the Kentucky Psychologist of the Year Award. A Fellow of both the American Psychological Association and the American Psychological Society, he is the Editor-in-Chief for the scientific journal, Developmental Neuropsychology. Dr. Molfese’s research has been continuously funded since 1975, obtaining over $17,000,000.00 in research funding from the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, Department of Education, The National Foundation/March of Dimes, the MacArthur Foundation, the Kellogg Foundation, NATO, and NASA. Dr. Molfese has published some 150 books, journal articles, and book chapters on the relationship between developing brain functions, language and cognitive processes.

Prof. Victoria Molfese

Ashland/Nystrand Chair in Early Childhood Education and

Director of the Center for Research in Early Childhood, University of Louisville, USA

Influence of the Home, Classroom, and Child Characteristics on Emergent Literacy and Mathematics in Preschool Children

Abstract

Development of emergent literacy and mathematics skills before school entry is a topic of growing research interest.  Assumptions about key roles played by the home (family background and learning-related activities) and the classroom environment (teacher characteristics and curriculum implementation) and by the characteristics of children (cognitive skills and self-regulation skills) are being tested in both large scale and smaller scale research investigations. The findings from studies conducted by our research team as well as those published by other researchers will be discussed along with a discussion of what still needs to be known from research - namely, is high stakes testing in elementary school and education oversight policies influencing quality preschool education?

Victoria J. Molfese is the Ashland/Nystrand Chair in Early Childhood Education at the University of Louisville and Director of the Center for Research in Early Childhood.  She studies the development of reading and mathematical skills in preschool children.  Research activities currently underway include studies of early predictors of reading and mathematic abilities in preschool and school-aged children, efficacy of mathematics intervention in preschoolers on improving skills of at risk children, and the development of interventions for infants and preschoolers to mitigate development of learning disabilities.

21 October 2009 (Wed)

from 12:30 to 2:30 pm

D2-LP-08

Organized by the EPCL Department

Light refreshments will be provided to registered participants.