• Thursday, 10 September, 12 – 1pm
• Streamed online with Zoom

Using Zoom, interactive online technology, at the time provided above you can watch the following research talk by clicking the link below and following the prompts.  The final prompt will be ‘Join with computer audio’. 

To join the Zoom Meeting, click here – https://une-au.zoom.us/j/94749271755?pwd=Z1NNVzh6TmVEWE5JLy9JMHN2Wm0vQT09    (Password – 298251)

Mapping Longitudinal Trajectories of Reading Skills and Attention Ability from Middle Childhood to Early Adolescence

by

Sally Larsen, University of New England

“This seminar will present a study from my PhD research which examined the development of reading comprehension and attention behaviors in a community sample of 614 Australian school students. Prior cross-sectional research into the links between these two domains has consistently shown that a student’s ability to focus attention is related to their reading achievement, particularly in the early school grades. Here we extend this research to examine longitudinal links between reading and attention from later childhood through to middle adolescence. Reading comprehension and attention were assessed every two years between Grade 3 and Grade 9, giving four repeated measures of each domain over a span of six years.

A series of latent growth curve models were fitted to the data, first to examine growth in each domain, and second to assess whether these domains were interrelated over the time span of the study. Results showed individual differences in growth patterns for both reading and attention. A compensatory growth pattern was also identified in both domains suggesting that students lower on attention and reading at Grade 3 had steeper growth trajectories to Grade 9 than their higher achieving peers. For the reading domain, in particular, this finding contrasts with claims of widening achievement gaps in reading ability as school grades progress. Results also demonstrated that reading and attention were strongly interrelated over the time span of the study. Results will be discussed in the light of developmental theories of reading and attention behaviors.

Finally I will discuss the utility of latent growth curve models for modeling longitudinal data in developmental research.”

All welcome

For further information, contact Bruce Stevenson (6773 2565, bstevens@une.edu.au)

If you would like to view any of our past talks, please click on the following link – Psychology Seminar Series