Publications
Neurocognitive mechanisms of co-occurring math difficulties in dyslexia: Differences in executive function and visuospatial processing
Marks, R. A., Pollack, C., Meisler, S. L., D'Mello, A. M., Centanni, T. M., Romeo, R. R., Wade, K., Matejko, A. A., Ansari, D., Gabrieli, J. D. E., & Christodoulou, J. A. (2024). Neurocognitive mechanisms of co‐occurring math difficulties in dyslexia: Differences in executive function and visuospatial processing. Developmental Science, 27(2), e13443. https://doi.org/10.1111/desc.13443
Summary: Children with reading disabilities (RD) frequently have a co-occurring math disability (MD), but the mechanisms behind this high comorbidity are not well understood. Children with RD only versus RD+MD did not differ in their phonological processing, either behaviorally or in the brain.
RD+MD was associated with additional behavioral difficulties in working memory, and reduced visual cortex activation during a visuospatial working memory task.
Marks, R. A., Pollack, C., Meisler, S. L., D'Mello, A. M., Centanni, T. M., Romeo, R. R., Wade, K., Matejko, A. A., Ansari, D., Gabrieli, J. D. E., & Christodoulou, J. A. (2024). Neurocognitive mechanisms of co‐occurring math difficulties in dyslexia: Differences in executive function and visuospatial processing. Developmental Science, 27(2), e13443. https://doi.org/10.1111/desc.13443
Summary:
Children with reading disabilities (RD) frequently have a co-occurring math disability (MD), but the mechanisms behind this high comorbidity are not well understood. Children with RD only versus RD+MD did not differ in their phonological processing, either behaviorally or in the brain.
RD+MD was associated with additional behavioral difficulties in working memory, and reduced visual cortex activation during a visuospatial working memory task.
Anxiety, motivation, and competence in mathematics and reading for children with and without learning difficulties
Pollack, C., Wilmot, D., Centanni, T. M., Halverson, K., Frosch, I., D'Mello, A. M., Romeo, R. R., Imhof, A., Capella, J., Wade, K., Al Dahhan, N. Z., Gabrieli, J. D. E., & Christodoulou, J. A. (2021). Anxiety, motivation, and competence in mathematics and reading for children with and without learning difficulties. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, 704821. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.704821
Summary: We leveraged existing math anxiety and reading motivation scales to create novel parallel measures of reading anxiety and math motivation to measure socio-emotional characteristics across domains. We found within domain relations among anxiety, motivation, and competence for both math and reading. We also found that reading socio-emotional characteristics predict both reading and math competence, which persisted when accounting for math motivation, nonverbal cognitive ability, age, and gender.
Pollack, C., Wilmot, D., Centanni, T. M., Halverson, K., Frosch, I., D'Mello, A. M., Romeo, R. R., Imhof, A., Capella, J., Wade, K., Al Dahhan, N. Z., Gabrieli, J. D. E., & Christodoulou, J. A. (2021). Anxiety, motivation, and competence in mathematics and reading for children with and without learning difficulties. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, 704821. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.704821
Summary: We leveraged existing math anxiety and reading motivation scales to create novel parallel measures of reading anxiety and math motivation to measure socio-emotional characteristics across domains. We found within domain relations among anxiety, motivation, and competence for both math and reading. We also found that reading socio-emotional characteristics predict both reading and math competence, which persisted when accounting for math motivation, nonverbal cognitive ability, age, and gender.
Impact of intensive summer reading intervention for children with reading disabilities and difficulties in early elementary school
Christodoulou, J. A., Cyr, A., Murtagh, J., Chang, P., Lin, J., Guarino, A. J., Hook, P., & Gabrieli, J. D. (2017). Impact of intensive summer reading intervention for children with reading disabilities and difficulties in early elementary school. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 50(2), 115–127. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022219415617163
Summary: This study offers direct evidence for widening differences in reading abilities between students with reading disabilities/disabilities who do and do not receive intensive reading instruction during summer vacation.
Christodoulou, J. A., Cyr, A., Murtagh, J., Chang, P., Lin, J., Guarino, A. J., Hook, P., & Gabrieli, J. D. (2017). Impact of intensive summer reading intervention for children with reading disabilities and difficulties in early elementary school. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 50(2), 115–127. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022219415617163
Summary: This study offers direct evidence for widening differences in reading abilities between students with reading disabilities/disabilities who do and do not receive intensive reading instruction during summer vacation.