Post-doctoral research projects

Winner 2021:

1)Multisensory learning of reading.
Post-Doctorate of Felipe PEGADO directed by Johannes Ziegler (LPC)

Abstract: Reading a text is "hearing with the eyes", as you do now! How do children learn to read? Can we improve this learning? We have recently shown in first grade children that a specific visual difficulty for letter recognition could be improved by using a teaching method inspired by cognitive neuroscience (multisensory method with consolidation by sleep) and that this facilitated the acquisition of a much more fluid reading.
Now we want to better understand this "enhanced learning" of reading with a series of new experiments to study 1) the cognitive factors that play a role in this learning, 2) the impact of this multisensory intervention on visual representations of letters, 3) new methods to consolidate learning by using the sense of smell, and 4) the influence of age (brain plasticity) on this learning by testing kindergarteners.
Then, with this new knowledge, we wish to establish an "optimized training" and to test the impact of training teachers to this method on their children's learning to read. Finally, we want to test whether dyslexic children (with what characteristics?) can also benefit from this method and if not try to understand why.