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Vacancy Details | |
| Title: | PhD Studentships |
| Employer: | Institute of Education and Birkbeck |
| Description: | PhD Studentships jointly held by the Institute of Education and the Birkbeck Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development Two, 3-year PhD Studentships (Full-time) commencing 5 October 2010 1.The Development of Problem-Solving Abilities in Typical and Atypical Development (reference: BCPhD: Farran) Supervisors: Dr Emily Farran (IoE), Professor Annette Karmiloff-Smith (Bbk), Professor Michael Thomas (Bbk) Problem-solving involves planning and means-ends analysis, and its development is essential if children are to be creative and to learn to function independently. Problem-solving cuts across many domains. It is involved in mapping meaning onto new words, in determining relations between symbols and real objects in map reading, in planning, monitoring and in combining physical attributes like weight/distance in balance problems. Most studies focus on separate abilities, but problem-solving involves the coordination and integration of these abilities. This original project will therefore investigate problem-solving abilities in children with three different developmental disorders who are known to show impairments in skills which contribute to problem-solving ability. The three disorders are Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), Down Syndrome (DS) and Williams syndrome (WS). This cross-syndrome comparison will contribute to the understanding of how different genetic disorders integrate cognitive abilities across domains in everyday problem-solving. 2. Development of Word Naming and Knowing in Children Aged 3-7: A Behavioural and Computational Study (reference: BCPhD: Masterson) Supervisors: Prof Jackie Masterson (IoE), Professor Michael Thomas (Bbk) Vocabulary or lexical knowledge plays a central role in early cognitive development and affects children’s academic success and literacy development. This project will investigate the development of naming and word knowledge in young children between 3 and 7 years of age, using a combination of behavioural data collection and computational modelling. The behavioural data will provide measures of semantic processing, lexical retrieval and phonological processing which will be used to construct typical developmental trajectories of component skills. Research in computational cognitive modelling explores the essence of cognition through constructing theories that specify computational mechanisms, structures, and processes. The project will involve building a model of vocabulary development and exploring how naming abilities depend on the emerging structure of semantic and phonological representations. Extensions of the model are then possible to address developmental disorders where children's naming skills are impaired. Further particulars: http://www.bloomsbury.ac.uk/studentships/ Funding Details: Studentships will cover Home/EU tuition fees and pay a stipend (£15,290 for 2009/10) for a period of up to 3 years. Eligibility: Applicants should hold a minimum of a UK Honours Degree at 2:1 level or equivalent. Please see the further particulars of each studentship for fuller details. How to apply: Eligible candidates should: This should be submitted either to resdegassist@ioe.ac.uk or to: Clare Schmitt Doctoral School Institute of Education University of London, 20 Bedford Way, London, WC1H 0AL Closing date: Friday 9 April 2010 (17.00) Further Enquiries: Problem solving studentship Dr Emily Farran: e.farran@ioe.ac.uk Professor Annette Karmiloff-Smith: a.karmiloff-smith@bbk.ac.uk Professor Michael Thomas: m.thomas@bbk.ac.uk Word naming studentship Professor Jackie Masterson: j.masterson@ioe.ac.uk Professor Michael Thomas: m.thomas@bbk.ac.uk |
| Working Hours: | Full-time |
| Salary: | Stipend of £15,290 for 2009/10 for a period of upto 3 years |
| Location: | London |
| Closing Date: | 09/Apr/2010 |
Address Details | |
| Address: | [not recorded] |
Further Details | |
| Contact Email Address: | resdegassist@ioe.ac.uk |
| Website Address: | http://www.bloomsbury.ac.uk/studentships/ |
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