Cognitive Development Laboratory

 

My main research interest is in working memory and attentional control across the lifespan.  In particular, I study the role of attentional control in everyday functioning, e.g., learning in children, and social information processing (e.g., ToM) in children and older adults.  My other main research interests are the development of symbolic and non-symbolic numerical processing and numeracy and cognition in deaf and hearing individuals.  More information is provided below.

 

 

The role of working memory and executive functioning in the development of children’s mathematical skills.

 

Collaborators: Dr Kerry Lee and Dr Swee-Fong Ng, National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. 

  Prof. Kimberly Espy (Nebraska-Lincoln)

                          Prof Marc Marschark, National Technical Institute for the Deaf, Rochester Institute of technology

 

Research Staff: Wendy Davidson, Emily Nordmann, Derek Murphy, Patty Sapere, Sarah Remelt

 

Undergraduate students 2010: Siobhan Leask

 

 

 

One of the main studies currently being conducted examines the usefulness of early EF skills (measured at age 4) as long-term predictors of later mathematical abilities (assessed at ages 5, 6, and 7).  We have also recently become more interested in the role played by visual-spatial skills, particularly in the arithmetic performance of young children.  Parts of this research have been funded by the British Academy and the Carnegie Trust.   Current research projects include:

 

  • A longitudinal study (based in Singapore) examining the development of algebraic skills from preschool to secondary school (funded by the Centre for Research in Pedagogy and Practice).  Collaborators on this project are Dr’s Kerry Lee and Swee-Fong Ng, both at the National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University.  We are currently two years into this project.

 

  • A 4 year study funded by NICHD (NIH) examining the role of working memory and attentional control in the numerical and mathematical skills of deaf and hearing children and adults.  My Co-PI on this project is Prof Marc Marschark based at the National Technical Institute for the Deaf, RIT.

 

 Related papers (if you would like a reprint of any paper, please just send me an email):

 

Whyte, J. C., & Bull, R. (2008).  Number games, magnitude representation, and basic number skills in preschoolers.  Developmental Psychology, 44, 588-596.

 

Bull, R. & Espy, K. A., & Wiebe, S. (2008). Short-term memory, working memory and executive functioning: Longitudinal predictors of mathematics achievement at age 7.  Developmental Neuropsychology, 33, 205-228.

 

Bull, R. (2007).  Commentary for Section III (Neuropsychological Factors).  In Daniel B. Berch and Michèle M. M. Mazzocco (Eds.), Why is Math So Hard for Some Children? The Nature and Origins of Mathematical Learning Difficulties and Disabilities.  Baltimore, MD: Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co.

 

Bull, R., & Espy, K. A. (2006).  Working memory, executive functioning, and children’s mathematics.  In S. Pickering (Ed)., Working memory and education.  Elsevier Press.

 

McKenzie, B., Bull, R., & Gray, C. (2003).  The effects of phonological and visual-spatial interference on children's arithmetic.  Educational and Child Psychology, 20, 93-118.

 

Bull, R., & Scerif, G. (2001). Executive functioning as a predictor of children’s mathematics ability. Shifting, inhibition, and working memory. Developmental Neuropsychology, 19, 273-293.

 

Bull, R., Johnston, R.S. & Roy, J.A. (1999). Exploring the roles of the visual-spatial sketch pad and central executive in children’s arithmetical skills: Views from cognition and developmental neuropsychology.  . Developmental Neuropsychology, 15, 421-442.

 

Bull, R. & Johnston, R.S. (1997). Children’s arithmetical difficulties: Contributions from processing speed, item identification, and short-term memory. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 65, 1–24.

 

 

 

Acquisition and representation of basic number skills by deaf and hearing children and adults.

 

Collaborators: Prof. Marc Marschark (NTID, RIT)

                          Dr Sandie Cleland (Aberdeen)

 

Research Staff: Wendy Davidson, Emily Nordmann, Derek Murphy, Patty Sapere, Sarah Remelt

 

PG student: Tom Mitchell

 

Undergraduate students 2010: Anja Heineson

 

 

Children and adults with deafness or hearing-impairment are often found to have difficulties learning mathematics, and have been shown to lag approximately 3 years behind their hearing counterparts.  This programme of research aims to assess whether such difficulties are resultant upon an early delay or deficit in the acquisition of basic number skills, such as counting principles, and an understanding of magnitude, which may in turn be influenced by the nature of the mental representation of numerical information in long-term memory.  Additional research is also being conducted to examine the development of such skills in hearing children of differing mathematical abilities, and to examine the spatial representations held by adults of numerical information, e.g., SNARC and distance effects.  Parts of this research have been funded by the Nuffield Foundation and the Leverhulme Trust, and is currently funded by NICHD (NIH)

 

 Related papers:

 

Bull, R., Davidson, W.A., & Nordmann, E. (in press).  Prenatal testosterone, visual-spatial and numerical skills in young children.  Learning and Individual Differences.

 

Bull, R. (2008).  Deafness, numerical cognition, and mathematics.  In M. Marschark and P. Hauser (Eds.), Deaf Cognition: Foundations and Outcomes.  New York: Oxford.

 

Bull, R., Blatto-Vallee, G., & Fabich, M. (2006).  Subitizing, magnitude representation, and magnitude retrieval in deaf and hearing adults. Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education, 11, 289-302.

 

Bull, R., Marschark, M., & Blatto-Vallee, G.  (2005).  SNARC hunting: Examining number representation in deaf students.  Learning and Individual Differences, 15, 223-236.

 

 

  

Development of executive function skills (attentional control) in young children.

 

 

Collaborators: Dr. Kimberly Espy (Southern Illinois University Medical School).

 

 

Towers of Hanoi and London

 

 

 

One of the problems that arose from our studies examining the role of executive functioning in children’s mathematics, was that there were very few well defined measures of executive functioning that could be used with preschool children.  This has resulted in a series of studies examining the specific task demands of a number of more complex EF tasks, e.g., DCCS, Tower tasks, the Shape School, and the Day/Night Stroop task.  Parts of this research have been funded by the British Academy.

 

Related papers:

 

Espy, K. A., Bull, R., Kaiser, H., Martin, J., & Benet, M.  (2008).  Methodological and conceptual issues in understanding the development of executive control in the preschool period.  In V. Anderson, R. Jacobs, & P. Anderson (Eds.), Executive functions and the frontal lobes: A lifespan perspective.  Psychology Press

 

Espy, K. A., Bull, R., & Martin, J., & Stroup, W. (2006).  Measuring the development of executive control with the Shape School.  Psychological Assessment, 18, 373-381.

 

Espy, K. A., & Bull, R (2005).  Inhibitory processes in young children and individual variation in short-term memory.  Developmental Neuropsychology, 28, 669-688

 

Bull, R., Espy, K. A., & Senn, T. E (2004). A comparison of performance on the Towers of London and Hanoi in young children.  Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 45, 743-754.

 

Rennie, D., Bull, R., & Diamond, A. (2004).  Executive functioning in preschoolers: Reducing the inhibitory demands of the dimensional change card sort task.  Developmental Neuropsychology, 26, 423-443.

 

 

Cognition, Theory of Mind, and Social Cue Decoding Across the Lifespan

 

Collaborators: Prof Louise Phillips, Dr Gillian Slessor

 

Staff: Dr Roy Allen, Francis Quinn

 

PG student: Pauline Insch

 

Undergraduate students: David Slama, Sharon Hoare, Vicki Burr

 

This series of research studies examines the relationship between aging, cognition (in particular working memory and executive functioning), and the understanding of social cues and Theory of Mind.

One approach we have taken to address this is to use dual-task methodology.  Using dual-task methodology, a series of experiments has been conducted to pinpoint the specific executive processes involved in a range of adult theory of mind tasks. From this, we hope to understand more fully the nature of the relationship between social and cognitive functioning.  This work is being conducted in collaboration with Prof. Louise Phillips and was funded by the ESRC.

We are continuing this work by looking at the possible dissociation of emotional versus non-emotional theory of mind in young and elderly adults, and their ability to detect subtle social and emotional cues.  Gillian Slessor recently completed her PhD research on this topic (funded by the Carnegie Trust), and Louise Phillips and I have had funding for the last 3 years from the Leverhulme Trust to examine ToM and social information processing in older adults (all currently being written up!).  

 

Associated publications:

 

Slessor, G., Phillips, L. H., & Bull, R. (in press).  Age-related changes in the integration of facial cues.  Emotion

 

Slessor, G., Miles, L., Bull, R., & Phillips. L. H. (in press).  Age-related changes in detecting happiness: Discriminating between enjoyment and non-enjoyment smiles.  Psychology and Aging.

 

Slessor, G., Phillips, L. H., & Bull, R.  (2008). Age-related declines in basic social perception: Evidence from tasks assessing eye-gaze processing.  Psychology and Aging, 23, 812-822.

 

Bull, R., Phillips, L. H., & Conway, C. (2008).  The role of control functions in mentalizing: Dual task studies of Theory of Mind and executive functioning.  Cognition, 107, 663-672.

 

Slessor, G., Phillips, L. H., & Bull, R. (2007).  Exploring the specificity of age-related differences in Theory of Mind tasks.  Psychology and Aging, 22, 639-643.

 

Brown, E. L., & Bull, R. (2007).  Can task modifications influence children’s performance on the false belief task?  European Journal of Developmental Psychology, 4, 273-292

.

Phillips, L. H., Bull, R., Adams, E., & Fraser, L. (2002). Positive mood and executive function: Evidence from Stroop and fluency tasks. Emotion, 2, 12-22.