64 research outputs found
Early cognitive neuropsychological profiles and development of reading skills
The present thesis sought to investigate the precise relationship between the cognitive and
psychophysiological profiles of developing readers, of established readers and of failed
readers. Phonological processing tasks and visuospatial tasks were used to assess
relevant auditory and visual cognitive skills; handedness and EEG measures were used to
provide indices of cortical organisation and activation.
A 21/2 year longitudinal investigation of some 150 pre-readers provided evidence of
mutually facilitative relationships between and within specific types of phonological skill
and phonological memory. Early significance of visual skills was subsequently
superseded by the importance of these phonological skills. The acquisition of early
reading skills was associated with a shift towards increased dextrality as measured by
hand skill and hand preference; this relationship was not evident in subsequent stages.
Cross-sectional studies comparing dyslexic children with chronological- and reading-age
matched controls extended these findings. The dyslexic readers displayed impaired
phonological processing and phonological memory skills relative to chronological-age
matched competent readers; similarities were observed between dyslexics and reading-age
matched controls. Visual perceptual skills failed to differentiate between the
chronological-age matched competent and impaired readers, although both out-performed
younger control readers. ERP measures consistently demonstrated diffuse patterns of
bilateral activation in dyslexic readers as opposed to asymmetric activity lateralised to the
left hemisphere in control readers. Between group comparisons of inter-hemispheric
activity revealed greater levels of right-hemisphere involvement in the dyslexic samples;
between group comparisons of intra-hemispheric activity revealed evidence of greater
involvement of fronto-central regions in the dyslexic samples.
It is proposed that these data provide supportive evidence for the central involvement of
phonological processing skills in the development of reading, underpinned by the normal
development of asymmetric patterns of cortical lateralisation. Children where this
development is delayed or deficient will display the reading difficulties characteristic of
developmental dyslexia
Scratching the Surface: Learning Styles, Training and the Acquisition of High-level Representational Drawing Ability
Accurate representational drawing is a complex skill which underpins performance in many branches
of the visual arts. Research suggests that expertise typically is acquired as a result of deliberate
practice and a flexible approach to learning strategies. The current study investigated how, in art
students, differences in the acquisition of observational drawing skill could be characterised using
domain-general expertise accounts. A cohort of undergraduate and postgraduate art students
(n=682) completed questionnaires about self-perceived artistic abilities, personality and approaches
to learning. A subset completed tasks of actual drawing ability (n=301), the Rey-Osterrieth Complex
Figure (ROCF) test and a performance IQ test. Actual drawing ability related to time spent drawing
and drawing techniques, with additional independent predictive effects of both the copying and
delayed ROCF test. Effects of personality were mainly mediated via learning styles, with surface
learners spending more time drawing, learning fewer techniques and acquiring a lower level of actual
skill. Deep learners learned more drawing techniques, and strategic (achieving) learners acquired a
higher level of drawing skill overall. The resulting model of drawing ability development has the
potential to be generalised over a range of creative and non-creative domain
Art students who cannot draw: exploring the relations between drawing ability, visual memory, accuracy of copying and dyslexia
This article in the journal of the American Psychology Association is the culmination of research resulting from collaborative inquiry into the question: is there a relationship between art students’ drawing ability and factors such as dyslexia, mathematical ability or personality traits, and could these relationships inform strategies for the teaching of drawing to art students of mixed abilities? A cross-disciplinary team was formed, including two psychologists (McManus, UCL and Brunswick, Middlesex Univ.), two PhD students (Chamberlain and Loo, UCL), Rankin, coordinator for dyslexic students at the RCA , and Riley. The objective is to design pedagogical strategies for the teaching of drawing to art students who would otherwise be excluded from developing best practice through traditional teaching techniques which do not take into consideration the wide range of psychological and cognitive conditions exhibited by art school student cohorts.
An early research output explored the relationship between drawing ability and dyslexia: Riley and Rankin, ‘Exploring the Link between Drawing and Dyslexia’ in BODDINGTON, A. and CLEWS, D. (eds.) 2007 Teachers’ Academy Papers: European League of Institutes of Art. Brighton: University of Brighton. pp100-104. ISBN 978-1-905593-07-1. A presentation ‘Widening Participation in the Practice of Drawing’ at the 2nd Annual Conference of the National Arts Learning Network, London, February 2008 proposed an eight-step teaching strategy based upon research addressing problems faced by dyslexics in the structuring of visual information, and this was developed in ‘Inclusive Practice: Researching the Relationships between Dyslexia, Personality and Art Students’ Drawing Ability’. Proceedings of the Include 2009 Conference. London: RCA. ISBN 978-1-905000-80-7 Available at: http://include09.kinetixevents.co.uk/4dcgi/prog.
More recent research has identified a correlation between drawing ability and mathematical ability: ‘Inclusive Practice: Researching the Relationship between Maths Ability and Drawing Ability in Art Students’. In Proceedings of the Include 2011 Conference. London:RCA. ISBN 978-1-907342-29-5. Available at: http://include11.kinetixevents.co.uk/4dcgi/prog
Drawing on the right side of the brain: a voxel-based morphometry analysis of observational drawing
Structural brain differences in relation to expertise have been demonstrated in a number of domains including visual perception, spatial navigation, complex motor skills and musical ability. However no studies have assessed the structural differences associated with representational skills in visual art. As training artists are inclined to be a heterogeneous group in terms of their subject matter and chosen media, it was of interest to investigate whether there would be any consistent changes in neural structure in response to increasing representational drawing skill. In the current study a cohort of 44 graduate and post-graduate art students and non-art students completed drawing tasks. Scores on these tasks were then correlated with the regional grey and white matter volume in cortical and subcortical structures. An increase in grey matter density in the left anterior cerebellum and the right medial frontal gyrus was observed in relation to observational drawing ability, whereas artistic training (art students vs. non-art students) was correlated with increased grey matter density in the right precuneus. This suggests that observational drawing ability relates to changes in structures pertaining to fine motor control and procedural memory, and that artistic training in addition is associated with enhancement of structures pertaining to visual imagery. The findings corroborate the findings of small-scale fMRI studies and provide insights into the properties of the developing artistic brain
The Prevalence of Specific Learning Difficulties in Higher Education: A Study of UK Universities Across 12 Academic Years
Specific learning and attention difficulties are often first identified in childhood but they can cause lifelong academic and occupational challenges. We explored the prevalence of these difficulties and the representation of sex and ethnicity amongst all first-year students in UK higher education across 12 years– almost 5.7 million students –and compared course preferences and University destinations of those with and without difficulties. Students declaring learning/attention difficulties were more likely to be White or of Mixed ethnicity and least likely to be Asian. They were more likely to attend specialist HE institutions or newer universities, and more likely to study courses in creative arts and design, agriculture and architecture than law, languages, computer science and mathematical sciences. The number of students declaring difficulties has increased year on year, in actual terms and as a proportion of the student body, suggesting that efforts to increase diversity and inclusion have been successful. However, differences remain between students with and without learning/attention difficulties in terms of ethnicity, subjects studied, and HE institutions attended, so more needs to be done to identify and address reasons for this. While this paper reports data from UK students, it addresses an international question and invites similar explorations of other national datasets
Talking the line: inclusive strategies for the teaching of drawing
The article reports on a series of drawing workshops held at the Royal College of Art (RCA), London, which tested an original pedagogical strategy designed to help dyslexic and/or dyspraxic art and design students who had reported difficulties with their abilities to make accurate representational drawings. A group of non-dyslexic/dyspraxic RCA students volunteered as control group, and both cohorts completed three days of workshops in the Drawing Studio of the RCA. Results of recorded interviews eliciting student observations as they drew, and a questionnaire in the form of a Likert scale, administered before and after the workshop, indicate positive shifts in both cohorts’ attitudes towards specific aspects of the stages involved in the production of accurate representational drawings of still-life set-ups, the human skeleton and the clothed life-model. Assessment of the drawings produced indicates positive shifts in the two cohorts in geometric accuracy and other qualitative criteria embedded in the teaching strategy such as control of scale, proportion and illusions of depth. Both cohorts displayed similar positive attitude shifts and both sets of drawings indicated similar positive shifts in visual qualities. An interim conclusion posits that the pedagogical strategy appears to enhance the abilities of both dyslexic/dyspraxic students and non-dyslexic/dyspraxic students to make accurate representational drawings. This result correlates closely with the findings of an earlier, prototype workshop held at the RCA in July 2012. It is suggested that similar pedagogically inclusive strategies might produce positive results in the context of secondary schools as part of a more inclusive curriculum
- …