Tracy Packiam Alloway | |
---|---|
Education | University of Edinburgh |
Awards | Joseph Lister Award, British Science Association University of Florida Outstanding Faculty Scholarship Award (2019) |
Scientific career | |
Fields | Child psychology Cognitive psychology Educational psychology |
Institutions | University of Stirling University of North Florida |
Tracy Packiam Alloway is a psychologist known for her research on working memory. She is a professor of psychology at the University of North Florida, where she was also the director of the graduate program in psychology. [1] She is the developer of the world's first working memory test designed for use by educators. [2] She authored children's books highlighting the superpowers of children with learning disabilities. [3] Previously, she was the director of the Center for Memory and Learning in the Lifespan at the University of Stirling in the United Kingdom. [4] [5]
Her recent book, Think Like a Girl, explores the way the brain works under stress, in decision-making, in leadership, mental health, and more. She was a guest on the Doctors Talk Show [6]
Dyslexia, previously known as word blindness, is a learning disability that affects reading. Different people are affected to different degrees. Problems may include difficulties in spelling words, reading quickly, writing words, "sounding out" words in the head, pronouncing words when reading aloud and understanding what one reads. Often these difficulties are first noticed at school. The difficulties are involuntary, and people with this disorder have a normal desire to learn. People with dyslexia have higher rates of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), developmental language disorders, and difficulties with numbers.
Educational psychology is the branch of psychology concerned with the scientific study of human learning. The study of learning processes, from both cognitive and behavioral perspectives, allows researchers to understand individual differences in intelligence, cognitive development, affect, motivation, self-regulation, and self-concept, as well as their role in learning. The field of educational psychology relies heavily on quantitative methods, including testing and measurement, to enhance educational activities related to instructional design, classroom management, and assessment, which serve to facilitate learning processes in various educational settings across the lifespan.
Working memory is a cognitive system with a limited capacity that can hold information temporarily. It is important for reasoning and the guidance of decision-making and behavior. Working memory is often used synonymously with short-term memory, but some theorists consider the two forms of memory distinct, assuming that working memory allows for the manipulation of stored information, whereas short-term memory only refers to the short-term storage of information. Working memory is a theoretical concept central to cognitive psychology, neuropsychology, and neuroscience.
School psychology is a field that applies principles from educational psychology, developmental psychology, clinical psychology, community psychology, and behavior analysis to meet the learning and behavioral health needs of children and adolescents. It is an area of applied psychology practiced by a school psychologist. They often collaborate with educators, families, school leaders, community members, and other professionals to create safe and supportive school environments.
Dyscalculia is a disability resulting in difficulty learning or comprehending arithmetic, such as difficulty in understanding numbers, learning how to manipulate numbers, performing mathematical calculations, and learning facts in mathematics. It is sometimes colloquially referred to as "math dyslexia", though this analogy is misleading as they are distinct syndromes.
The Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC) is an individually administered intelligence test for children between the ages of 6 and 16. The Fifth Edition is the most recent version.
Beth Webb is a British author of books for children and teenagers. She has written fifteen books, including the Star Dancer tetralogy, a fantasy series published by Macmillan, as well as the Fleabag Trilogy. She is also the co-founder of Books Beyond Words, and has illustrated more than twenty titles for adults with learning disabilities. She lives in Somerset, near Glastonbury Tor.
Developmental coordination disorder (DCD), also known as developmental motor coordination disorder, developmental dyspraxia or simply dyspraxia, is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by impaired coordination of physical movements as a result of brain messages not being accurately transmitted to the body. Deficits in fine or gross motor skills movements interfere with activities of daily living. It is often described as disorder in skill acquisition, where the learning and execution of coordinated motor skills is substantially below that expected given the individual's chronological age. Difficulties may present as clumsiness, slowness and inaccuracy of performance of motor skills. It is also often accompanied by difficulty with organisation and/or problems with attention, working memory and time management.
Carol Susan Dweck is an American psychologist. She is the Lewis and Virginia Eaton Professor of Psychology at Stanford University. Dweck is known for her work on motivation and mindset. She was on the faculty at Columbia University, Harvard University, and the University of Illinois before joining the Stanford University faculty in 2004. She is a Fellow of the Association for Psychological Science.
Learning disability, learning disorder, or learning difficulty is a condition in the brain that causes difficulties comprehending or processing information and can be caused by several different factors. Given the "difficulty learning in a typical manner", this does not exclude the ability to learn in a different manner. Therefore, some people can be more accurately described as having a "learning difference", thus avoiding any misconception of being disabled with a lack of ability to learn and possible negative stereotyping. In the United Kingdom, the term "learning disability" generally refers to an intellectual disability, while conditions such as dyslexia and dyspraxia are usually referred to as "learning difficulties".
Lillie Pope was an American educator who was regarded as a pioneer in special education, with a focus on literacy, learning problems, learning and reading disabilities.
The Arrowsmith School is a private school in Toronto, Ontario, for children in Grades 1 to 12 with learning disabilities. The original Arrowsmith School was founded in Toronto in 1980 by Barbara Arrowsmith Young. A second location was opened in May 2005 in Peterborough, Ontario. The Eaton Arrowsmith School, which is modelled on the Toronto school and founded by Howard Eaton, was opened in 2005 in Vancouver, British Columbia with two further branches established in Canada and one in the United States between 2009 and 2014.
Helen J. Neville was a Canadian psychologist and neuroscientist known internationally for her research in the field of human brain development.
Dyslexia is a disorder characterized by problems with the visual notation of speech, which in most languages of European origin are problems with alphabet writing systems which have a phonetic construction. Examples of these issues can be problems speaking in full sentences, problems correctly articulating Rs and Ls as well as Ms and Ns, mixing up sounds in multi-syllabic words, problems of immature speech such as "wed and gween" instead of "red and green".
Katherine Nelson was an American developmental psychologist, and professor.
Joseph Torgesen is an Emeritus Professor of Psychology and Education at Florida State University. At the time of his retirement from the university in 2008, he was the W. Russell and Eugenia Morcom Chair of Psychology and Education and Director of the Florida Center for Reading Research. Dr. Torgesen received his Ph.D. in Developmental and Clinical Psychology from the University of Michigan in 1976, and served on the Psychology faculty at FSU from 1976 until 2008.
Augusta Fox Bronner was an American psychologist, best known for her work in juvenile psychology. She co-directed the first child guidance clinic, and her research shaped psychological theories about the causes behind child delinquency, emphasizing the need to focus on social and environmental factors over inherited traits.
Mary Collins (1895–1989) was an expert in colour vision, and psychology lecturer at Edinburgh University.
Frederick L. Coolidge is an American psychologist known for his work in cognitive archaeology. He has been a Professor of Psychology at the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs since 1979. With Karenleigh A. Overmann, he currently co-directs the Center for Cognitive Archaeology at the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs. He also teaches for the Centre for Cognitive and Brain Sciences at the Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar, India.
Dame Robina Shahnaz Shah is a British psychologist. She is an expert in patient care and has partnered with UK medical schools to create patient centred education.