Applications are invited for a 3-year PhD studentship funded by the School of Psychology at Bangor University. The position will start in October 2019.
Supervisor: Dr Manon Jones
Project rationale and description: This project will examine the (neuro)cognitive basis of reading, building on primary research questions currently being examined in our lab: How are new letter-sound correspondences learned and re-combined to enable rapid / automatised visual word recognition? How does these processes differ in typically developed adults and those with developmental dyslexia? How do divergent spelling-to-sound rules affect visual word recognition in bilinguals? We will also measure the contribution of these skills to reading fluency, the hallmark of ‘skilled’ reading. Our overall aim is to characterise how readers establish, and subsequently access, textual representations under normal circumstances, and under circumstances in which the cognitive system is under pressure, owing to poorer reading skills or knowledge of more than one writing system. The work will involve a combination of behavioural measurements, eye-tracking and event-related brain potentials (ERPs).
Recent relevant papers include:
Jones, M, Kuipers, JR, Nugent, S, Miley, A & Oppenheim, G 2018, 'Episodic traces and statistical regularities: Paired associate learning in typical and dyslexic readers' Cognition, vol. 177, pp. 214-225. DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2018.04.010
Jones, MW, Kuipers, JR & Thierry, GL 2016, 'ERPs reveal the time-course of aberrant visual-phonological binding in developmental dyslexia' Frontiers in Human Neuroscience. DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2016.00071
Jones, MW, Snowling, M & Moll, K 2016, 'What automaticity deficit? Activation of lexical information by readers with dyslexia in a RAN Stroop-switch task' Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory and Cognition, vol. 42, no. 3, pp. 465-474. DOI: 10.1037/xlm0000186
Facilities: The student will become a member of a large and vibrant lab group, which meets regularly to discuss planned and ongoing projects. At the School level, the student can expect to join a large community of PhD students, and to benefit from regular seminars, professional training, and excellent research facilities, including two high-spec ERP labs (Neuroscan and BioSemi) and an eye-tracking lab (Eyelink). Furthermore, Bangor is situated in a beautiful region of North Wales close to Snowdonia National Park.
Requirements: The successful applicant will have an excellent grasp of experimental psychology, and an MSc degree in Psychology or a related discipline. Programming skills (e.g., R) are desirable but not essential.
Residency requirements: This studentship is open to UK/EU students only.
Further information: Dr Manon Jones manon.jones@bangor.ac.uk. Please include your CV and brief summary of your research interests.
General enquiries: For general advice about how to apply and eligibility please contact psychology@bangor.ac.uk
Apply Now: The online application form is available here https://apps.bangor.ac.uk/applicant/.
Bangor Doctoral School website: https://www.bangor.ac.uk/doctoral-school/
Dr Manon Jones: manon.jones@bangor.ac.uk
psychology@bangor.ac.uk
