The Learning and Teaching Mechanisms Laboratory investigates a range of issues related to early reading development, all of which focus on the experiential basis of development. Our research aims to investigate the role of environmental structure (print, speech, meaning) on reading processes, especially the ease of acquisition associated with print skills (reading, spelling, and so on). This research has a cognitive focus, but with applied aims with the intention of applying what we learn about information processing in the reading system to learning processes in natural contexts. Our approach to research relies largely on computational methods, including connectionist models of human learning using artificial neural networks and other related methods.
LTML operates out of the School or Teacher Education in the College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences at Florida State University and the Florida Center for Reading Research (also at FSU). Our facilities are located on central campus at FSU in Tallahassee, Florida.
The types of questions we ask (and try to answer):
- What sorts of language structure matter most in early reading development given a child’s existing print and spoken language knowledge?
- What information is contained in early literacy materials and what impact do they have on child learning?
- What types of information processing mechanisms are involved in word reading and how are these mechanisms implicated in different forms of reading instruction?
