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Researchers from four universities and 350 pairs of same-sex
twins will participate in a study, looking at environmental factors
that influence how and when children read.
Lee Thompson, associate professor of psychology, will contribute
to the four-year, longitudinal study, "Environmental Influences
on Early Reading: A Twin Study," along with behavioral geneticists
and psychologists from Penn State University, the University of
Oregon and the University of Houston. The project's lead researcher
is Stephen Petrill, who earned his doctorate in psychology from
CWRU in 1993 and now works at Penn State.
Thompson will recruit 350 pairs of same-sex twins within three
hours of Cleveland. All children will be entering kindergarten
or attending kindergarten classes. Over three years, the twins
will be interviewed and tested in their home settings, starting
in kindergarten, with subsequent interviews and testing in first
and second grade in order to track their reading skills. The researchers
also will interview and observe parents for their contributions
to the reading process.
Across the four sites, each researcher will examine a different
aspect of how the environment and genetics contribute to specific
reading processes like word decoding and producing and understanding
letter sounds. Their aim is to find the family environmental influences
that promote reading.
The project has received a $2.063 million grant from the National
Institutes of Health, with CWRU's support totaling approximately
$698,000.
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