Professor Brian Byrne
Professor, School of Behavioural, Cognitive and Social Sciences
Qualifications
Ph.D. McMaster University, B.A. University of Sydney
Contact
| Email: | bbyrne@une.edu.au |
| Room: | Psychology (S6) 49 |
| Phone: | 02 6773 2370 (or +61 2 6773 2370 overseas) |
| Fax: | 02 6773 3820 |
Areas of Teaching
PSYC 401H Reading course: Behavioural Genetics (Co-ordinator & Presenter)
Research interests
My research is in the area of psycholinguistics, with an emphasis on reading acquisition, reading difficulties and language development. In studying reading, our research group has gathered data in the form of laboratory analogues to the acquisition process, in small-scale experiments with preschool and kindergarten children, in larger-scale studies of children in primary grades, and in studies of children at risk for developmental dyslexia. Currently, we are studying the genetics of reading ability using twin methodology, in cooperation with staff at the University of Colorado and University of Linköping.
Representative Publications
Byrne, B., Coventry, W. L., Olson, R. K , Hulslander, J., Wadsworth, S., DeFries, J. C., Corley, R., Willcutt, E. G., & Samuelsson, S., (2008). A behavioral-genetic analysis of orthographic learning, spelling, and decoding. Journal of Research in Reading, 31, 8-21.
Byrne, B., Coventry, W. L., Olson, R. K., Samuelsson, S., Corley, R., Willcutt, E. G., Wadsworth, S., & DeFries, J. C., (2009). Genetic and environmental influences on aspects of literacy and language in early childhood: Continuity and change from preschool to Grade 2. Journal of Neurolinguistics, 22, 219-236.
Byrne, B., Coventry, W. L., Olson, R. K., Wadsworth, S. J., Samuelsson, S., Petrill. S. A., Willcutt, E. G., & Corley, R. (in press). “Teacher effects” in early literacy development: Evidence from a study of twins. Journal of Educational Psychology.
Hindson, B. A., Byrne, B., Fielding-Barnsley, R., Newman, C., Hine, D., & Shankweiler, D. (2005). Assessment and early instruction of preschool children at risk for reading disability. Journal of Educational Psychology, 94, 687-704.
Samuelsson, S., Byrne, B., Olson, R. K., Hulslander, J., Wadsworth, S., Corley, R., Willcutt, E., & DeFries, J.C. (2008). Response to early literacy instruction in the United States, Australia, and Scandinavia: A behavioral-genetic analysis. Learning and Individual Differences, 18, 289-295.
Samuelsson, S., Byrne, B., Quain, P., Wadsworth, S., Corley, R., DeFries, J. C., Willcutt, E., & Olson. R. K. (2005). Environmental and genetic influences on prereading skills in Australia, Scandinavia, and the United States, Journal of Educational Psychology, 97, 705-722.