InterLearn – Research team of psychology
Overview
Research group description
The team is multidisciplinary with diverse experience in different research methods allowing for an integrative approach to research, combining different perspectives to produce genuinely new understanding of development and learning. Overall long-term goal is produce knowledge which can be applied to develop more effective and personalised ways of supporting learning and well-being (within InterLearn developed by Research team of educational sciences).
Learning difficulties and wellbeing are studied longitudinally. The main aim of our team is to gain new insights into the characteristics of individuals or growth and learning environments that predispose them to difficulties in psychosocial development and learning. Children's learning difficulties, such as reading, numeracy and attention problems, often overlap with mental health problems as they develop. The determinants and developmental mechanisms of problem accumulation are, however, poorly understood. We study risk factors for development and learning, but equally importantly we also aim to identify factors that protect and promote development and learning, as well as to unfold complex interactions between them.
We follow school children in two large-scale follow-up studies from primary school to secondary school. We take a holistic approach, looking at information processing skills (including perception, memory and attention, as well as reading and math related skills), processes related to brain function, and socio-emotional factors (such emotion regulation, motivation, and self-beliefs), and school, family, peer/ friend and digital environments.
Study of brain mechanisms provides a window into learning and understanding the information and emotional processing involved. We explore the links between socio-emotional and information processing skills and the characteristics of the developing brain. In particular, we are interested in processes related to reading, numeracy and attention and how skill development and changes in brain function are linked. We use modern brain research techniques such as high-density EEG measuring electrical activity of the brain, eye movements (eye-tracking) during EEG and/or task performance, and in sub-samples also magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), magneto encephalography (MEG), and measures of autonomic nervous system activation (e.g. heart rate).
Environmental factors are studied in the two longitudinal follow-ups studies (see above).We study what role different everyday environments, the family, the child's peer relationships, the school environment and digital environments play in learning and well-being, how these environments support children's well-being or predispose them to learning difficulties and socio-emotional problems.
Methodological approaches in InterLearn CoE include developing approaches for advanced modelling of complex and multi-level data, and use of artificial intelligence applications.
The research team of psychology also participates in the planning of the intervention and developmental trajectory studies carried out by our CoE partners at the Dept. of Education in JYU, and FinnBrain Child Development and Parental Functioning Group at Psychology and Speech Language Pathology at the University of Turku.
