Speaker
Professor Lisa Henderson
Head of Department, Department of Psychology, University of York
Biography
Prior to completing a BSc Psychology at the University of Hull in 2005, I then came to the Psychology Department at York to complete an MSc and PhD in semantic processing deficits in children with language and literacy difficulties (mentored by Professor Maggie Snowling and Dr Paula Clarke) in 2009. Following this, I began a postdoctoral research fellowship with Professor Gareth Gaskell and Dr Anna Weighall in 2010, studying the role of sleep in language learning. I then joined the Department as a Lecturer in 2012, and got promoted to Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor) in 2017.
My research broadly covers reading and language development, and disorders of reading and language (including autism, dyslexia and developmental language disorder). Particular lines of research include the role of sleep in vocabulary acquisition, and individual differences in this process across development. The overarching aim of this research is to advance our theoretical understanding of language learning in development, and ultimately inform how to optimise language learning over the lifespan. I also have an interest in how developing sleep patterns support neurocognitive, social and emotional development from infancy to adolescence.