Brain Science Podcast #29: Author Maryanne Wolf talks about reading and the brain

Dr. Maryanne Wolf, Director of The Center for Reading and Language Research at Tufts University

Brain Science Podcast #29 is an interview with cognitive neuroscientist, Dr. Maryanne Wolf, author of Proust and the Squid: The Story and Science of the Reading Brain. I discussed her book in Episode 24, so this interview was an opportunity to ask her some follow-up questions, and to focus more on how children learn to read. Dr. Wolf shares her ten years of experience helping children learn to read and developing programs to help children with problems like dyslexia. She shares some practical advice for parents as well as her concerns about how reliance on the internet could influence reading skills.

I enjoyed the conversation and, while I especially want to share this episode with parents, I think Dr. Wolf gives everyone some interesting ideas to consider. Listen to the interview.

Links:

• Maryanne Wolf:
  • Faculty page at Tufts
  • Director of The Center for Reading and Language Development
  • Proust and the Squid: The Story and Science of the Reading Brain

• The Center for Reading and Language Development (Tufts University)
• RAVE-O: A Comprehensive, Fluency-Based Reading Intervention Program

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Brain Science Podcast #24: Reading and the Brain

Listen to this episode now.

Show Notes

Dr. Wolf's book Proust and the Squid: The Story and Science of the Reading Brain, is divided into three main topics: the history of how writing and reading developed over the last few thousand years, the developmental stages involved in learning how to read, and what happens when the brain can't learn to read. My podcast concentrates on the main ideas from the first two topics.

History of Writing:

• the discovery of symbols
• Early writing systems- cuneiform and hieroglyphics
  • why Chinese gives us a window into the past
• Importance of the Alphabet
  • some claims and conclusions
• Why Socrates opposed literacy

The Stages of Becoming a Reader:

• the early pre-reader-with emphasis on language development
• the novice reader-connecting letters to the sounds of language
• the decoding reader-
• the fluent comprehending reader-learning to "read between the lines"
• the expert reader-why reading continues to change us throughout our lives

What goes wrong when the brain can't learn to read: how new findings are leading to new solutions

Links and References

• Maryann Wolf, Director of the Center for Reading and Language Research at Tufts University
  • Her book Proust and the Squid contains extensive references to various scientific studies in the area
  • interview of Dr. Wolf
  • information for teachers

• FastForward-an successful approach to treating dyslexia
• Michael Posner-a psychologist who used PET scans to study what happens during shifts of attention (a necessary first step in reading)

Listen to this episode now.

Share your comments on the Discussion Forum

Audience Survey

Subscribe via iTunes™

Subscribe in a reader

Subscribe to Brain Science Podcast with Dr. Ginger Campbell by Email