Investigating and Enhancing Motivation for Reading
SeNSS ESRC -FUNDED COLLABORATIVE STUDENTSHIP OPPORTUNITY Investigating and enhancing motivation for reading Primary supervisor: Dr. Saloni Krishnan Institution Details: Department of Psychology, Royal Holloway, University of London Collaborative partner: The Reading Agency SeNSS Pathway: Psychology Degree structure: either a three-year PhD programme, or a one year Masters degree, followed by a three -year PhD programme Project background Reading ability influences academic achievement, career prospects. and personal well-being. But why are some people more motivated to read? This project takes a new perspective on reading acquisition, drawing on complementary strengths of the academic supervisors, Dr. Krishnan (brain and language), Dr. Ricketts (reading and vocabulary), and Dr. Balsters (social decision making). We will use models from decision making to capture how much time, effort, and money people are willing to expend on reading. We will also explore the brain basis of motivation using neuroimaging tools (fMRI). The Reading Agency is an Arts Council-funded, UK-wide charity that works to tackle life’s big challenges (literacy, health and wellbeing, social mobility and loneliness) through the proven power of reading. They deliver several successful programmes to boost reading, including the Summer Reading Challenge, Reading Ahead, and Quick Reads. A collaboration with The Reading Agency will enable us to address whether motivation for reading differs in those with low literacy and explore how environments can be nudged to boost motivation. The successful candidate will be hosted at the Department of Psychology at Royal Holloway, University of London. The Department has an excellent research reputation (6th in REF2014), an active postgraduate communit y, and cutting-edge facilities for research, including an on-site MRI scanner.
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