NASHVILLE, Tenn. ñ Does environment determine the reading success of a
student? Stephen Petrill will address this question as he presents a
lecture in a series on development and developmental disabilities on
Thursday, Oct. 7, at 4 p.m. at the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center for
Research on Human Development.
Petrill will be discussing the role that genetic and environmental
factors play in reading ability and related skills and their
relationship to cognitive and behavioral development. His research
employs twin, adoption and molecular genetic designs to examine the
impact of genetics and environment on early reading ability as well as
the relationship between reading, mathematics, general cognitive
ability and socioemotional development.
Petrill is a faculty member at Pennsylvania State University. He
received his doctorate in psychology from Case Western Reserve
University in 1995 prior to completing postdoctoral studies at the
Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Research Centre, London.
The lecture will take place in the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center/MRL Building Room 241. The event is free and open to the public.
The Vanderbilt Kennedy Center is a national center for research on
development and developmental disabilities. For more information, visit http://kc.vanderbilt.edu or contact Stephanie Comer at 615-322-8240.
Media contacts: Stephanie Comer, (615) 322-8240
stephanie.comer@vanderbilt.edu
Melanie Catania, (615) 322-NEWS
Melanie.catania@vanderbilt.edu