researchResearch Interests

Research Interests

James M. Royer

Department of Psychology

University of Massachusetts

Amherst, MA 01003

Phone: (413) -545-2154

email: royer@psych.umass.edu

General

My research revolves around the application of cognitive theory to assessment and instruction. From the period around 1977 to 1985 my research focused on the development, validation, and uses for a new technique of measuring listening and reading comprehension. The technique is called the Sentence Verification Technique (SVT) and many SVT publications can be found in my VITA.

Around 1985 or so my research branched out in two directions. First, I became interested in why some readers were having so much difficulty understanding what they were reading, and this interest led to the development of procedures that could be used to identify sources of reading difficulty. The interest in reading difficulties soon expanded to include an interest in math learning difficulties. The procedures we developed are now implemented in computer form in the Computer-based Academic Assessment System (CAAS). After several years of validating the assessment procedures we began direct intervention work with students who had been diagnosed as having a learning disability. That research is described in the section below and more details can be found in the description of the Laboratory for the Assessment and Training of Academic Skills (LATAS) found on my home web page.

The second direction my research took was to attempt to measure high level cognitive activity that accompanies reading. Specifically, we wanted to measure inferencing activity and the capability to recognize "big ideas" embedded in text. One report of that research can be found in my VITA in an article published in Cognition and Instruction.

As a result of developing a variety of tools that can be used to assess academic development, my students and I have been involved in a number of projects in developing countries. These activities are also described below.

LATAS Research

Our LATAS research has three goals: First, to develop assessment procedures that will identify the specific academic skill that is blocking the development of reading or math capability. Second, to develop instructional interventions that will remove those blocks. And finally, to advance our theoretical understanding of learning disabilities. One of our primay assessment procedures is the Computer-based Academic Assessment System (CAAS) that we developed and is now commercially available at: www.educationalhelp.com

Our research is conducted with children and adults who have been referred to LATAS by professional psychologists, school systems, and parents. Most of the individuals we work with have been diagnosed as having a learning disability, and most have a history of receiving special education services that have not proven to be effective. My VITA lists a number of publications that describe our LATAS research activities.

Assessing Higher Order Learning Outcomes

This research program is based on the assumption that text comprehension and learning from text involves several levels of cognitive processing. At the lowest level we extract the surface meaning of the text we are reading. At a higher level we develop the ability to make inferences about the content of the text. And at a yet higher level we develop the ability to recognize "big ideas" in the text. For instance, we develop the ability to look at a physics problem and recognize that the problem involves a particular physical principle. Our goal is to develop procedures that can assess competency at each of these levels and then examine possible uses for the procedures that we have developed. So, for example, the procedures could be used to track progress through instructional programs or to select individuals for positions requiring high levels of competency.

Research in Developing Countries

Over the years we have developed techniques that enable us to quickly construct reading and math tests that can be based on materials drawn directly from a local curriculum. These procedures have proven to be very useful in developing educational tests in countries that do not have the human or financial resources necessary to develop their own tests. Over the years we have worked on projects in Grenada, Guatemala, Belize, Haiti, Burkina Faso, India, and Nigeria.