Victoria Simms
Research Associate
CONTACT DETAILS
RESEARCH INTERESTS:
My research interests include a number of aspects of cognitive development, specifically how children learn and carry out basic processes.
My research to date has focused on the development of mathematical skills in childhood. I have specifically investigated in how ‘simple’ processing attributes, such as the speed of processing simple tasks, or accuracy in estimation tasks, impinge on performance in standardised tests. I have used longitudinal and experimental research methods (along with eye tracking) to investigate the development of these abilities.
I have also been involved in research investigating children’s ability to learn about causes and effects. Causal learning forms the basis for children’s learning about the way in which the world works, and forms the foundation for the development of scientific understanding.
RESEARCH PROJECTS
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
- Simms, V., Gilmore, C., Cragg, L., Marlow, N., Wolke, D. & Johnson, S. (accepted article preview online 19-11-2012). Mathematics difficulties in extremely preterm children: Evidence of a specific deficit in basic mathematics processing. Pediatric Research.
- Muldoon, K., Towse, J., Simms, V., Perra, O., & Menzies, V. (Epub ahead of print 16-04-2012). A longitudinal analysis of number estimation counting skills and mathematical ability across the first school year. Developmental Psychology.
- Muldoon, K., Simms, V., Towse, J., Burns, V. & Yue, G. (2011). Cross-cultural comparisons of 5-year-olds' estimating and mathematical ability. Journal of Cross Cultural Psychology, 42, 669-681.
- Simms, V., McCormack, T., & Beckers, T. (2011).
Additivity pretraining and cue competition effects: Developmental evidence for a reasoning-based account of causal learning. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavior Processes, 38 (2), 180-190. - McCormack, T., Simms, V., McGourty, J. & Beckers, T. (accepted).
Blocking in Children’s Causal Learning Depends on Working Memory and Reasoning Abilities. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology. - McCormack, T., Simms, V., McGourty, J. & Beckers, T. (accepted).
Encouraging Children to Think Counterfactually Enhances Blocking in a Causal Learning Task. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology. - Book chapter: Towse, J., Muldoon, K., & Simms, V. (accepted).
Figuring out children’s number representations: Lessons from cross-cultural work. Oxford Handbook of Numerical Cognition. Oxford University Press.
RECENT CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS
- September 2012: British Psychological Society (Developmental Section)
Aural presentation: 'What skills contribute to pre-schooler’s mathematical success?' (symposium organiser) - April 2012: Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) Annual Meeting
Platform presentation: ‘Understanding mathematics difficulties in extremely preterm children: An exploratory study’ - July 2011: Cognitive Science Poster presentation: ‘The Influence of Additivity Training on Cue Competition Effects in Children’s Causal Learning’
- March 2011: Society for Research In Child Development (SRCD) Poster presentation: ‘Estimation and Mathematics Ability: A Longitudinal Study’
- November 2010: Numbers in the Brain Poster presentation: ‘Longitudinal study of estimation and mathematics ability’
- September 2010: BPS (Developmental Section) Aural presentation: ‘Reasoning and Cue Competition Effects: A Developmental Study’
- July 2009: Experimental Psychology Society: Cultural Effects on the Mental Number Line
Poster presentation: ‘A cross-cultural developmental comparison of estimation tasks between the age of 4 and 6.’ - September 2007: Numeracy and Brain Development Network (NUMBRA)
Poster presentation: ‘The Problem Size and Repeated Operand Effects in Single Digit Addition- An Eye Movement Study’ - March 2007: Society for Research in Child Development (SRCD)
Poster presentation: ‘The Developmental Trajectory of the Repeated Operand Effect in Single Digit Addition’
INVITED DEPARTMENTAL SEMINARS
- April 2010: University of Leuven: What counts in number learning?
- February 2009: Birmingham University: What counts in number learning?
