VIDBE-Q Volume 69 Issue 1
Nominated by Mackenzie Savaiano
Dr. Jessica Schultz's dissertation, Executive Functions in Braille Reading
and Individuals with Visual Impairments, provides valuable research to build on
developmental models of executive functioning for individuals who are blind and
read braille. In addition, her research demonstrates a technically sound design and
extraordinary statistical analysis of data. Her findings build on previous research
on executive functions in individuals who are blind by including analyses
comparing individuals who are blind with individuals who are sighted, as well as
conducting a regression analysis to determine any specific contributions of the
executive functions (i.e., working memory, inhibition, shifting) to braille reading.
A unique contribution of Dr. Schultz's work is the inclusion of an auditory
discrimination task, to try and control for auditory memory in her model of how
executive functions predict or contribute to reading.
Congratulations, Jessica Schultz, DVIDB's Dissertation of the Year Award
Winner!
Deborah D. Hatton Outstanding Dissertation of
the Year Award
Jessica Schultz
