Dr Charles Agyepong-Mensah
I hold a Doctor of Philosophy Degree in Psychology from London South Bank University with a thesis entitled “Executive functioning, time perception, and prospective memory in adults with dyslexia”. Formerly, I attained merit classification in MSc psychology of education at University College London/Institute of Education, and a high 2:1 classification in BSc psychology at London South Bank University. I have acquired several years of lecturing experience in psychological research methods and statistics, applied psychology, and cognitive psychology at undergraduate level, HND, and level 3. I have numerous years of experience in the supervision of student dissertations and in marking assessments at undergraduate level, HND and level 3 respectively. Additionally, I am an academic researcher whose work has been published in the domains of cognition and memory in dyslexia, with further publications planned from this body of work. Furthermore, I have extensive quantitative research methods expertise and a sound knowledge of qualitative research methods. I also have numerous years of experience in experimental laboratory-based operations comprising administration of several psychometric tests and programming of experimental research tasks. I am currently working on an ongoing dyslexia-related research project . I lecture and deliver Liverpool John Moore University Psychology modules at Westford University College in the UAE.
Executive functioning, time perception, and prospective memory problems in adults with dyslexia
EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONING, TIME PERCEPTION AND PROSPECTIVE MEMORY IN ADULTS WITH DYSLEXIA
Dr Charles Agyepong-Mensah
Abstract
Dyslexia is the most frequently occurring developmental condition (e.g., Lyon, 1996; Shaywitz & Shaywitz, 2003) with documented occurrences reported as being between 5 and 17% in the Western population (e.g., Badian, 1984; Jones, Kuipers, & Thierry, 2016; Katusic, Colligan, Barbaresi, Schaid, & Jacobsen, 2001; Shaywitz, Shaywitz, Fletcher, & Escobar, 1990). Dyslexia has been defined as a particular learning difficulty that is characterized by enduring problems in the ability to accurately and fluently read, spell or both (e.g., World Health Organisation, 2011). Reading and spelling difficulties in people with dyslexia may be experienced when converting written symbols into sound (reading) and/or when articulating words into written symbols (spelling and writing; World Federation of Neurology, 1968). These difficulties may adversely influence one’s capacity to make sense of written materials such as academic textbooks or employment application forms. Previously, the condition was understood from the phonological processing deficit, a single deficit approach. Following evidence from the perspective of the multiple deficit approach has indicated broader cognitive difficulties that co-occur with dyslexia; with the evidence reported in executive functions, time perception and prospective memory in both children and adults. With evidence of problems in these areas shown to persevere into adulthood, the extent of their presence was investigated in adults with and without dyslexia. Using a wide-range of experimental laboratory-based, semi-naturalistic and naturalistic tasks, prospective memory, executive functions and time perception were investigated in the two groups of university students with and without dyslexia. The two groups were matched for age and IQ and differed on spelling and reading tests. The results indicated prospective memory problems in adults with dyslexia when prospective memory performance relied on time-cues rather than on environmental cues and when time-cues were one-off rather than repetitive. Furthermore, adults with dyslexia showed problems in a range of executive functions related to set-shifting, dual-task performance and planning. There was no evidence of dyslexia-related difficulties in time perception tasks in both short duration (milliseconds range) and long duration (minutes range). The findings in this work point to several dyslexia-related problems that fall within the cognitive functioning range, with conceivable ramifications that call for reasonable adjustments to be implemented to support individuals with dyslexia at the workplace and educational settings. The findings can be explained from the perspective of the dyslexia automatization deficit hypothesis and the supervisory attentional system rather than merely from the point of view of the phonological deficit hypothesis.