Project Kosmos

Cognitive and Socio-Emotional Development of Children with Learning Disabilities

The project Kosmos investigated the cognitive and socio-emotional development of children with learning disabilities. Reading, writing and calculating are basic competencies each child should acquire during primary school age. However, there is evidence that some children find it very difficult to acquire such skills even though their ability to learn is generally good or even above average. In such cases, a specific developmental disorder of scholastic skills is diagnosed. Such specific learning disorders can be further differentiated by specific reading disorder (dyslexia) and spelling disorder on the one hand and specific disorder of arithmethical skills (dyscalculia) on the other hand. Over a period of four years, the project Kosmos assessed individual developments of children with dyslexia and/or dyscalculia as well as the development of children who did not demonstrate such difficulties. The analysis of cognitive and socio-emotional developmental pathways of the children will contribute to a better understanding of causal conditions and effects of learning difficulties.

Selected Publications

Fischbach, A., Könen, T., Rietz, C. S., & Hasselhorn, M. (2013). What is not working in working memory of children with literacy disorders? Evidence from a three-year-longitudinal study. Reading and Writing. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1007/s11145-013-9444-5

Rietz, C.S., Hasselhorn, M., & Labuhn, A.S. (2012). Are externalizing and internalizing difficulties of young children with spelling impairment related to their ADHD symptoms? Dyslexia, 18, 174-185.

Schmid, J. M., Labuhn, A. S., & Hasselhorn, M. (2011). Response inhibition and its relationship to phonological processing in children with and without dyslexia. International Journal of Disability, Development and Education, 58, 19-32.