Email: portico-services@ucl.ac.uk
Help Desk: http://www.ucl.ac.uk/ras/portico/helpdesk
- Emeritus Professor
- Language & Cognition
- Div of Psychology & Lang Sciences
- Faculty of Brain Sciences




I’m interested in the psychological mechanisms relating language and mathematical cognition. In particular I’m interested in the effects of Developmental Language Disorders (DLD) on the children’s numeracy. A study funded by the Nuffield Foundation (Donlan et al. 2007) found that eight year olds with DLD face challenges in the development of number knowledge (rote-counting and transcoding from spoken to Arabic numerals), but are relatively advantaged in conceptual understanding (application of arithmetic principles). More recent work demonstrates the importance of transcoding as a key element in the development of arithmetic skills in typically developing children (Habermann et al. 2020). We are currently working on a game-based intervention to support this foundational aspect of numeracy, focussing on children with language difficulties, and on with people with Aphasia who face challenges in re-building number knowledge. Funding for this study is once again provided by the Nuffield Foundation.
1993 | Doctor of Philosophy | University of Manchester | |
1979 | Master of Science | University of London | |
1975 | Postgraduate Certificate in Education | Leeds Polytechnic | |
1969 | Bachelor of Arts | University of Cambridge |