
Dr Emily McDougal
Academic and research departments
Cognition, Genes and Developmental Variability Lab, School of Psychology.About
Biography
Emily completed her PhD in Developmental Psychology at Durham University (2015-2019). Her thesis investigated the role of attention in learning in autism, which utilised both quantitative and qualitative methodologies. Shortly after submitting her thesis in June 2019, Emily began her first postdoctoral position at University of Edinburgh. This project focused on the development and feasibility testing of the ‘Edinburgh Psychoeduation Intervention for Children (EPIC)’, where she worked with children with ADHD and their teachers to develop a toolbox-based intervention aimed to support cognition and learning in the classroom. Emily joined University of Surrey in May 2021 as a postdoctoral researcher on the Block Construction Skills for Mathematics (BLOCS) project, examining the link between spatial skills, Lego block construction and mathematics achievement.
My qualifications
Previous roles
Affiliations and memberships
ResearchResearch interests
I am broadly interested in cognition and educational outcomes in typical and atypical development. More specifically, I am interested in understanding how to best support primary school children who are struggling to learn at school, particularly neurodivergent children, and in using this empirical work to develop educational and clinical support strategies.
Research projects
BLOCS stands for Block Construction Skills for Mathematics. We are a group of researchers from the University of Surrey and Loughborough University working together to determine how LEGO® is related to and can be used to improve maths achievement in 7- to 9-year-olds. This research is funded by The Leverhulme Trust.
Research interests
I am broadly interested in cognition and educational outcomes in typical and atypical development. More specifically, I am interested in understanding how to best support primary school children who are struggling to learn at school, particularly neurodivergent children, and in using this empirical work to develop educational and clinical support strategies.
Research projects
BLOCS stands for Block Construction Skills for Mathematics. We are a group of researchers from the University of Surrey and Loughborough University working together to determine how LEGO® is related to and can be used to improve maths achievement in 7- to 9-year-olds. This research is funded by The Leverhulme Trust.