John Kirby

Professor, Graduate Faculty (Cross-Appointed to Psychology)

 

Contact Information

Room: A220

Phone: 613-533-6000 x 77231

Email: kirbyj@queensu.ca

Web: http://post.queensu.ca/~kirbyj

 

Research Interests

• Cognitive processes in reading
• Learning disabilities
• Spatial cognition
• Educational psychology

Biography

John Kirby earned an Honours degree in Psychology at McGill University (1972) and a PhD in Educational Psychology at the University of Alberta (1976). He taught in Australia for eleven years in the Faculty of Education at the University of Newcastle. In 1987 he returned to Canada to Queen's University where he is a Professor of Educational Psychology in the Faculty of Education, cross-appointed to the Department of Psychology, and a member of the Centre for Neuroscience Studies. He is a member of the Cognitive Studies group and a Fellow of the Association for Psychological Science.

Recent Research Grants

Kirby, J. R. (2010-2011). Breadth and depth of vocabulary knowledge in reading comprehension. Faculty of Education, Queen’s University.

Martinussen, R. Wiener, J, & Kirby, J. R. (2009-2012). Promoting listening and reading comprehension in students with ADHD. Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.

Wade-Woolley, L., Wood, C. & Kirby, J. R. (2009-2012). The role of speech rhythm in reading development. 2009-2012. Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.

Recent Publications

Kirby, J. R. & Lawson, M. J. (Eds.) (2012). Enhancing the quality of learning. New York: Cambridge University Press.

Li, M. & Kirby, J. R. (in press). Unexpected poor comprehenders among adolescent ESL students. Scientific Studies of Reading.

Li, M. & Kirby, J. R. (2012). Breadth and depth of vocabulary knowledge in second language reading. In Avery, J. S. & Stewart, M. H. (Eds.), Language learning: New research. Hauppauge, NY: Nova Publishers.

Kirby, J. R. & Bowers, P. N. (2012). Morphology works: Research into practice. What Works: Research into Practice. Research Monograph #41. Literacy and Numeracy Secretariat, Ontario. 
www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/literacynumeracy/inspire/research/WW_Morphology.pdf

Kirby, J. R., Deacon, S. H., Bowers, P. N., Izenberg, L., Wade-Woolley, L., Parrila, R. (2012). Children’s morphological awareness and reading ability. Reading and Writing: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 25, 389-410. 

Li, M., Kirby, J. R., Cheng, L., Wade-Woolley, L., & Qiang, H. (2012). Cognitive predictors of English reading achievement in Chinese English-immersion students. Reading Psychology, 33, 423-447.

Georgiou, G. K., Parrila, R., Manolitsis, G., & Kirby, J. R. (2011). Examining the importance of assessing Rapid Automatized Naming (RAN) speed for the identification of children with reading disabilities. Learning Disabilities: A Contemporary Journal, 9, 45-66.

Li, M., Kirby, J. R., & Georgiou, G. (2011). RAN components and reading comprehension in bilingual children. Journal of Research in Reading, 34, 6-22.

Deacon, S. H., Whalen, R. & Kirby, J. R. (2011). Do children see the danger in dangerous? Grade 4, 6, and 8 children’s reading of morphologically complex words. Applied Psycholinguistics, 32, 467-481. 

Kirby, J. R., Ball, A., Geier, B. K., Parrila, R., & Wade-Woolley, L. (2011). The development of reading interest and its relation to reading ability. Journal of Research in Reading, 34, 263-280.

Tong, X., Deacon, S. H., Kirby, J. R., Cain, K. & Parrila, R. (2011). Morphological awareness: A key to understanding poor reading comprehension in English. Journal of Educational Psychology, 103, 523-534. 

Kirby, J. R., Georgiou, G. K., Martinussen, R., & Parrila, R. (2010). Naming speed and reading: From prediction to instruction. Reading Research Quarterly, 45, 341–362.

Kirby, J. R., Knapper, C., Lamon, P., & Egnatoff, W. J. (2010). Development of a scale to measure lifelong learning. International Journal of Lifelong Education, 29, 291-302.

Bowers, P. N., Kirby, J. R., & Deacon, S. H. (2010). The effects of morphological instruction on literacy skills: A systematic review of the literature. Review of Educational Research, 80, 144-179.

Deacon, S. H., Campbell, E., Tamminga, M., & Kirby, J. R. (2010). Seeing the harm in harmed and harmful: Morphological processing by children in grades 4, 6, and 8. Applied Psycholinguistics, 31, 759-775. 

Bowers, P. N. & Kirby, J. R. (2010). Effects of morphological instruction on vocabulary acquisition. Reading and Writing: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 23, 515–537. 

Georgiou, G. K., Parrila, R., & Kirby, J. R. (2009). RAN components and reading development from grade 3 to grade 5: What underlies their relationship? Scientific Studies of Reading, 13, 508-534.

Kirby, J. R. (2009). Not learning to read: Diversity among children with reading difficulties. In J. Lupart, A. McKeough, M. Porath, L. Phillips & V. Timmons (Eds.), The challenges of student diversity in Canadian schools: Essays on building a better future for exceptional children. Markham, ON: Fitzhenry & Whiteside.

Please see http://post.queensu.ca/~kirbyj/ for further publications.