(Olson, Richard Kellogg - 2015) -- Professor of Distinction
Overview
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A developmental cognitive psychologist well known for his research on children with reading disabilities, Professor Olson is an expert in genetic and environmental influences on reading and related skills. His highly collaborative research program on reading ability and disability has been continuously supported by the National Institutes of Health since 1979. In 1990, he co-founded the Colorado Learning Disabilities Research Center, and he has served as the center’s principal investigator and director since 2005. In 2000, Olson, a fellow of the Institute for Behavioral Genetics, cofounded the International Longitudinal Twin Study of reading and attention. A member of the Center for Neuroscience, Olson is a charter member of the Society for the Scientific Study of Reading, served as the society’s president, and was awarded its Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award in 2006. Olson’s research since 1980 has focused on the causes and remediation of reading disabilities. Since 1982, he has been testing identical and fraternal twins to assess the genetic correlates of deficits in specific reading processes and related cognitive skills.
