Research Interests
Robert Abbott
My research and teaching are focused on the appropriate use of statistical methods in educational research. To use statistical methods appropriately the researcher must understand the assumptions of classical methods such as correlation and analysis of variance, and, when appropriate, use newer statistical approaches such as structural equation modeling (to incorporate adjustments for measurement error in research) and the analysis of growth curves (to study learning over time).
Currently, I collaborate with three groups of researchers. The first group consists of Educational Psychology faculty (Dr. Virginia Berninger and Dr. Deborah McCutchen) and faculty in medicine who are studying the diagnosis and remediation of reading and writing disabilities with the assistance of a federal grant funding centers on learning disabilities in the United States. The second group consists of faculty from education, sociology, psychology, and social work in the Social Development Research Group. This federally funded group is researching ways to help children become more attached and committed to school, family and community to decrease the likelihood of children’s antisocial behavior such as delinquency, drug use, and school problems. The third group is funded by two major research grants to investigate processes underlying autism and consists of faculty in psychology, speech and hearing sciences, and medicine.
Reading and Writing Processes
Abbott, R. D., Amtmann, D., & Munson, J. (2006). Statistical analysis for field experiments and longitudinal data in writing research. In C. Macarthur, S. Graham, & J. Fitzgerald (Eds.) Handbook of Writing Research (pp. 374-386). New York: Guilford Press.
Nagy, W., Berninger, V. W., & Abbott, R. D. (2006). Contributions of morphology beyond phonology to literacy outcomes of upper elementary and middle school students. Journal of Educational Psychology, 98, 134-147.
Berninger, V. W., Abbott, R. D., Thomson, J., Wagner, R., Swanson, H.L., Wijsman, E., & Raskind, W. (2006). Modeling developmental phonological core deficits within a working-memory architecture in children and adults with developmental dyslexia. Scientific Studies in Reading, 10, 165-198.
Altemeier, L., Jones, J., Abbott, R. D., & Berninger, V. W. (2006). Executive functions in becoming writing-readers and reading-writers: Note-taking and report writing in third and fifth graders, Developmental Neuropsychology, 29, 161-173.
Berninger, V. W., Abbott, R.D., Jones, J., Gould, L., Anderson-Youngstrom, M., Wolf, B., & Apel, K. (2006). Early development of language by hand: Composing-, reading-, listening-, and speaking- connections, three letter writing modes, and fast mapping in spelling. Developmental Neuropsychology, 29, 61-92.
Chenault, B., Thomson, J., Abbott, R.D., & Berninger, V. W. (2006). Effects of prior attention training on child dyslexics’ response to composition instruction. Developmental Neuropsychology, 29, 243-260.
Thomson, J. B., Chenault, B., Abbott, R. D., Raskind, W. H., Richards, T., Aylward, E., & Berninger, V. W. (2005). Converging evidence for attentional influences on the orthographic word form in child dyslexics. Journal of Neurolinguistics, 18, 93-126.
Attachment and Commitment and Prevention of Antisocial Behavior
Haggerty, K. P., Fleming, C. B., Catalano, R. F., Harachi, T. W., & Abbott, R. D. (in press). Raising Healthy Children: Examining the impact of promoting healthy driving behavior within a social development intervention. Prevention Science
White, H. R., McMorris, B. J., Catalano, R. F., Fleming, C. B., Haggerty, K. P., & Abbott, R. D. (in press). Increases in alcohol and marijuana use during the transition out of high school into emerging adulthood: The effects of leaving home, going to college, and high school protective factors. Journal of Studies on Alcohol
Harachi, T.W., Choi, Y., Abbott, R.A., & Catalano, R.F. (in press). Examining cross-cultural equivalence of concepts and measures in diverse samples. Prevention Science.
Harachi, T. W., Fleming, C. B., White, H. R., Ensminger, M. E., Catalano, R. F., Haggerty, K. P., & Abbott, R. D. (in press). Aggressive behavior among girls and boys during middle childhood: Identifying trajectory groups, predictors, and sequelae of group membership. Aggressive Behavior.
Brown, E. C., Catalano, R. F., Fleming, C. B., Haggerty, K. P., & Abbott, R. D. (2005). Adolescent substance use outcomes in the Raising Healthy Children Project: A two-part latent growth curve analysis. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 73, 699-710.
Hill, K. G., Hawkins, J. D., Catalano, R. F., Abbott, R. D., & Guo, J. (2005). Family influences on the risk of daily smoking initiation. Journal of Adolescent Health, 37, 202-210.
Hawkins, J. D., Kosterman, R. Catalano, R. F., Hill, K. G., & Abbott, R. D. (2005). Promoting positive adult functioning through social development intervention in childhood: Long term effects from the Seattle Social Development Project. Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, 159, 25-31.
Kosterman, R., Hawkins, J. D., Abbott, R. D., Hill, K. G., Herrenkohl, R. I., Catalano, R. F. (2005). Measures of positive adult behavior and their relationship to crime and substance use. Prevention Science, 6, 21-33.
Processes in Autism
Dawson, G., Estes, A., Munson, J., Schellenberg, G., Bernier, R., & Abbott, R. D. (in press). Quantitative assessment of autism symptom-related traits in probands and parents: Broader phenotype autism symptom scale. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders.
Dawson, G., Toth, K., Abbott, R. , Osterling, J., Munson, J., Estes, A., & Liaw, J. (2004). Early social attention impairments in autism: Social orienting, joint attention, and attention to distress. Developmental Psychology, 40, 271-283.