Mark Seidenberg
Mark S. Seidenberg is an American cognitive scientist and psycholinguist known for his research on reading, language processing, dyslexia, and literacy instruction. He is professor emeritus of psychology at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and has been affiliated with Haskins Laboratories.[1] His work has contributed to scientific understanding of how written and spoken language are represented and processed, and to public discussions of reading instruction and the "science of reading".[2]
Education and academic career
[edit]Seidenberg received his Ph.D. in psychology from Columbia University, where he studied psycholinguistics. He completed postdoctoral training at the Center for the Study of Reading at the University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign.[1]
He held faculty positions at McGill University and later at the University of Southern California, where he was affiliated with the departments of psychology, linguistics, and neuroscience. He subsequently joined the University of Wisconsin–Madison, where he served as professor of psychology and held positions including the Vilas Research Professorship and the Donald O. Hebb Professorship of Psychology. He has also been affiliated with Haskins Laboratories.[1]
Research
[edit]Seidenberg’s research focuses on psycholinguistics, including reading, language comprehension, and language acquisition. He has published more than 200 peer-reviewed scientific articles on these topics.[3]
He is known for work on computational models of reading and word recognition, particularly connectionist approaches that model interactions among spelling, sound, and meaning.
His early research examined how orthographic knowledge influences spoken language processing, including findings that spelling affects the perception of rhyming words. He later contributed to the development of computational models of reading, including connectionist frameworks often referred to as the "triangle model".[4]
At the University of Southern California, Seidenberg and colleagues developed models showing how impairments in processing could produce patterns associated with dyslexia.
Public scholarship and the science of reading
[edit]Seidenberg is the author of Language at the Speed of Sight: How We Read, Why So Many Can’t, and What Can Be Done About It (2017).[5] The book received coverage in major U.S. media outlets, including The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal.[6][7]
His work has been cited in public discussions about reading instruction and literacy policy.[8] In recent work, he has addressed debates about phonics instruction.[9][2]
Selected works
[edit]- Language at the Speed of Sight (2017)
Honors and recognition
[edit]Seidenberg has been elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.[1]
References
[edit]- 1 2 3 4 "Mark S. Seidenberg". American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Retrieved 2026-04-22.
- 1 2 "Phonics Is Crucial. But How Much Is Too Much?". Education Week. 2026-03-11. Retrieved 2026-04-22.
- ↑ "Journal Articles". Mark S. Seidenberg. Retrieved 2026-04-22.
- ↑ Seidenberg, Mark S.; McClelland, James L. (1989). "A Distributed, Developmental Model of Word Recognition and Naming". Psychological Review. 96 (4): 523–568. doi:10.1037/0033-295X.96.4.523. PMID 2798649.
- ↑ Seidenberg, Mark (2017). Language at the Speed of Sight. Basic Books. ISBN 978-1541617155.
- ↑ "Want to read fast and well? Ignore the rules of the speed-reading gurus". The Washington Post. 2017-01-27. Retrieved 2026-04-22.
- ↑ "Why Johnny (Still) Can't Read". The Wall Street Journal. 2017-01-10. Retrieved 2026-04-22.
- ↑ "Why aren't kids being taught to read?". APM Reports. 2018-09-10. Retrieved 2026-04-22.
- ↑ "The Cost of Over-Teaching Phonics". Education Next. 2026-04-07. Retrieved 2026-04-22.
External links
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