Rebecca Treiman

Rebecca Treiman

Professor of Psychological & Brain Sciences
Burke & Elizabeth High Baker Professor of Child Development in Arts & Sciences
PhD, University of Pennsylvania
MA, University of Pennsylvania
BA, Yale University

contact info:

mailing address:

  • Washington University
    CB 1125
    One Brookings Drive
    St. Louis, MO 63130-4899

Professor Treiman conducts research on language and language development. Her major focus is on reading and spelling skills and how they develop. One line of research examines children's spelling, looking at the linguistic reasons why children spell words as they do. Other research examines children’s ability to decode written words. Treiman and her collaborators also study reading and spelling processes in adults. For example, they are analyzing the spelling-to-sound relationships in words of more than one syllable and studying how people read and spell these words. Many of the studies in the lab are carried out with typical learners and users of English. Some studies involve users of other languages and individuals with language problems.

Selected Publications

Treiman, R., Kessler, B., Boland, K., Clocksin, H., & Chen, Z. (2018). Statistical learning and spelling: Older prephonological spellers produce more wordlike spellings than younger prephonological spellers.Child Development89, e431-e443.

Treiman, R., & Wolter, S. (2018). Phonological and graphotactic influences on spellers’ decisions about consonant doubling. Memory & Cognition, 46, 614–624.

Treiman, R., Kessler, B., Pollo, T. C., Byrne, B., & Olson, R. K. (2016). Measures of kindergarten spelling and their relations to later spelling performance. Scientific Studies of Reading, 20, 349-362.

Treiman, R., Pollo, T. C., Cardoso-Martins, C., & Kessler, B. (2013). Do young children spell words syllabically? Evidence from learners of Brazilian Portuguese. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 116,873–890.

From our podcast:

Hold That Thought Podcast

The ABCs of Reading and Writing

What can parents and teachers do to help young children become successful readers and writers? Rebecca Treiman shares recent research that explores how children around the globe take their first steps toward reading and writing.