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The United College of The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) has invited Prof. David C. Geary, Curators’ Professor and Thomas Jefferson Professor of Psychology and Interdisciplinary Neuroscience, University of Missouri, USA, as its Distinguished Visiting Scholar in 2014-15.  Professor Geary will visit CUHK between 22 and 28 October 2014 and deliver two public lectures on campus on ‘Early Predictors of Mathematics Achievement and Achievement Growth’ and ‘Evolution of Trait Vulnerability’.  Interested members of the public are welcome.  Admission is free. 

Prof. David Geary is a notable cognitive developmental and evolutionary psychologist.  He is currently Curators’ Professor and Thomas Jefferson Professor of Psychology and Interdisciplinary Neuroscience at the University of Missouri. He is also appointed by the US President to the National Mathematics Advisory Panel and chairing its learning processes task group.  His research interests include children’s mathematical cognition and learning and Darwin’s sexual selection as largely but not solely related to human sex differences. 

Professor Geary directed a 10-year longitudinal study of children’s mathematical development from kindergarten to ninth grade, with a focus on identifying the core deficits underlying learning disabilities and persistent low achievement in mathematics. One result has been the identification of the school-entry number knowledge that predicts economically-relevant mathematical competencies in adolescence. The study earned him a MERIT award from the National Institutes of Health (US). As a follow-up, Professor Geary is directing a second longitudinal study, funded by the National Science Foundation (US), to identify the preschool quantitative competencies that predict this school-entry number knowledge. Professor Geary has also published conceptual and theoretical articles on individual differences in children’s mathematical learning, as well as a book published by the American Psychological Association, Children’s mathematical development (1994). 

Professor Geary’s empirical work on evolution ranges from the study of changes in brain volume during hominid evolution to human mate choices to men’s hormonal responses to simulated (video game) competition. His current studies examined the effects of prenatal toxin exposure on sex differences in cognition and behavior in mice. Specifically, traits related to Darwin’s sexual selection are often exaggerated relative to other traits.  These would include, for example, the bright plumage of the males of many species of bird that in turn is a good indicator of their behavioral and genetic health. These traits are particularly sensitive to environmental disruption, even in healthy individuals. Professor Geary’s in progress book, The evolution of vulnerability, is focused on these traits in humans and how they can be used to identify at-risk populations and individuals. 

During his visit to the United College, Professor Geary will deliver two public lectures in English.  Members of the Public are welcome.  For further information, please contact Mr. George Lam at 3943 7598 or Ms. Amy Yeung at 3943 7455 of the Dean of Students’ Office, United College.  The title of the lectures and details are as follows: 

1.  Early Predictors of Mathematics Achievement and
     Achievement Growth
     Thursday, 23 October 2014, 4:30 pm – 6:00 pm
     Sir Run Run Shaw Hall, CUHK

2.   Evolution of Trait Vulnerability
      Monday, 27 October 2014, 4:30 pm – 6:00 pm
      Lecture Theatre 1, Esther Lee Building, CUHK