The lab investigates how attention and cognitive control support learning across development, with a focus on children and adults with learning difficulties and neurodevelopmental conditions. The team develops theoretically grounded assessment tools and intervention programs that bridge cognitive neuroscience and educational practice, aiming to improve academic functioning and everyday learning in real-world settings.

Research Themes:

• Assessment of Attention and Cognitive Control:The lab designs and validates measures that capture core components of attention (sustained, selective, and divided attention) and executive functions (inhibition, working memory, and cognitive flexibility). The research examines how these mechanisms develop from early childhood to adulthood, how they differ in conditions such as ADHD and ASD, and how they relate to academic performance and everyday learning outcomes.
• Cognitive Training and Intervention Programs: The lab develops and evaluates structured training programs targeting attention and cognitive control in learners with and without diagnosed learning disabilities. Controlled intervention studies are used to test the effects of computerized training, game-like tasks, and classroom-adapted protocols on cognitive performance, academic skills, and functional outcomes, with a particular focus on identifying which individuals benefit most, and under what conditions, from specific training approaches.
• Multimodal Evaluation and Translational Educational Research: The research program combines neuropsychological testing, behavioral measures, and brain-based methods to evaluate the mechanisms underlying change following intervention. Studies span diverse age groups and cultural contexts, including collaborative work in Israel and abroad, to refine tools that teachers, psychologists, and other professionals can use in schools and clinics, with an emphasis on co-design with practitioners to ensure that research outputs translate into feasible, evidence-based practices.

Selected Papers:

1. Trinczer IL, Shalev L 2024 Computerised Attention Functions Training Versus Computerised Executive Functions Training for Children with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: A Randomised Controlled Trial. Journal of Clinical Medicine.
2. Stern P, Kolodny T, Tsafrir S, Cohen G, Shalev L (2024). Unique patterns of eye movements characterizing inattentive reading in ADHD. Journal of Attention Disorders
3. Al-Yagon, M, Lachmi, M, & Shalev, L (2020). Coping strategies among adults with ADHD: The mediational role of attachment relationship patterns.Research in Developmental Disabilities

For more information: lilachsm@tauex.tau.ac.il