BROTHERTON LECTURE

Dr Patricia Lesley Brotherton, a lecturer in the Department of Psychology until her death in 1979, bequeathed the sum of $20,000 to the Department of Psychology, University of Melbourne , to be used at the discretion of the Professors of the Department for the work of the Department.
 
The net annual income of the funds is expended by the Council on the recommendation of the Head of the Department of Psychology for the following purposes:
•  to provide special lectures ( The Brotherton Lectures ) in the Department given by persons from within Australia or overseas
•  to appoint from time to time a fellow ( The Brotherton Fellow ) from within Australia or overseas, to undertake in the Department research relating to psychology
•  to enhance the work of the Department in any other approved way

BROTHERTON LECTURE JULY 2006

Self-explanation facilitates learning in children and adults

On July 12 Professor Robert Siegler, the Theresa Heinz Professor of Cognitive Psychology at Carnegie-Mellon University, Pittsburgh, delivered the second Brotherton lecture for 2006. A large audience, comprising psychologists, educators, students and the general public, attended the lecture in which Professor Siegler described his recent research on the ways in which self-explanation facilitates causal reasoning, problem solving and learning in children and adults.

Professor Siegler is one of world’s leading authorities on learning and reasoning in children and adults. He has received many awards for his research, the most recent of which was the American Psychological Association’s Distinguished Scientific Award for the contribution to Psychological Science. Professor Siegler was recently appointed to the position of Chair of the Presidential Commission of the National Mathematics Panel. He is also an advisor to several US research funding agencies. He has published over 200 research articles and has written twelve books.

The Brotherton Lectures are made possible through a bequest from Dr Patricia Lesley Brotherton, a lecturer in the Department of Psychology until her death in 1979. The Brotherton lecture series is a biennial event organized by the Department of Psychology.

From left : Prof Henry Jackson, Todd Siegler, Mrs Todd Siegler, Associate Prof Robert Reeve, Prof Siegler

BROTHERTON/DEANS LECTURE MARCH 2006

Bryan Kolb presented the Brain plasticity and behaviour on 21st March 2006.

This lecture can be heard at http://harangue.lecture.unimelb.edu.au/ilectures/ilectures.lasso?ut=645&id=25789

Professor James Angus (right), Dean, Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences presenting a token of appreciation to Professor Bryan Kolb.

From left to right : Professor Henry Jackson (Head, School of Behavioural Science), Professor Bryan Kolb and Professor James Angus (Dean, Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences) posing for a souvenir photo.

Megan Spencer-Smith, a PhD student shared her thoughts about her interaction with Prof Kolb:
"During the last couple of weeks in March 2006, the School had the pleasure of hosting Prof Bryan Kolb. As a PhD student who reads Kolb and colleague articles and text books on a regular basis, the opportunity to attend his numerous talks, lectures and workshops, including the Brotherton Lecture, was certainly not to be missed! Bryan spoke about his rat studies, providing us with an understanding of principles underlying repairing the injured brain. He spoke with many of us about our research. I was able to talk with him about my PhD project, which uses his neurological developmental model of critical time periods in development as a framework for early brain insults in humans. Bryan was generous with sharing his time, knowledge and ideas with both students and academics. His visit established an exciting collaboration with the Australian Centre for Child Neuropsychology Studies at the Murdoch Children's Research Institute. Many of us have also arranged to visit Bryan at the Canadian Centre for Behavioural Neuroscience at the University of Lethbridge . So, we certainly look forward to ongoing collaboration with Prof Bryan Kolb!"