Bob Kapteijns

After completing the Research Master’s program in Cognitive Neuroscience (CNS) at Radboud University, I first worked for one and a half years as a research assistant (RA) at the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics (MPI) in Nijmegen, before starting my PhD at the Behavioural Science Institute (BSI), also in Nijmegen.

During my PhD, I studied the development of early reading and mathematical skills in young children. Specifically, I followed a large group of children (N = 224) longitudinally across five measurement points, spanning the period from kindergarten (‘groep 2’) through grade 2 (‘groep 4’) of primary school. At each of these five time points, the children completed several cognitive and literacy- and numeracy-related tasks. In addition, I also examined the role of children’s home environment. Throughout this project, I was particularly interested in individual differences between children, for example with regards to variations in longitudinal learning trajectories. Moreover, using growth curve analyses, I investigated how these cognitive skills develop over time and how different skills predict (or even influence) each other’s development across time.

Since October 1, 2025, I’m working as a postdoctoral researcher (‘postdoc’) in the Brain and Language group. My main focus will be on the project Leeswinst, where I will be responsible for the longitudinal data collection. In this project, we will use our own digital ‘game’ (DA tool), in combination with various cognitive and reading-related tasks.