Research Interests and Expertise

  • Embedding high-level cognitive skills training into academic instructions for children with severe learning difficulties
  • Meta-analyses that examine factors associated with reading and mathematics learning across cultures and languages

Research Projects and Grants

  • Exploring Cognitive and Foundational Processes Underlying Prealgebra Among Students With and Without Mathematics Learning Disabilities, Institute of Education Sciences (R324A200165), 2021–2025, $1,399,974, Co-Principal Investigator
  • Investigating Effective Methods That Adults Use to Improve Children’s Math Achievement in Informal Learning Environments: A Meta-Analysis, National Science Foundation (2000292), 2020–2023, $490,747, Consultant (Principal Investigator: Gena Nelson, Ph.D., Boise State University)

Editorial Review Boards

  • Member: International Society for Autism Research, Council for Exceptional Children: Division for Psychological Bulletin
  • Review of Educational Research
  • Journal of Educational Psychology
  • Journal of Learning Disabilities

Recent Awards

  • Outstanding Reviewer for 2019, American Educational Research Association, 2020
  • Dean’s Fellow, College of Education, The University of Texas at Austin, 2019
  • Early Career Researcher Award, International Dyslexia Association, 2018

Representative Publications

  • Peng, P., Lin, X., Ünal, Z. E., Lee, K., Namkung, J., Chow, J., & Sales, A. (2020). Examining the mutual relations between language and mathematics: A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin146(7), 595–634. https://doi.org/10.1037/bul0000231
  • Peng, P., & Kievit, R. (2020). The development of academic achievement and cognitive abilities: A bidirectional perspective. Child Development Perspectives14, 15–20. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdep.12352
  • Peng, P., & Goodrich, M. (2020). The cognitive element model of reading instruction. Reading Research Quarterly. doi:10.1002/RRQ.336
  • Peng, P., Wang, T., Wang, C., & Lin, X. (2019). A meta-analysis on the relation between fluid intelligence and reading/mathematics: Effects of tasks, age, and social economics status. Psychological Bulletin145(2), 189–236. https://doi.org/10.1037/bul0000182
  • Peng, P., Wang, C. C., & Namkung, J. (2018) Understanding the cognition related to mathematics difficulties: A meta-analysis on the cognitive deficit profiles and the bottleneck theory. Review of Educational Research88, 434–476. https://doi.org/10.3102/0034654317753350
  • Peng, P., Barnes, M., Wang, C. C., Wang, W., Swanson, L., Dardick, W., Li, S., & Tao, S. (2018). A meta-analysis on the relation between reading and working memory. Psychological Bulletin144, 48–76. https://doi.org/10.1037/bul0000124
  • Peng, P., Namkung, J., Barnes, M., & Sun, C. Y. (2016). A meta-analysis of mathematics and working memory: Moderating effects of working memory domain, type of mathematics skill, and sample characteristics. Journal of Educational Psychology108(4), 455–473. https://doi.org/10.1037/edu0000079
  • Peng, P., & Fuchs, D. (2017). A randomized control trial of working memory training with and without strategy instruction: Effects on young children’s working memory and comprehension. Journal of Learning Disabilities50, 62–80. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022219415594609
  • Peng, P., & Fuchs, D. (2016). A meta-analysis of working memory deficits in children with learning difficulties: Is there a difference between verbal domain and numerical domain? Journal of Learning Disabilities49, 2–20. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022219414521667