Howard Chiu

Center for Education Research at Stanford (CERAS)

520 Galvez Mall

Stanford, CA 94305

I am currently a PhD student in the Developmental and Psychological Sciences (DAPS) program here at the Stanford Graduate School of Education (GSE). I am being advised by Drs. Jason Yeatman and Phil Fisher, and being generously funded by the Stanford Graduate Fellowship.

I received my B.A. in Experimental Psychology from the University of Oxford and M.Ed. in Educational Psychology from the Melbourne Graduate School of Education.

Prior to coming to Stanford, I worked in Singapore as an educational psychologist in the Ministry of Education’s Special Educational Needs Division.

My research focuses on using transdiagnostic longitudinal neuroimaging methods to understand the developmental trajectories of gray and white matter in early childhood, so as to better understand how neural development relates to educational and other well-being outcomes. I am currently working with the Brain Development and Education Lab in the GSE, as well as the Child Brain & Behavior Lab in the Department of Behavioral Pediatrics.

Outside of research, I enjoy cycling, chess, brewing pourover coffees, and having a good craft beer.

news

Oct 30, 2024	Presented at the 2024 Flux conference in Baltimore. Poster titled “Neonatal brain age models in preterm infants” can be found here!

selected publications

Estimating the Replicability of Psychology Experiments after an Initial Failure to Replicate

Veronica Boyce, Ben Prystawski, Adani Bennett Abutto, and 17 more authors

May 2024

Abs

When a replication fails, scientists have to decide whether to make a second attempt or move on.Psychology researchers who attempt to replicate studies often face this decision, given the empiricalrate of replication success in psychology, which is lower than desired. Here, we report 17 re-replicationsof experiments for which an original replication had failed. In 5/17 of these “rescue” projects (29%),the “rescue” study mostly or fully replicated the original results, albeit with a smaller effect size;in the other 12, the second replication was also judged to have failed. We speculate that successfulrescue projects were due to larger sample sizes or methodological changes such as attention checks. Inthe absence of obvious weaknesses in a failed replication study’s sample or procedure, however, it maybe most efficient to stop pursuing an effect after a single failed replication.
Prefrontal and Frontostriatal Structures Mediate Academic Outcomes Associated with ADHD Symptoms

Howard Chiu, Sila Genc, Charles B. Malpas, and 4 more authors

Brain Disorders, Dec 2021

Abs

Children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have poor academic functioning compared to typically developing children, with executive dysfunction mediating the relationship between ADHD symptoms and academic outcomes. This study investigated whether differences in prefrontal and frontostriatal structures explain this mediating relationship. 132 children aged 9–11 years (mean 10.4 years) completed a MRI including structural and diffusion acquisitions. Cortical regions were parcellated using Freesurfer. Frontostriatal tracts were generated using constrained spherical deconvolution (CSD) tractography. Executive functioning was assessed using working memory, sustained attention and response inhibition tasks. Academic achievement was measured by direct assessment of reading and mathematics, teacher report of academic competence, and national standardized academic testing. Serial mediation analysis tested whether executive function and frontostriatal structures mediate the poorer academic functioning seen in ADHD. Symptom severity (predominantly inattention) was associated with poorer academic outcomes. Working memory partially mediated the relationship between symptoms and academic outcomes. In a serial mediation model, left DLPFC volume, right orbitofrontal volume, and left striatal structures to DLPFC tract volumes partially mediated academic outcome. This study suggests that variability in frontostriatal structures explain the mediating effect of cognitive performance on the relationship between ADHD symptomatology and academic outcomes.