Jason D. Yeatman, Ph.D.
Director, Yeatman Lab. Associate Professor of Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics (School of Medicine), Graduate School of Education, and Psychology, Stanford University.
Background
Education
- Ph.D., Psychology — Stanford University (2014). Dissertation: "Development of the Brain's Reading Circuitry."
- B.A., Political Science, minor in Psychology — UC San Diego (2006).
Appointments & Affiliations
- Associate Professor, Division of Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics, Stanford School of Medicine
- Associate Professor, Graduate School of Education
- Associate Professor, Department of Psychology
- Member, Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute · Bio-X · Wu Tsai Human Performance Alliance · Maternal & Child Health Research Institute
Before returning to Stanford as faculty, he was an Assistant Professor in the Department of Speech & Hearing Sciences and the Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences at the University of Washington (2015–2019), following his Ph.D. and a research scientist appointment at UW under Patricia Kuhl.
Teaching & Mentorship Philosophy
"Great science starts with curiosity…. That drives the creativity, and the perseverance, and hopefully the rigor as well…. I think science is beautiful. What is more beautiful than discovering something that has never been known before?"
Courses at Stanford
Measuring Learning in the Brain EDUC 464 / NEPR 464 / PSYCH 279 / SYMSYS 195M
Surveys the brain-plasticity mechanisms underlying how people learn — from facts and vocabulary to skills like reading, math, and music — and the neuroimaging methods used to study them. Working in small groups, students design an original experiment, then collect and analyze their own MRI data as research participants at the Stanford MRI center to measure the neural basis of learning firsthand. Prior coursework in neuroscience and some programming experience (MATLAB or Python) are required.
Literacy Research From Lab to School EDUC 444A
Examines how children learn to read and write, and why many struggle, by bringing together neuroscience and classroom-based research perspectives. Students compare how these different research traditions each inform an understanding of literacy development, and consider what each has to offer educators supporting learners with a range of strengths and needs.
Educational Neuroscience EDUC 266
Introduces the intersection of education research and the neuroscience of brain development, examining what neuroscience can and cannot currently contribute to understanding specific academic skills such as reading and mathematics, alongside broader processes like attention, motivation, and social cognition. Final projects apply these themes toward the design of interventions intended to support these functions.
Literacy Development and Instruction EDUC 258
Treats literacy acquisition as both a developmental and an educational process, examining the difficulties children may encounter while learning to read and considering how to disentangle the contributions of home, community, and school instruction to that development.
Directed Reading in Education EDUC 180
Independent study arranged individually with the instructor, for undergraduate and master's students pursuing focused reading or research on a topic in education not covered by regular coursework.