Dr Zsofia Garai-Takacs
Lecturer in Applied Psychology

Address
- Street
-
Elsie Inglis Quad
Teviot Place - City
- Edinburgh
- Post code
- EH8 9AG
Background
I conducted my postgraduate studies at Leiden University in the Netherlands. I completed a Research Master’s program in Educational Sciences: Normal and Deviant Patterns of Attachment and Self-regulated Learning and a PhD in Developmental Psychopathology from a Cultural and Educational Perspective.
My doctoral research focused on the effects of digital and traditional storybook reading on pre-schoolers’ language development. Between 2015 and 2021 I worked as an Assistant Professor at ELTE Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest, Hungary, and as the Head of the Cognitive Development and Education Research Group.
Qualifications
PhD in Developmental Psychopathology from a Cultural and Educational Perspective (Leiden University)
(Research) MSc in Educational Sciences: Normal and Deviant Patterns of Attachment and Self-regulated Learning (Leiden University)
BA in Communication and Media Studies (ELTE Eötvös Loránd University)
Responsibilities & affiliations
Lecturer in Applied Psychology
Ethics & Integrity Lead
Member - Centre for Applied Developmental Psychology (CADP)
Course Organiser - Cognitive Psychology and Cognitive Disorders
Postgraduate teaching
MSc Psychology of Mental Health (Conversion)
- Cognitive Psychology and Cognitive Disorders
Open to PhD supervision enquiries?
Yes
Current PhD students supervised
Ke Shi
Dennis Relojo-Howell
Research summary
My research focuses on well-being and development during childhood including language, vocabulary and comprehension skills in addition to self-regulatory and executive function skills and interventions to foster those. I am specifically interested in how preschool and elementary school education can foster these skills thus I primarily conduct applied research investigating the efficacy of different interventions in order to advise evidence-based decision-making in education and the clinical practice. Additionally, I am interested in the role of stress in cognitive functioning and in relation to major transitions like school entry. As far as methodology goes, I am primarily interested in experimental designs and meta-analyses.
Current research interests
I currently focus on mindfulness.Past research interests
Multimedia and interactive storybooksResearch activities
- Developmental Review (Journal)
- SRCD Biennial Meeting 2021
- SIG 2 Comprehension of Text and Graphics Conference 2020
- Psychological Bulletin (Journal)
- Child Development (Journal)
- Journal of Educational Psychology (Journal)
- International Conference on Mindfulness 2018
- International Conference on Mindfulness 2018
- International Conference on Mindfulness 2018
Project activity
-Mindfulness-based interventions in (pre-)school
-The acute effects of brief mindfulness inductions
-Individual differences in reaction to brief mindfulness inductions
-Neurofeedback-enhanced mindfulness practice
-Moderators of intervention efficacy and the role of child temperament and adult personality traits
-Mindfulness and learning
-Behavior problems in childhood and changes during the last decades
-Development of executive function skills in infant cerebral palsy
-Causal relations between executive function skills and academic achievement
Past project grants
POSTDOCTORAL EXCELLENCE PROGRAM - 2016-2019
Hungarian National Research, Development and Innovation Office (Hungary)
Can preschoolers meditate? Fostering young children’s sustained attention and executive function skills with the help of mindfulness meditation (grant number PD121297)
NEW NATIONAL EXCELLENCE PROGRAM - 2017
Ministry of Human Capacities (Hungary)
Mindfulness meditation and children’s stress and anxiety (grant number ÚNKP-17-4-I-ELTE-125)
-
Differences in the associations between psychoactive substance use and alexithymia: A series of meta-analyses
In:
Clinical Psychology Review
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2023.102297
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (E-pub ahead of print) -
Data from an international multi-centre Study of Statistics and Mathematics Anxieties and Related Variables in University Students (the SMARVUS Dataset)
(25 pages)
In:
Journal of Open Psychology Data, vol. 11, pp. 1-25
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5334/jopd.80
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published) -
Brief growth mindset and mindfulness inductions to facilitate task persistence after negative feedback
In:
Collabra, vol. 9
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1525/collabra.74253
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published) -
Investigating the effects of mindfulness meditation on a digital learning game for mathematics
(6 pages)
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-11644-5_80
Research output: Contribution to Conference › Conference contribution (Published) -
Short mindfulness‐based relaxation training has no effects on executive functions but may reduce baseline cortisol levels of boys in first grade: A pilot study
In:
Children, vol. 9
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/children9020203
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published) -
A stressz szerepe a szocioökonómiai helyzet és a végrehajtó muködések közötti kapcsolat szempontjából gyermekkorban
(19 pages)
In:
Magyar Pszichológiai Szemle, vol. 76, pp. 495-513
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1556/0016.2021.00032
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published) -
Mindfulness practice with a brain‐sensing device improved cognitive functioning of elementary school children: An exploratory pilot study
In:
Brain Sciences, vol. 12
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci12010103
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published) -
Mindfulness with children: A content analysis of evidence-based interventions from a developmental perspective
In:
The Educational and Developmental Psychologist, vol. 39, pp. 231-244
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/20590776.2022.2081072
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published) -
Benefits of a mindfulness-based intervention upon school entry: A pilot study
(18 pages)
In:
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, vol. 18
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph182312630
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published) -
Parents' views on play and the goal of early childhood education in relation to children's home activity and executive functions: A cross-cultural investigation
(18 pages)
In:
Frontiers in Psychology, vol. 12
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.646074
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published) -
The effects of a mindfulness-based intervention for first-graders’ executive function skills
Research output: Contribution to Conference › Poster (Published) -
Can mindfulness reduce the gap in executive function skills of preschoolers? A randomized controlled trial
Research output: Contribution to Conference › Poster (Published) -
Feasibility and effects of a neurofeedback-assisted mindfulness meditation pogram for children
Research output: Contribution to Conference › Poster (Published) -
Nurturing children’s executive function skills: A meta-analysis on the efficacy of mindfulness compared to other interventions
Research output: Contribution to Conference › Poster (Published) -
The effect of mindfulness-based interventions on inattentive and hyperactive–impulsive behavior in childhood: A meta-analysis
(13 pages)
In:
International Journal of Behavioral Development, vol. 45, pp. 133-145
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0165025420958192
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published) -
Work addiction and personality: A meta-analytic study
(22 pages)
In:
Journal of Behavioral Addictions, vol. 9, pp. 945-966
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1556/2006.2020.00097
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published) -
Meditation interventions efficiently reduce cortisol levels of at-risk samples: A meta-analysis
(29 pages)
In:
Health Psychology Review, vol. 15, pp. 56-84
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/17437199.2020.1760727
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published) -
Rumination in major depressive and bipolar disorder – a meta-analysis
(11 pages)
In:
Journal of Affective Disorders (JAD), vol. 276, pp. 1131-1141
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2020.07.131
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Review article (Published) -
Parents’ beliefs about play and the purpose of preschool education, preschoolers’ home activity and executive functions
(11 pages)
In:
Frontiers in Psychology, vol. 11
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01104
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published) -
The relationship between parental play beliefs, preschoolers’ home experience, and executive functions: An exploratory study in Ethiopia
(13 pages)
In:
Frontiers in Psychology, vol. 11
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00624
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published)
Invited speaker
INVITED KEYNOTE PRESENTATION:
Takacs, Z. K. (2020). 21st century children’s storybooks: the effects of multimedia and interactive features in digital storybooks.
EARLI SIG Comprehension of Text and Graphics