Leida Tolentino
Research Specialist
Leida Tolentino is a Research Specialist with SEDL's Afterschool, Family, and Community program. Dr. Tolentino currently provides technical assistance to the Louisiana Department of Education on the implementation of a large-scale evaluation of the effectiveness of afterschool programs. Her primary responsibilities include data collection and analysis, construction of online program profiles, and written and oral dissemination of research findings.
Contact Information
You may contact Leida Tolentino at 512-391-6572
Dr. Tolentino’s interests include research and evaluation, specifically in the areas of language processing and bilingualism, and employing both behavioral and brain-event related potentials (ERPs) methods. Her past work includes leading randomized controlled trials (RCTs) contrasting the effectiveness of second language instruction methods and seeking to elucidate the underlying brain mechanisms. Experience
Prior to joining SEDL, Dr. Tolentino was a graduate student researcher and teaching fellow at the University of Pittsburgh’s Learning Research and Development Center, where she conducted research on the neurocognitive basis of language processing and bilingualism. She has also carried out small-scale optimization studies of computerized second-language instruction software and worked as a Portuguese and Spanish language instructor. Dr. Tolentino currently teaches psychology at the University of Phoenix campus in Austin, Texas. Education
Dr. Tolentino holds a BS in management science and information systems from the University of Massachusetts at Boston, and a PhD in cognitive psychology (with a concentration in cognitive neuroscience) from the University of Pittsburgh. SEDL Publications
- Louisiana Department of Education After-School Programs: Evaluation Report School Year 2010 (2012)
- Tolentino, L. C., & Tokowicz, N. (2011). Across languages, space, and time: A review of the role of cross-language similarity in L2 (morpho) syntactic processing as revealed by fMRI and ERP. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 33, 1–34.
- Tolentino, L. C., & Tokowicz, N. (2009). Are pumpkins better than heaven? An ERP investigation of order effects in the concrete-word advantage. Brain & Language, 110, 12–22.
- Tokowicz, N., Tolentino, L. C., Warren, T., & Tuninetti, A. (2011, September). The role of proficiency in the influence of L1/L2 differences on L2 processing. In N. Tokowicz & J. G. van Hell (Chairs), Bilingual word and sentence processing: Electrophysiological investigations. Symposium conducted at the 17th Annual Meeting of the European Society for Cognitive Psychology, Donostia-San Sebastián, Spain.
- Tolentino, L. C., & Tokowicz, N. (2011, June). Second language Swedish morphosyntactic instruction and cross-language similarity: An ERP investigation. Paper presented at the 8th International Symposium on Bilingualism, Oslo, Norway.
- Tokowicz, N., & Tolentino, L. C. (2009, March). Development of sensitivity to L2 grammatical violations. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Eastern Psychological Association, Pittsburgh, PA.
- Tolentino, L. C., & Tokowicz, N. (2007, November). The relationship between implicit and explicit second-language processing: The role of cross-language similarity. Poster presented at the 48th Annual Meeting of the Psychonomic Society, Long Beach, CA.
- Tolentino, L. C., & Tokowicz, N. (2006, November). Blocked vs. mixed: An ERP investigation of the concrete-word advantage. Poster presented at the 47th Annual Meeting of the Psychonomic Society, Houston, TX.
