Dr. Peter Willatts

Senior Lecturer

Contact Details:
Telephone: (+44)(1382) 384618
Email: Peter Willatts

Postal Address:
School of Psychology
The University of Dundee
Dundee
DD1 4HN
Scotland, UK

Biography

Dr Peter Willatts studies the development of thinking and problem solving in infants and young children. His special interest is on the development of strategies infants use to solve problems, particularly those involving planning. More recently, he has extended this work to consider individual differences in infancy, and the relation of measures of cognitive ability in infants to childhood IQ. He is also interested in the role of nutrition in early development, especially the importance of long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LCPUFA) in infant formula.

Research Grouping

Neuroscience and Development

Publications


Links	Publications
	Willatts, P. (1999). Development of means-end behavior in young infants: Pulling a support to retrieve a distant object. Developmental Psychology, 35, 3, in press.
	Willatts, P., & Forsyth, J.S. (1998). Long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids, infant formula, and breastfeeding. Lancet, 352, 1703.
	Willatts, P., Forsyth, J.S., DiModugno, M.K., Varma, S., & Colvin, M. (1998). Influence of Long-Chain Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids on Infant Cognitive Function. Lipids, 33, 973-980.
	Willatts, P., Forsyth, J.S., DiModugno, M.K., Varma, S., & Colvin, M. (1998). Effect of long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids in infant formula on problem solving at 10 months of age. Lancet, 352, 688-691.
	Forsyth, J.S., Willatts, P., DiModugno, M.K., Varma, S., & Colvin, M. (1998). Do long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids influence infant cognitive behaviour? Biochemical Society Transactions, 26, 252-257.
	Willatts, P. (1997) Beyond the "couch potato" infant: How infants use their knowledge to regulate action, solve problems, and achieve goals. In J.G. Bremner, A. Slater, & G. Butterworth (Eds.), Infant development: recent advances. Hove: Psychology Press, 109-135.
	Forsyth, J.S., & Willatts, P. (1996). Do LCPUFA influence infant cognitive behaviour? In J.G. Bindles, H.K.A. Goedhart, & H.K.A. Visser (Eds.), Recent Developments in Infant Nutrition. London: Kluwer Academic Publishers.
	Forsyth, J.S., Willatts, P., DiModugno, M.K., Varma, S., Colvin, M. (1996). LCPs and cognitive function in the first months of life. In M. Moya, G. Sawatzki, A. Motulsky, & J. Moran (Eds.), IIIrd International Sympoisum: Infant nutrition in the prevention of chronic pathology. Madrid: Ediciones Ergon, 93-104.
	Willatts, P, Forsyth, J.S., DiModugno, M.K., Varma, S., Colvin, M. (1996). The effects of long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids on infant attention and cognitive behaviour. In T.J. David (Ed.), Major Controversies in Infant Nutrition, International Congress and Symposium Series No 215. London: The Royal Society of Medicine Press, 57-70.