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Constance Dean Qualls, PhD, Professor and Chair of the Speech-Language Pathology department at Buffalo State College, State University of New York, is a certified speech-language pathologist and cognitive neuroscientist with teaching, research, and clinical expertise in neurological communication disorders, cognitive-linguistic aging, and multicultural leadership. She has made significant contributions to her field and to academia in the areas of teaching, personnel preparation, research, publishing, administration/leadership, and service.
Her publications reflect a broad-based research agenda that is consistent with her areas of training, expertise, and grant funding: language across the life span in individuals from diverse backgrounds, language and cognition in adults from majority versus underrepresented populations, and preparing speech-language pathologists who work with children from diverse backgrounds. She has specific expertise in figurative language (i.e., idioms, metaphors, metonyms, and proverbs) and has studied this aspect of language across the life span in individuals from a variety of racial–ethnic groups who are typically developing/aging normally and in those who have communication disorders (i.e., aphasia, dementia, and learning disabilities). Her findings in the area of figurative language processing led to her creation of the Idioms as Words Test (IWT), a computer-based software program that assesses lexical access of idioms, and the Figurative Language Comprehension Test (FLCT), a comprehensive test of figurative language for adults.
Another area of research recently undertaken deals with strategy use in older adults and its relation to performance on memory and reading tasks. This line of research will provide much needed insight for improving the quality of life in normally aging older adults, and will inform strategy interventions for children and adults with cognitive-communicative impairments resulting from brain damage.
Dr. Qualls's research focuses on understanding the interrelations between aspects of language (e.g., figurative language and reading) and other cognitive skills (e.g., memory, reasoning, speed of processing, and strategy use) in typically developing children and adolescents, normally aging older adults, and individuals with aphasia, dementia, and traumatic brain injury. This research will have an impact on theories about cognition, language, and aging, will inform potential differences in individuals from diverse backgrounds with communication disorders, and will enhance intervention strategies to improve the quality of life for individuals with communication disorders.
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