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I received a BA in Psychology from the University of Western Ontario, and a MSc in Kinesiology, PhD in Kinesiology and Psychology from the University of Waterloo. Following this, I was an NSERC postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Psychology at the University of Guelph.
I am a full professor in the Department of Kinesiology and Physical Education, with a background in both Kinesiology and Psychology. My primary research interests are the cognitive, perceptual, and motor determinants of behaviour in normal and clinical populations across the lifespan, particularly examining the mechanisms underlying lateral dominance. I currently holds a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council Discovery Grant to examine skill development and handedness. As a past department Chair and Interim Dean, I have engaged with the quality assurance process from multiple lenses, including acting as an internal and external reviewer for new program proposals. I have been a member of the Quality Council’s Appraisal Committee since 2018 and am currently the committee's chair.
My program of research is an attempt to understand lateral preference and performance first from a bottom-up perspective to determine the motor requirements for particular tasks, and secondly, from a top-down perspective of how the brain is lateralized for skilled movement. My research to date has attempted to answer why there is a preferred-hand advantage in motor tasks and how this advantage is related to hand preference, in order to understand handedness and manual asymmetries, as well as how the hemispheres are organized for motor control in complex, goal-directed movement. In the last several years, I have focused my research on the development of handedness across the lifespan, in typically-developing individuals and those with developmental disabilities.
In 2024, I was awarded Laurier's Faculty Award for Service Excellence and Community Engagement.
I have research assistantships opportunities for undergraduate students interested in development of handedness across the lifespan. Contact me for more information.
I am willing to supervise graduate students in the areas of motor control, motor development, and motor learning, and in particular those with an interest in developmental disabilities.
- Musálek, M., Scharoun Benson, S. M., Lejcarova, A., & Bryden, P. J. (2020). Cross‐lateralisation in children with attention‐deficit/hyperactivity disorder and motor skill performance. International Journal of Psychology, 55(6), 973–982. https://doi.org/10.1002/ijop.12658
- Niechwiej‐Szwedo, E., Meier, K., Christian, L., Nouredanesh, M., Tung, J., Bryden, P. J., & Giaschi, D. (2020). Concurrent maturation of visuomotor skills and motion perception in typically‐developing children and adolescents. Developmental Psychobiology, 62(3), 353–367. https://doi.org/10.1002/dev.21931
- Redquest, B. K., Stewart, S. L., Bryden, P. J., & Fletcher, P. C. (2020). Assessing the Wellbeing of Individuals with Autism Using the interRAI Child and Youth Mental Health (ChYMH) and the interRAI Child and Youth Mental Health --Developmental Disabilities (ChYMH-DD) Tools. Pediatric Nursing, 46(2), 83.
- Redquest, B.,Bryden, P.& Fletcher, P. (2020), Social and motor skills of children and youth with autism from the perspectives of caregivers, Advances in Autism, Vol. 6 No. 4, pp. 259-275. https://doi.org/10.1108/AIA-01-2020-0008
- Scharoun Benson, S. M., Williams, N., Tucker, J., & Bryden, P. J. (2021). How far will you go before switching hands? Handedness on the long pegboard across the lifespan. Developmental Psychobiology, 63(5), 1109–1119. https://doi.org/10.1002/dev.22112
- Broad, A. A., Bornath, D. P. D., Grisebach, D., McCarthy, S. F. Bryden, P. J., Robertson-Wilson , J. & Hazell, T. J. (2021): Classroom activity breaks improve on-task behavior and physical activity levels regardless of time of day, Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport, DOI: 10.1080/02701367.2021.1980189
- Laurier researchers Bryden and McNickle answer science questions as part of CBC Quirks & Quarks Road Show
- Laurier graduate students in Kinesiology and Physical Education get students moving
- Sun Life Commits 750000 to the Centre for Healthy Communities
- Pam Bryden and Steve Sider named recipients of Laurier's Faculty Award for Service Excellence and Community Engagement
Contact Info:
Office location: BA502, Bricker Academic Building
Office hours:
By appointment.
Languages spoken: English