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Current Research
Interests
I am
primarily interested in infant cognitive development, and how cognitive
abilities change over the first few years of life. Within the broad
palette of infant cognitive abilities, I am particularly interested in
short-term working memory and endogenous attention because I believe that
these two abilities are essential for typical development. Ongoing research
in my laboratory investigates developmental changes in short-term working
memory capacity in infants and toddlers using various procedures (e.g., a
modified 'peek-a-boo' game in which a face appears at one of several
locations and then disappears, or a hide-and-find game in which the child
attempts at find a hidden object). Recent studies point to 5-6
months as the earliest manifestation of this type of memory, with steady
improvement in memory capacity in the subsequent years. We have also begun
developing tasks for assessing endogenous attention in this same age range.
Another key interest is in autism.
In close collaboration with my
colleagues Grace Baranek, Linda Watson, and Betsy Crais,
we developed the First Year Inventory (FYI), which is a parent-report
instrument designed to identify infants who will eventually receive a
diagnosis of autism. It has taken us
several years to develop and validate the FYI, but now that it is well
established, our goal is to study cognitive development in these infants to
determine whether early emerging cognitive deficits contribute to the pattern
of symptoms commonly labeled autism.
Finally, I am interested in
nutritional influences on infant cognitive development. In collaboration with
Dr. Steven Zeisel in UNC’s Department of
Nutrition, we are exploring the effects of dietary interventions in women who
are pregnant or breast feeding that could enhance infant cognitive
development, or at least, reduce the probability of delay.
My research takes place at
my laboratories at the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute and
the Psychology Department’s Community Research Facility in
collaboration with many colleagues and students.
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