Education

1983 - New York University, B.A. (magna cum laude).

1987 - New York University, Graduate School of Arts and Science, Ph.D. in Experimental Psychology with Concentration in Developmental  Psychology.

 

 

Academic Positions

2002-Present Full Professor, New York University, Department of Applied Psychology

1997-2002    Associate Professor New York University, Department of Applied Psychology

1991-1997    Assistant Professor, New York University, Department of Applied Psychology

1988-1991    Research Assistant Professor, New York University, Department of Psychology

 

 

Research Focus

My research is focused on the cultural and social contexts of language, cognitive and social development in infants' first years of life. How do infants' interactions with mothers, fathers and other members of their families and social networks affect their learning trajectories and later school readiness? How might paths to developmental outcomes differ across communities that vary in cultural priorities and parenting practices? Through longitudinal inquiry my students and I follow infants from birth through preschool, visiting babies and families in their homes, schools and communities using naturalistic observations, interviews and direct assessments of development.

 

Our goal is to advance a richer understanding of how learning unfolds in different cultural and ethnic groups in the U.S. as well as internationally. This naturalistic research is coupled with laboratory investigations (with colleague Karen Adolph), in which we also examine how infants come to understand and recognize that others are useful sources of social information. Infants are tested in novel locomotor situations, where we examine their bids to others for assistance and information about how to act under situations of uncertainty and risk.

 

Together, the work I conduct in naturalistic and laboratory settings promises to inform theories about the ways in which infants and parents negotiate meaning through everyday social exchanges.