Our research examines how attention and language learning develop in early childhood. We are especially interested in how children’s everyday experiences, including play and social interaction, support early learning.

A child’s learning environment is rich and dynamic. The objects a child sees, the words and gestures a parent uses, and the child’s own actions all come together during everyday interaction. By studying these processes, our lab can better understand how attention and language develop through children’s moment-by-moment engagement with the world around them.  

We study children from diverse developmental and language backgrounds, including typically developing children, children with a diagnosis of autism, children who are deaf or hard of hearing, and children growing up in monolingual or bilingual language environments. Our methods allow us to study development from the child’s perspective, including what children see, hear, touch, and attend to during natural interactions.

Our Methods

Head-Mounted Eye Tracking:  How do we know what babies are looking at when they can’t tell us? Our head-mounted eye trackers use two small cameras. One camera records the child’s eye, and another records the child’s view of the world. Together, these cameras help us understand where children look during play.

Electroencephalography (EEG):   What happens in the brain when a child looks at something new or hears a new word? Our child-friendly EEG system measures brain activity using small sensors placed on the scalp. We combine EEG with head-mounted eye tracking so we can examine how attention and brain activity unfold together.

Heart Rate Monitoring (ECG): What does engagement look like inside the body? Attention and emotion can be reflected in small changes in heart rate. We use child- and adult-friendly heart rate monitors during play to study how children and parents respond to each other in real time.