Research
Family Learning and Remembering
We study the development of memory over the preschool years, and the important role of parent-child conversational interactions for children’s learning and remembering. In recent research in our laboratory, we have trained parents to use “elaborative” conversational techniques that involve the use of language to focus children’s attention and to increase understanding of events in ways that our previous research indicates should influence what gets into memory and, in turn, enhance what is recalled. Other new work focuses on styles of conversation that are most effective in fostering understanding and the retention and extension of information encountered in a museum setting.
Click on the tabs to the right to learn more about our ongoing research projects.