About Us
The Lab in Language, Memory and Cognition is a multi-faceted research program directed by Denise Davidson, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Psychology.
Three major projects, with several sub-components, are underway in the lab. The first are several studies examining various components of language development in monolingual and bilingual children. A series of studies have been conducted on how monolingual and bilingual children use various word-learning strategies, including our recent work on the shape bias. In a second set of studies we are investigating the development of metalinguistic awareness and its relationship to reading readiness and early reading ability in young monolingual and bilingual children.
Our memory research has focused on the myriad of factors that lead an event or type of information to be memorable. Although this research has been focused primarily on children's memory, we have worked with young and old adults as well. Currently, we are interested in the influence of emotion on memory and cognitive processing.
Emotional development, and its effects on various cognitive processing are also being explored. For example, we are currently examining whether there is an in-group advantage for the recognition of emotion in children, with children being better able to recognize emotion in other children like themselves.
Finally, we are investigating stereotype development in preschool and grade school age children. This research has included examinations of children's race, age, and weight stereotypes. The role of these stereotypes on children's cognitive processing, such as their recall of information, is also being explored.