- Overview
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My research focuses on describing and understanding the critical first steps in infancy that launch the process of language acquisition. I study infants from birth up to two years of age to reveal the perceptual biases humans have at the beginning of life, and how those are sculpted through maturation, experience, and development to yield the perceptual categories the child uses in language acquisition. For more information about my research and a full CV, please visit infantstudies.psych.ubc.ca/director/.
- Publications
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Neural indicators of articulator-specific sensorimotor influences on infant speech perception
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Dawoon Choi and Ghislaine Dehaene-Lambertz and Marcela Peña and Janet F. Werker
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2025043118
05/2021Preverbal Infants Discover Statistical Word Patterns at Similar Rates as Adults: Evidence From Neural Entrainment.
Psychological science
Choi D and Batterink LJ and Black AK and Paller KA and Werker JF
DOI: 10.1177/0956797620933237
PubMed: 32865487
08/2020The specificity of the neural response to speech at birth
Developmental Science
Lillian May and Judit Gervain and Manuel Carreiras and Janet F. Werker
DOI: 10.1111/desc.12564
05/2017The neural correlates of processing scale-invariant environmental sounds at birth.
Gervain J and Werker JF and Black A and Geffen MN
DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2016.03.001
PubMed: 26956907
06/2016Second label learning in bilingual and monolingual infants
Developmental Science
Padmapriya Kandhadai and D. Geoffrey Hall and Janet F. Werker
DOI: 10.1111/desc.12429
04/2016Sensorimotor influences on speech perception in infancy.
Bruderer AG and Danielson DK and Kandhadai P and Werker JF
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1508631112
PubMed: 26460030
11/2015How Do Infants Become Experts at Native-Speech Perception?
Current Directions in Psychological Science
Janet F. Werker and H. Henny Yeung and Katherine A. Yoshida
DOI: 10.1177/0963721412449459
08/2012Prenatal exposure to antidepressants and depressed maternal mood alter trajectory of infant speech perception.
Weikum WM and Oberlander TF and Hensch TK and Werker JF
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1121263109
PubMed: 23045665
10/2012Critical Periods in Speech Perception: New Directions
Annual Review of Psychology
Janet F. Werker and Takao K. Hensch
DOI: 10.1146/annurev-psych-010814-015104
01/2015Early Lexical Comprehension: Children's Assumptions about the Grammatical Class of First Words
OSF Registries
DOI: 10.17605/osf.io/qrz4p
2023Attentional orienting abilities in bilinguals: Evidence from a large infant sample
Open Science Framework
DOI: 10.17605/osf.io/u28sg
08/2022ManyBabies 1 CDI Follow-up
Open Science Framework
DOI: 10.17605/osf.io/7z4u6
08/2022Methods for Preregistration
Open Science Framework
DOI: 10.17605/osf.io/fjdyq
08/2022Methods for Preregistration
Open Science Framework
DOI: 10.17605/osf.io/6mg4s
08/2022Pre-registration methods
Open Science Framework
DOI: 10.17605/osf.io/7weuv
08/2022Word segmentation in 6-month old infants: neural entrainment to transitional probabilities
Open Science Framework
DOI: 10.17605/osf.io/wamv4
08/2022The role of antonym relationships in toddlers’ lexical-semantic organization of adjectives
Open Science Framework
DOI: 10.17605/osf.io/szh8a
08/2022Assessing Toddlers' Cross-situational Word Learning on an Online Research Platform
Open Science Framework
DOI: 10.17605/osf.io/7djqr
08/2022The effect of a bilingual environment on toddlers’ lexical-semantic organization of nouns
Open Science Framework
DOI: 10.17605/osf.io/br2d8
08/2022Replication: The role of language experience in bilinguals’ cross-language lexical-semantic networks
Open Science Framework
DOI: 10.17605/osf.io/9nqek
08/2022The role of language experience in bilinguals’ cross-language lexical-semantic networks
Open Science Framework
DOI: 10.17605/osf.io/kdz64
08/202220-month-olds selectively generalize newly learned word meanings based on cues to linguistic community membership
Developmental Science
Drew Weatherhead and Janet F. Werker
DOI: 10.1111/desc.13234
07/2022Infants’ Mapping of New Faces to New Voices
Child Development
Adriel John Orena and Janet F. Werker
DOI: 10.1111/cdev.13616
09/2021The Role of Audiovisual Speech in Fast-Mapping and Novel Word Retention in Monolingual and Bilingual 24-Month-Olds
Brain Sciences
Drew Weatherhead and Maria M. Arredondo and Loreto Nácar Garcia and Janet F. Werker
DOI: 10.3390/brainsci11010114
01/2021Critical period regulation across multiple timescales
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Rebecca K. Reh and Brian G. Dias and Charles A. Nelson, III and Daniela Kaufer and Janet F. Werker and Bryan Kolb and Joel D. Levine and Takao K. Hensch
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1820836117
09/2020The Roots of Bilingualism in Newborns
Krista Byers-Heinlein and Tracey C. Burns and Janet F. Werker
DOI: 10.31234/osf.io/hfsrk
05/2020Reduced perceptual narrowing in synesthesia
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Daphne Maurer and Julian K. Ghloum and Laura C. Gibson and Marcus R. Watson and Lawrence M. Chen and Kathleen Akins and James T. Enns and Takao K. Hensch and Janet F. Werker
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1914668117
05/2020Quantifying Sources of Variability in Infancy Research Using the Infant-Directed-Speech Preference
Advances in Methods and Practices in Psychological Science
and Michael C. Frank and Katherine Jane Alcock and Natalia Arias-Trejo and Gisa Aschersleben and Dare Baldwin and St{\'{e}}phanie Barbu and Elika Bergelson and Christina Bergmann and Alexis K. Black and Ryan Blything and Maximilian P. Böhland and Petra Bolitho and Arielle Borovsky and Shannon M. Brady and Bettina Braun and Anna Brown and Krista Byers-Heinlein and Linda E. Campbell and Cara Cashon and Mihye Choi and Joan Christodoulou and Laura K. Cirelli and Stefania Conte and Sara Cordes and Christopher Cox and Alejandrina Cristia and Rhodri Cusack and Catherine Davies and Maartje de Klerk and Claire Delle Luche and Laura de Ruiter and Dhanya Dinakar and Kate C. Dixon and Virginie Durier and Samantha Durrant and Christopher Fennell and Brock Ferguson and Alissa Ferry and Paula Fikkert and Teresa Flanagan and Caroline Floccia and Megan Foley and Tom Fritzsche and Rebecca L. A. Frost and Anja Gampe and Judit Gervain and Nayeli Gonzalez-Gomez and Anna Gupta and Laura E. Hahn and J. Kiley Hamlin and Erin E. Hannon and Naomi Havron and Jessica Hay and Miko{\l}aj Hernik and Barbara Höhle and Derek M. Houston and Lauren H. Howard and Mitsuhiko Ishikawa and Shoji Itakura and Iain Jackson and Krisztina V. Jakobsen and Marianna Jarto and Scott P. Johnson and Caroline Junge and Didar Karadag and Natalia Kartushina and Danielle J. Kellier and Tamar Keren-Portnoy and Kelsey Klassen and Melissa Kline and Eon-Suk Ko and Jonathan F. Kominsky and Jessica E. Kosie and Haley E. Kragness and Andrea A. R. Krieger and Florian Krieger and Jill Lany and Roberto J. Lazo and Michelle Lee and Chlo{\'{e}} Leservoisier and Claartje Levelt and Casey Lew-Williams and Matthias Lippold and Ulf Liszkowski and Liquan Liu and Steven G. Luke and Rebecca A. Lundwall and Viola Macchi Cassia and Nivedita Mani and Caterina Marino and Alia Martin and Meghan Mastroberardino and Victoria Mateu and Julien Mayor and Katharina Menn and Christine Michel and Yusuke Moriguchi and Benjamin Morris and Karli M. Nave and Thierry Nazzi and Claire Noble and Miriam A. Novack and Nonah M. Olesen and Adriel John Orena and Mitsuhiko Ota and Robin Panneton and Sara Parvanezadeh Esfahani and Markus Paulus and Carolina Pletti and Linda Polka and Christine Potter and Hugh Rabagliati and Shruthilaya Ramachandran and Jennifer L. Rennels and Greg D. Reynolds and Kelly C. Roth and Charlotte Rothwell and Doroteja Rubez and Yana Ryjova and Jenny Saffran and Ayumi Sato and Sophie Savelkouls and Adena Schachner and Graham Schafer and Melanie S. Schreiner and Amanda Seidl and Mohinish Shukla and Elizabeth A. Simpson and Leher Singh and Barbora Skarabela and Gaye Soley and Megha Sundara and Anna Theakston and Abbie Thompson and Laurel J. Trainor and Sandra E. Trehub and Anna S. Tr{\o}an and Angeline Sin-Mei Tsui and Katherine Twomey and Katie Von Holzen and Yuanyuan Wang and Sandra Waxman and Janet F. Werker and Stephanie Wermelinger and Alix Woolard and Daniel Yurovsky and Katharina Zahner and Martin Zettersten and Melanie Soderstrom
DOI: 10.1177/2515245919900809
03/2020Prelingual infants discover statistical word patterns at similar rates as adults: evidence from neural entrainment
Dawoon Choi and Laura Batterink and Alexis K. Black and Ken Paller and Janet F. Werker
DOI: 10.31234/osf.io/fuqd2
02/2020Finding phrases: On the role of co-verbal facial information in learning word order in infancy.
PloS one
de la Cruz-Pavía I and Gervain J and Vatikiotis-Bateson E and Werker JF
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0224786
PubMed: 31710615
11/2019Who can speak that language? Eleven-month-old infants have language-dependent expectations regarding speaker ethnicity
Developmental Psychobiology
Lillian May and Andrew S. Baron and Janet F. Werker
DOI: 10.1002/dev.21851
09/2019Coverbal speech gestures signal phrase boundaries: A production study of Japanese and English infant- and adult-directed speech
Language Acquisition
DOI: 10.1080/10489223.2019.1659276
09/2019Hub distribution of the brain functional networks of newborns prenatally exposed to maternal depression and SSRI antidepressants.
Depression and anxiety
Rotem-Kohavi N and Williams LJ and Muller AM and Abdi H and Virji-Babul N and Bjornson BH and Brain U and Werker JF and Grunau RE and Miller SP and Oberlander TF
DOI: 10.1002/da.22906
PubMed: 31066992
05/2019Sensorimotor influences on speech perception in pre-babbling infants: Replication and extension of Bruderer et al. (2015).
Psychonomic bulletin & review
Choi D and Bruderer AG and Werker JF
DOI: 10.3758/s13423-019-01601-0
PubMed: 31037603
04/2019Finding Phrases: The Interplay of Word Frequency, Phrasal Prosody and Co-speech Visual Information in Chunking Speech by Monolingual and Bilingual Adults.
Language and speech
de la Cruz-Pavía I and Werker JF and Vatikiotis-Bateson E and Gervain J
DOI: 10.1177/0023830919842353
PubMed: 31002280
04/2019Cascading and Multisensory Influences on Speech Perception Development
Mind, Brain, and Education
Dawoon Choi and Alexis K. Black and Janet F. Werker
DOI: 10.1111/mbe.12162
12/2018Alterations in Resting-State Networks Following In Utero Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor Exposure in the Neonatal Brain.
Biological psychiatry. Cognitive neuroscience and neuroimaging
Rotem-Kohavi N and Williams LJ and Virji-Babul N and Bjornson BH and Brain U and Werker JF and Grunau RE and Miller SP and Oberlander TF
DOI: 10.1016/j.bpsc.2018.08.004
PubMed: 30292808
08/2018Commentary on “Perceptual Beginnings to Language Acquisition” by Janet Werker
Applied Psycholinguistics
Jenny R. Saffran
DOI: 10.1017/s014271641800022x
07/2018Perceptual beginnings to language acquisition
Applied Psycholinguistics
Janet F. WERKER
DOI: 10.1017/s0142716418000152
07/2018PRIMIR on Tone
Frontiers in Psychology
Suzanne Curtin and Janet F. Werker
DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01007
06/2018Understanding individual variation in levels of second language attainment through the lens of critical period mechanisms
Bilingualism: Language and Cognition
REBECCA REH and MARIA ARREDONDO and JANET F. WERKER
DOI: 10.1017/s1366728918000263
06/2018Neural Foundations of Cognition and Language
The Neurobiology of Brain and Behavioral Development
Lindsay C. Bowman and Lara J. Pierce and Charles A. Nelson and Janet F. Werker
DOI: 10.1016/b978-0-12-804036-2.00010-8
2018Phonological development in first languages
The Routledge Handbook of Contemporary English Pronunciation
DOI: 10.4324/9781315145006-13
11/2017Language Acquisition
Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Psychology
DOI: 10.1093/acrefore/9780190236557.013.56
04/2017The organization and reorganization of audiovisual speech perception in the first year of life
Cognitive Development
D. Kyle Danielson and Alison G. Bruderer and Padmapriya Kandhadai and Eric Vatikiotis-Bateson and Janet F. Werker
DOI: 10.1016/j.cogdev.2017.02.004
03/2017The Role of Auditory and Visual Speech in Word Learning at 18 Months and in Adulthood.
Havy M and Foroud A and Fais L and Werker JF
DOI: 10.1111/cdev.12715
PubMed: 28124795
01/2017Does early motor development contribute to speech perception?
Behavioral and Brain Sciences
Dawoon Choi and Padmapriya Kandhadai and D. Kyle Danielson and Alison G. Bruderer and Janet F. Werker
DOI: 10.1017/s0140525x16001308
2017Acoustic correlates to word order in Infant- and adult directed speech: A cross-linguistic study
The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America
Irene de la Cruz-Pavía and Judit Gervain and Michael McAuliffe and Eric Vatikiotis-Bateson and Janet F. Werker
DOI: 10.1121/1.4971125
10/2016INFANTS' USE OF TEMPORAL AND PHONETIC INFORMATION IN THE ENCODING OF AUDIOVISUAL SPEECH.
Canadian acoustics = Acoustique canadienne
Danielson DK and Tam C and Kandhadai P and Werker JF
PubMed: 31057210
09/2016Infants’ use of temporal and phonetic information in the encoding of audiovisual speech
Journal of the Canadian Acoustic Association
PubMed: 31057210
09/2016Minimal pair word learning and vocabulary size: Links with later language skills
Applied Psycholinguistics
NENAGH KEMP and JULIANNE SCOTT and B. MAY BERNHARDT and CAROLYN E. JOHNSON and LINDA S. SIEGEL and JANET F. WERKER
DOI: 10.1017/s0142716416000199
07/2016Editorial: The systematic effects of bilingualism on children's development
Developmental Science
Ellen Bialystok and Janet F. Werker
DOI: 10.1111/desc.12535
2016Infants’ use of temporal and phonetic information in the encoding of audiovisual speech
Journal of the Canadian Acoustic Association
PubMed: 31057210
2016The use of visual information in non-native speech sound discrimination across the first year of life
The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America
D. Kyle Danielson and Padmapriya A. Kandhadai and Janet F. Werker
DOI: 10.1121/1.4920876
04/2015Prenatal antidepressant exposure associated with CYP2E1 DNA methylation change in neonates.
Gurnot C and Martin-Subero I and Mah SM and Weikum W and Goodman SJ and Brain U and Werker JF and Kobor MS and Esteller M and Oberlander TF and Hensch TK
DOI: 10.1080/15592294.2015.1026031
PubMed: 25891251
2015Experience-independent effects of matching and non-matching visual information on speech perception
The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America
D. Kyle Danielson and Alison J. Greuel and Padmapriya Kandhadai and Janet F. Werker
DOI: 10.1121/1.4900176
10/2014Infants track word forms in early word-object associations.
Zamuner TS and Fais L and Werker JF
DOI: 10.1111/desc.12149
PubMed: 24576138
07/2014Category-Specific Processing of Scale-Invariant Sounds in Infancy
PLoS ONE
Judit Gervain and Janet F. Werker and Maria N. Geffen
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0096278
05/2014Can a Click be a Word?: Infants' Learning of Non-Native Words
Infancy
Lillian May and Janet F. Werker
DOI: 10.1111/infa.12048
03/2014Culture as a binder for bilingual acquisition
Trends in Neuroscience and Education
Padmapriya Kandhadai and D. Kyle Danielson and Janet F. Werker
DOI: 10.1016/j.tine.2014.02.001
03/2014Analyzing the resting state functional connectivity in the human language system using near infrared spectroscopy
Frontiers in Human Neuroscience
Behnam Molavi and Lillian May and Judit Gervain and Manuel Carreiras and Janet F. Werker and Guy A. Dumont
DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2013.00921
2014Perceptual narrowing during infancy: A comparison of language and faces
Developmental Psychobiology
Daphne Maurer and Janet F. Werker
DOI: 10.1002/dev.21177
11/2013Visual and sensori-motor influences on speech perception in infancy
The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America
D. Kyle Danielson and Alison J. Greuel and Janet F. Werker
DOI: 10.1121/1.4831572
11/2013Referential Labeling Can Facilitate Phonetic Learning in Infancy
Child Development
H. Henny Yeung and Lawrence M. Chen and Janet F. Werker
DOI: 10.1111/cdev.12185
11/2013Lexicon structure and the disambiguation of novel words: Evidence from bilingual infants
Cognition
Krista Byers-Heinlein and Janet F. Werker
DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2013.05.010
09/2013Lip Movements Affect Infants’ Audiovisual Speech Perception
Psychological Science
H. Henny Yeung and Janet F. Werker
DOI: 10.1177/0956797612458802
05/2013Inner speech captures the perception of external speech.
Scott M and Yeung HH and Gick B and Werker JF
DOI: 10.1121/1.4794932
PubMed: 23556693
04/2013Speech Perception in Infancy
Oxford Handbooks Online
Janet F. Werker and Judit Gervain
DOI: 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199958450.013.0031
03/2013Prosody cues word order in 7-month-old bilingual infants
Nature Communications
Judit Gervain and Janet F. Werker
DOI: 10.1038/ncomms2430
02/2013When does native language input affect phonetic perception? The precocious case of lexical tone
Journal of Memory and Language
H. Henny Yeung and Ke Heng Chen and Janet F. Werker
DOI: 10.1016/j.jml.2012.09.004
02/2013Age-related sensitive periods influence visual language discrimination in adults
Frontiers in Systems Neuroscience
Whitney M. Weikum and Athena Vouloumanos and Jordi Navarra and Salvador Soto-Faraco and Núria Sebastián-Gallés and Janet F. Werker
DOI: 10.3389/fnsys.2013.00086
2013Valproate reopens critical-period learning of absolute pitch
Frontiers in Systems Neuroscience
Judit Gervain and Bradley W. Vines and Lawrence M. Chen and Rubo J. Seo and Takao K. Hensch and Janet F. Werker and Allan H. Young
DOI: 10.3389/fnsys.2013.00102
2013The development of associative word learning in monolingual and bilingual infants
Bilingualism: Language and Cognition
KRISTA BYERS-HEINLEIN and CHRISTOPHER T. FENNELL and JANET F. WERKER
DOI: 10.1017/s1366728912000417
09/2012A bilingual advantage in visual language discrimination in infancy.
Sebastián-Gallés N and Albareda-Castellot B and Weikum WM and Werker JF
DOI: 10.1177/0956797612436817
PubMed: 22810164
09/2012Learning non-adjacent regularities at age 0 ; 7
Journal of Child Language
JUDIT GERVAIN and JANET F. WERKER
DOI: 10.1017/s0305000912000256
08/2012Earlier speech exposure does not accelerate speech acquisition.
Peña M and Werker JF and Dehaene-Lambertz G
DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.6516-11.2012
PubMed: 22895701
08/2012The development of audiovisual speech perception
Multisensory Development
Salvador Soto-Faraco and Marco Calabresi and Jordi Navarra and Janet F. Werker and David J. Lewkowicz
DOI: 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199586059.003.0009
06/2012Multisensory interactions in speech perception
The New Handbook of Multisensory Processing
05/2012Perceptual foundations of bilingual acquisition in infancy
Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences
Janet Werker
DOI: 10.1111/j.1749-6632.2012.06484.x
03/2012Binding at Birth: The Newborn Brain Detects Identity Relations and Sequential Position in Speech
Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience
Judit Gervain and Iris Berent and Janet F. Werker
DOI: 10.1162/jocn_a_00157
03/2012Here's looking at you, baby: What gaze and movement reveal about minimal pair word-object association at 14 months
Laboratory Phonology
Laurel Fais and Janet F. Werker and Bronwyn Cass and Julia Leibowich and Adriano Vilela Barbosa and Eric Vatikiotis-Bateson
DOI: 10.1515/lp-2012-0007
01/2012Perceptual Narrowing of Linguistic Sign Occurs in the 1st Year of Life
Child Development
Stephanie Baker Palmer and Laurel Fais and Roberta Michnick Golinkoff and Janet F. Werker
DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-8624.2011.01715.x
01/2012Discovering speech, words, and mind (review)
Language
Janet F. Werker
DOI: 10.1353/lan.2012.0010
2012Phonetic category cues in adult-directed speech: Evidence from three languages with distinct vowel characteristics
Psicológica
2012Does the ACC have potential as an index of early speech discrimination ability? A preliminary study in 4-month-old infants with normal hearing.
Small SA and Werker JF
DOI: 10.1097/aud.0b013e31825f29be
PubMed: 22785572
2012Bilingual beginnings as a lens for theory development: PRIMIR in focus
Journal of Phonetics
Suzanne Curtin and Krista Byers-Heinlein and Janet F. Werker
DOI: 10.1016/j.wocn.2010.12.002
10/2011Near-infrared spectroscopy: a report from the McDonnell infant methodology consortium.
Gervain J and Mehler J and Werker JF and Nelson CA and Csibra G and Lloyd-Fox S and Shukla M and Aslin RN
DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2010.07.004
PubMed: 22436417
01/2011Auditory Perception of Self-Similarity in Water Sounds
Frontiers in Integrative Neuroscience
Maria N. Geffen and Judit Gervain and Janet F. Werker and Marcelo O. Magnasco
DOI: 10.3389/fnint.2011.00015
2011Language and the Newborn Brain: Does Prenatal Language Experience Shape the Neonate Neural Response to Speech?
Frontiers in Psychology
Lillian May and Krista Byers-Heinlein and Judit Gervain and Janet F. Werker
DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2011.00222
2011The interaction between acoustic salience and language experience in developmental speech perception: evidence from nasal place discrimination
Developmental Science
Chandan R. Narayan and Janet F. Werker and Patrice Speeter Beddor
DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-7687.2009.00898.x
05/2010The development of perceptual grouping biases in infancy: a Japanese-English cross-linguistic study.
Yoshida KA and Iversen JR and Patel AD and Mazuka R and Nito H and Gervain J and Werker JF
DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2010.01.005
PubMed: 20144456
05/2010The Roots of Bilingualism in Newborns
Psychological Science
Krista Byers-Heinlein and Tracey C. Burns and Janet F. Werker
DOI: 10.1177/0956797609360758
03/2010The Tuning of Human Neonates’ Preference for Speech
Child Development
Athena Vouloumanos and Marc D. Hauser and Janet F. Werker and Alia Martin
DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-8624.2009.01412.x
03/2010Distributional Phonetic Learning at 10 Months of Age
Infancy
Katherine A. Yoshida and Ferran Pons and Jessica Maye and Janet F. Werker
DOI: 10.1111/j.1532-7078.2009.00024.x
01/2010Bilingual beginnings to learning words.
Werker JF and Byers-Heinlein K and Fennell CT
DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2009.0105
PubMed: 19933138
12/2009Infants’ learning of novel words in a stochastic environment.
Developmental Psychology
Athena Vouloumanos and Janet F. Werker
DOI: 10.1037/a0016134
11/2009Learning words’ sounds before learning how words sound: 9-Month-olds use distinct objects as cues to categorize speech information
Cognition
H. Henny Yeung and Janet F. Werker
DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2009.08.010
11/2009Monolingual, bilingual, trilingual: infants' language experience influences the development of a word-learning heuristic
Developmental Science
Krista Byers-Heinlein and Janet F. Werker
DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-7687.2009.00902.x
09/2009Infant Discrimination of a Morphologically Relevant Word-Final Contrast
Infancy
Laurel Fais and Sachiyo Kajikawa and Shigeaki Amano and Janet Werker
DOI: 10.1080/15250000902994255
07/2009Now you hear it, now you don't: Vowel devoicing in Japanese infant-directed speech
Journal of Child Language
LAUREL FAIS and SACHIYO KAJIKAWA and SHIGEAKI AMANO and JANET F. WERKER
DOI: 10.1017/s0305000909009556
06/2009Fourteen-month-old infants learn similar-sounding words
Developmental Science
Katherine A. Yoshida and Christopher T. Fennell and Daniel Swingley and Janet F. Werker
DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-7687.2008.00789.x
05/2009Bilingual beginnings as a lens for theory development.
The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America
Janet F. Werker and Suzanne Curtin and Krista Byers-Heinlein
DOI: 10.1121/1.4784719
04/2009Perception of vowel length by Japanese- and English-learning infants.
Mugitani R and Pons F and Fais L and Dietrich C and Werker JF and Amano S
DOI: 10.1037/a0014043
PubMed: 19210005
01/2009Perception
Handbook of Cultural Developmental Science
2009How Infant Speech Perception Contributes to Language Acquisition
Language and Linguistics Compass
Judit Gervain and Janet F. Werker
DOI: 10.1111/j.1749-818x.2008.00089.x
11/2008Articulatory gestures influence the perception of speech.
The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America
Henny Yeung and Mark Scott and Bryan Gick and Janet Werker
DOI: 10.1121/1.4782546
10/2008Bilingualism in infancy: first steps in perception and comprehension
Trends in Cognitive Sciences
Janet F. Werker and Krista Byers-Heinlein
DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2008.01.008
04/2008Infant speech perception and later language acquisition: Methodological underpinnings
Infant pathways to language: methods, models, and research directions
2008Early word-object associations and later language development
First Language
Barbara May Bernhardt and Nenagh Kemp and Janet F. Werker
DOI: 10.1177/0142723707081652
10/2007Native language governs interpretation of salient speech sound differences at 18 months.
Dietrich C and Swingley D and Werker JF
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0705270104
PubMed: 17911262
10/2007Using Speech Sounds to Guide Word Learning: The Case of Bilingual Infants
Child Development
Christopher T. Fennell and Krista Byers-Heinlein and Janet F. Werker
DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-8624.2007.01080.x
09/2007Age-related changes in sensitivity to native phonotactics in Japanese infants.
Mugitani R and Fais L and Kajikawa S and Werker JF and Amano S
DOI: 10.1121/1.2754063
PubMed: 17927395
09/2007The perceptual foundations of phonological development
Oxford Handbooks Online
Suzanne Curtin and Janet F. Werker
DOI: 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780198568971.013.0035
08/2007Unsupervised learning of vowel categories from infant-directed speech.
Vallabha GK and McClelland JL and Pons F and Werker JF and Amano S
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0705369104
PubMed: 17664424
08/2007The Infant's Auditory World: Hearing, Speech, and the Beginnings of Language
Handbook of Child Psychology
Jenny R. Saffran and Janet F. Werker and Lynne A. Werner
DOI: 10.1002/9780470147658.chpsy0202
06/2007The development of phonetic representation in bilingual and monolingual infants
Applied Psycholinguistics
TRACEY C. BURNS and KATHERINE A. YOSHIDA and KAREN HILL and JANET F. WERKER
DOI: 10.1017/s0142716407070257
06/2007Visual language discrimination in infancy.
Weikum WM and Vouloumanos A and Navarra J and Soto-Faraco S and Sebastián-Gallés N and Werker JF
DOI: 10.1126/science.1137686
PubMed: 17525331
05/2007Infant-directed speech supports phonetic category learning in English and Japanese
Cognition
Janet F. Werker and Ferran Pons and Christiane Dietrich and Sachiyo Kajikawa and Laurel Fais and Shigeaki Amano
DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2006.03.006
04/2007Listening to language at birth: evidence for a bias for speech in neonates
Developmental Science
Athena Vouloumanos and Janet F. Werker
DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-7687.2007.00549.x
03/2007Why voice melody alone cannot explain neonates’ preference for speech
Developmental Science
Athena Vouloumanos and Janet F. Werker
DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-7687.2007.00551.x
03/2007Discriminating languages by speech-reading
Perception & Psychophysics
Salvador Soto-Faraco and Jordi Navarra and Whitney M. Weikum and Athena Vouloumanos and Núria Sebastián-Gallés and Janet F. Werker
DOI: 10.3758/bf03193744
02/2007Age-Related Changes in Sensitivity to Native Phonotactics in Japanese Infants
2007Vowel devoicing in Japanese infant- and adult-directed speech
The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America
Laurel Fais and Janet Werker and Sachiyo Kajikawa and Shigeaki Amano
DOI: 10.1121/1.4777942
11/2006Cross-language sensitivity to phonotactic patterns in infants.
Kajikawa S and Fais L and Mugitani R and Werker JF and Amano S
DOI: 10.1121/1.2338285
PubMed: 17069323
10/2006Recognition and Representation of Function Words in English-Learning Infants
Infancy
Rushen Shi and Janet F. Werker and Anne Cutler
DOI: 10.1207/s15327078in1002_5
09/2006Do you hear what I hear? Neural correlates of thought disorder during listening to speech in schizophrenia.
Weinstein S and Werker JF and Vouloumanos A and Woodward TS and Ngan ET
DOI: 10.1016/j.schres.2006.05.011
PubMed: 16806838
09/2006Frequency and form as determinants of functor sensitivity in English-acquiring infants.
Shi R and Cutler A and Werker J and Cruickshank M
DOI: 10.1121/1.2198947
PubMed: 16838552
06/2006Cross-Language Sensitivity to Phonotactic Patterns in Infants
2006Chapter 1. Bilingual Speech Processing in Infants and Adults
Childhood Bilingualism
Janet F. Werker and Whitney M. Weikum and Katherine A. Yoshida
DOI: 10.21832/9781853598715-002
2006Infant speech perception bootstraps word learning
Trends in Cognitive Sciences
Janet F. Werker and H. Henny Yeung
DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2005.09.003
11/2005Japanese Listeners' Perceptions of Phonotactic Violations
Language and Speech
Laurel Fais and Sachiyo Kajikawa and Janet Werker and Shigeaki Amano
DOI: 10.1177/00238309050480020301
06/2005PRIMIR: A Developmental Framework of Infant Speech Processing
Language Learning and Development
Janet Werker and Suzanne Curtin
DOI: 10.1207/s15473341lld0102_4
04/2005PRIMIR: A Developmental Framework of Infant Speech Processing
Language Learning and Development
Janet F. Werker and Suzanne Curtin
DOI: 10.1080/15475441.2005.9684216
04/2005The phonetic rhythm/syntax headedness connection: Evidence from Tagalog
The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America
Sonya Bird and Laurel Fais and Janet Werker
DOI: 10.1121/1.4787198
04/2005Speech perception as a window for understanding plasticity and commitment in language systems of the brain
Developmental Psychobiology
Janet F. Werker and Richard C. Tees
DOI: 10.1002/dev.20060
2005Japanese listeners' perceptions of phonotactic violations.
Fais L and Kajikawa S and Werker J and Amano S
PubMed: 16411504
2005Language experience and the organization of brain activity to phonetically similar words: ERP evidence from 14- and 20-month-olds.
Mills DL and Prat C and Zangl R and Stager CL and Neville HJ and Werker JF
DOI: 10.1162/0898929042304697
PubMed: 15509390
10/2004Tuned to the signal: the privileged status of speech for young infants
Developmental Science
Athena Vouloumanos and Janet F. Werker
DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-7687.2004.00345.x
06/2004Adult perceptions of phonotactic violations in Japanese
The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America
Laurel Fais and Sachiyo Kajikawa and Janet Werker and Shigeaki Amano
DOI: 10.1121/1.4780668
05/2004Phonetic representation of frequent function words in 8-month-old infants
The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America
Rushen Shi and Janet Werker and Anne Cutler
DOI: 10.1121/1.4783052
05/2004The Perceptual Acquisition of Phonological Contrasts
Language
Joe Pater and Christine Stager and Janet Feldman Werker
DOI: 10.1353/lan.2004.0141
2004Commentary: Reconstructing U-shaped Functions
Journal of Cognition and Development
2004Infant Attention to Phonetic Detail: Knowledge and Familiarity Effects
2004Patterns of New Word-Object Associations
2004Is the integration of heard and seen speech mandatory for infants?
Developmental Psychobiology
Ren¿e N. Desjardins and Janet F. Werker
DOI: 10.1002/dev.20033
2004The basis of preference for lexical words in 6-month-old infants
Developmental Science
Rushen Shi and Janet F. Werker
DOI: 10.1111/1467-7687.00305
11/2003Baby steps to learning language
The Journal of Pediatrics
Janet F Werker
DOI: 10.1067/s0022-3476(03)00403-7
10/2003Abnormal processing of speech during oddball target detection in schizophrenia.
Ngan ET and Vouloumanos A and Cairo TA and Laurens KR and Bates AT and Anderson CM and Werker JF and Liddle PF
DOI: 10.1016/s1053-8119(03)00385-9
PubMed: 14568459
10/2003Two-month-old infants match phonetic information in lips and voice
Developmental Science
Michelle L. Patterson and Janet F. Werker
DOI: 10.1111/1467-7687.00271
04/2003Three facial expressions mothers direct to their infants
Infant and Child Development
S.C.F. Chong and Janet F. Werker and James A. Russell and James M. Carroll
DOI: 10.1002/icd.286
2003The acquisition of language specific phonetic categories in infancy
Proceedings of the International Conference of Phonetic Sciences
2003Function words in early speech perception
Proceedings of the 15th International Conference of Phonetic Sciences
2003Early word learners' ability to access phonetic detail in well-known words.
Fennell CT and Werker JF
PubMed: 14748446
2003Development of Phonetic Categories in Infants Raised in Bilingual and Monolingual Environments
2003Early Word Learners' Ability to Access Phonetic Detail in Well-Known Words
2003Accessing coarticulatory information
The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America
Suzanne Curtin and Neelam Ladhar and Janet Werker
DOI: 10.1121/1.4779566
11/2002Innate phonetic boundaries revisited (L)
The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America
Richard N. Aslin and Janet F. Werker and James L. Morgan
DOI: 10.1121/1.1501904
10/2002Infants' Ability to Learn Phonetically Similar Words: Effects of Age and Vocabulary Size
Infancy
Janet F. Werker and Christopher T. Fennell and Kathleen M. Corcoran and Christine L. Stager
DOI: 10.1207/15250000252828226
02/2002Infant sensitivity to distributional information can affect phonetic discrimination
Cognition
Jessica Maye and Janet F Werker and LouAnn Gerken
DOI: 10.1016/s0010-0277(01)00157-3
01/2002Cross-language speech perception: Evidence for perceptual reorganization during the first year of life
Infant Behavior and Development
Janet F Werker and Richard C Tees
DOI: 10.1016/s0163-6383(02)00093-0
01/2002Infants' Ability to Learn Phonetically Similar Words: Effects of Age and Vocabulary Size
Infancy
Janet F. Werker and Christopher T. Fennell and Kathleen M. Corcoran and Christine L. Stager
DOI: 10.1207/s15327078in0301_1
01/2002Infants' Ability to Match Dynamic Phonetic and Gender Information in the Face and Voice
Journal of Experimental Child Psychology
Michelle L. Patterson and Janet F. Werker
DOI: 10.1006/jecp.2001.2644
01/2002From speech perception to word learning and beyond
The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America
Janet F. Werker
DOI: 10.1121/1.4778462
2002Are human milk long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids related to visual and neural development in breast-fed term infants?
Innis SM and Gilley J and Werker J
DOI: 10.1067/mpd.2001.118429
PubMed: 11598600
10/2001Detection of sounds in the auditory stream: event-related fMRI evidence for differential activation to speech and nonspeech.
Vouloumanos A and Kiehl KA and Werker JF and Liddle PF
DOI: 10.1162/089892901753165890
PubMed: 11595101
10/2001Language
Developmental Science
08/2001Six-Month-Old Infants' Preference for Lexical Words
Psychological Science
Rushen Shi and Janet F. Werker
DOI: 10.1111/1467-9280.00312
01/2001Does perceptual learning really contribute to word-learning?
Developmental Science
2001Perceiving speech: A developmental perspective
The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America
Janet F. Werker
DOI: 10.1121/1.4743505
11/2000LANGUAGE:Who's Got Rhythm?
Science
J. F. Werker
DOI: 10.1126/science.288.5464.280
04/2000Developmental Changes in Infant Speech Perception and Early Word Learning: Is There a Link?
2000Newborn infants’ sensitivity to perceptual cues to lexical and grammatical words
Cognition
Rushen Shi and Janet F Werker and James L Morgan
DOI: 10.1016/s0010-0277(99)00047-5
09/1999INFLUENCES ON INFANT SPEECH PROCESSING: Toward a New Synthesis
Annual Review of Psychology
Janet F. Werker and Richard C. Tees
DOI: 10.1146/annurev.psych.50.1.509
02/1999Matching phonetic information in lips and voice is robust in 4.5-month-old infants
Infant Behavior and Development
Michelle L Patterson and Janet F Werker
DOI: 10.1016/s0163-6383(99)00003-x
01/1999Acquisition of word-object associations by 14-month-old infants.
Werker JF and Cohen LB and Lloyd VL and Casasola M and Stager CL
DOI: 10.1037//0012-1649.34.6.1289
PubMed: 9823513
11/1998Updates on becoming a native listener
The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America
Janet F. Werker and Judith E. Pegg and Rushen Shi and Christine Stager
DOI: 10.1121/1.422162
05/1998Additive effects of phonetic distinctions in word learning
The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America
Joseph V. Pater and Christine L. Stager and Janet F. Werker
DOI: 10.1121/1.422979
05/1998Young infants' perception of lexical and functional categories
Infant Behavior and Development
Rushen Shi and Janet Werker and James Morgan
DOI: 10.1016/s0163-6383(98)91896-3
04/1998Matching phonetic information in lips and voice by 4-month-old infants
Infant Behavior and Development
Michelle L. Patterson and Janet F. Werker
DOI: 10.1016/s0163-6383(98)91829-x
04/1998Phonetic perception and word learning: Evidence for continuous and discontinuous changes
Infant Behavior and Development
Janet F. Werker and Christine L. Stager and Judith E. Pegg
DOI: 10.1016/s0163-6383(98)91456-4
04/1998Acquisition of word–object associations by 14-month-old infants.
Developmental Psychology
Janet F. Werker and Leslie B. Cohen and Valerie L. Lloyd and Marianella Casasola and Christine L. Stager
DOI: 10.1037/0012-1649.34.6.1289
1998Neonates attend to perceptual cues to rudimentary grammatical categories
The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America
Rushen Shi and Janet Werker
DOI: 10.1121/1.420952
11/1997The conditioned head turn procedure as a method for testing infant speech perception
Early Development and Parenting
Janet F. Werker and Linda Polka and Judith E. Pegg
DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1099-0917(199709/12)6:3/43.3.co;2-8
09/1997The conditioned head turn procedure as a method for testing infant speech perception
Early Development and Parenting
Janet F. Werker and Linda Polka and Judith E. Pegg
DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1099-0917(199709/12)6:3/43.0.co;2-h
09/1997An Exploration of Why Preschoolers Perform Differently Than Do Adults in Audiovisual Speech Perception Tasks
Journal of Experimental Child Psychology
Renée N. Desjardins and John Rogers and Janet F. Werker
DOI: 10.1006/jecp.1997.2379
07/1997Infants listen for more phonetic detail in speech perception than in word-learning tasks.
Stager CL and Werker JF
DOI: 10.1038/41102
PubMed: 9237755
07/1997Adult and infant perception of two English phones
The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America
Judith E. Pegg and Janet F. Werker
DOI: 10.1121/1.420137
19974-month-old female infants influenced by visible speech
Infant Behavior and Development
Renée N. Desjardins and Janet F. Werker
DOI: 10.1016/s0163-6383(96)90475-0
04/1996The acquisition of word-object associations in 14-month-olds: Does phonetic similarity make a difference?
Infant Behavior and Development
Christine L. Stager and Janet Werker
DOI: 10.1016/s0163-6383(96)90816-4
04/1996Mothers show special facial expressions when interacting with their infants
Infant Behavior and Development
Janet F. Werker and Selena Chong
DOI: 10.1016/s0163-6383(96)90867-x
04/1996Cognitive influences on cross-language speech perception in infancy
Infant Behavior and Development
Chris E. Lalonde and Janet F. Werker
DOI: 10.1016/0163-6383(95)90035-7
10/1995Listening to Speech in the 1st Year of Life: Experiential Influences on Phoneme Perception
Current Directions in Psychological Science
Janet F. Werker and Renée N. Desjardins
DOI: 10.1111/1467-8721.ep10772323
06/1995A cross-language investigation of infant preference for infant-directed communication
Infant Behavior and Development
Janet F. Werker and Judith E. Pegg and Peter J. McLeod
DOI: 10.1016/0163-6383(94)90012-4
07/1994Developmental changes in perception of nonnative vowel contrasts.
Polka L and Werker JF
DOI: 10.1037//0096-1523.20.2.421
PubMed: 8189202
04/1994Developmental changes in perception of nonnative vowel contrasts.
Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance
Linda Polka and Janet F. Werker
DOI: 10.1037/0096-1523.20.2.421
1994Cross-Language Speech Perception: Development Does Not Involve Loss
1994Developmental changes in cross-language vowel perception
The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America
Linda Polka and Janet F. Werker
DOI: 10.1121/1.405875
04/1993The Ontogeny and Developmental Significance of Language-Specific Phonetic Perception
Developmental Neurocognition: Speech and Face Processing in the First Year of Life
Janet F. Werker and Linda Polka
DOI: 10.1007/978-94-015-8234-6_23
1993The Contribution of the Relation between Vocal Production and Perception to a Developing Phonological System
1993Developmental Changes in Speech Perception: New Challenges and New Directions
1993La langue et les lèvres: Cross-language influences on bimodal speech perception.
Canadian Journal of Psychology / Revue canadienne de psychologie
Janet F. Werker and Paul E. Frost and Harry McGuirk
DOI: 10.1037/h0084331
12/1992La langue et les Lèvres: cross-language influences on bimodal speech perception.
Werker JF and Frost PE and McGurk H
PubMed: 1286433
12/1992Preference for infant-directed over adult-directed speech: Evidence from 7-week-old infants
Infant Behavior and Development
Judith E. Pegg and Janet F. Werker and Peter J. McLeod
DOI: 10.1016/0163-6383(92)80003-d
07/1992Infant Speech Perception and Phonological Acquisition
1992The organization and reorganization of human speech perception.
Werker JF and Tees RC
DOI: 10.1146/annurev.ne.15.030192.002113
PubMed: 1575448
1992Developmental Differences in the Accuracy of Reporting the Causal Determinants of Behaviour
International Journal of Behavioral Development
Tracy Schrans and Janet F. Werker and Richard E. Brown
DOI: 10.1177/016502549001300207
06/1990Infant preference for both male and female infant-directed talk: a developmental study of attentional and affective responsiveness.
Werker JF and McLeod PJ
PubMed: 2486497
06/1989Toward understanding the problem in severely disabled readers Part 1: Vowel errors
Applied Psycholinguistics
Susan E. Bryson and Janet F. Werker
DOI: 10.1017/s0142716400008389
03/1989Toward understanding the problem in severely disabled readers Part II: Consonant errors
Applied Psycholinguistics
Janet F. Werker and Susan E. Bryson and Karen Wassenberg
DOI: 10.1017/s0142716400008390
03/1989Becoming a native listener: A developmental perspective on human speech perception
American Scientist
1989Cross-language speech perception: Initial capabilities and developmental change.
Developmental Psychology
Janet F. Werker and Chris E. Lalonde
DOI: 10.1037/0012-1649.24.5.672
1988Cross-language speech perception: Initial capabilities and developmental change.
Developmental Psychology
Janet F. Werker and Chris E. Lalonde
DOI: 10.1037//0012-1649.24.5.672
1988Speech perception in severely disabled and average reading children.
Canadian Journal of Psychology / Revue canadienne de psychologie
Janet F. Werker and Richard C. Tees
DOI: 10.1037/h0084150
03/1987Speech perception in severely disabled and average reading children.
Werker JF and Tees RC
PubMed: 3502888
03/1987The effect of multilingualism on phonetic perceptual flexibility
Applied Psycholinguistics
Janet F. Werker
DOI: 10.1017/s0142716400007360
06/1986The development of cross-language speech perception
The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America
Janet F. Werker
DOI: 10.1121/1.2023270
05/1986Phonetic discrimination and perceptual reorganization in human infants
Infant Behavior and Development
Janet F. Werker
DOI: 10.1016/s0163-6383(86)80408-8
04/1986Cross-language evidence for three factors in speech perception
Perception & Psychophysics
Janet F. Werker and John S. Logan
DOI: 10.3758/bf03207136
01/1985Perceptual flexibility: maintenance or recovery of the ability to discriminate non-native speech sounds.
Tees RC and Werker JF
PubMed: 6518419
12/1984Phonemic and phonetic factors in adult cross-language speech perception
The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America
Janet F. Werker and Richard C. Tees
DOI: 10.1121/1.390988
06/1984Cross-language speech perception: Evidence for perceptual reorganization during the first year of life
Infant Behavior and Development
Janet F. Werker and Richard C. Tees
DOI: 10.1016/s0163-6383(84)80022-3
01/1984Phonological acquisition and change. John L. Locke, New York: Academic Press, 1983. Pp. 263.
Applied Psycholinguistics
Janet F. Werker
DOI: 10.1017/s0142716400005270
1984Developmental changes across childhood in the perception of non-native speech sounds.
Canadian Journal of Psychology / Revue canadienne de psychologie
Janet F. Werker and Richard C. Tees
DOI: 10.1037/h0080725
06/1983Developmental changes across childhood in the perception of non-native speech sounds.
Werker JF and Tees RC
PubMed: 6616342
06/1983Developmental Aspects of Cross-Language Speech Perception
Child Development
Janet F. Werker and John H. V. Gilbert and Keith Humphrey and Richard C. Tees
DOI: 10.2307/1129249
03/1981Developmental Aspects of Cross-Language Speech Perception
Child Development
Janet F. Werker and John H. V. Gilbert and Keith Humphrey and Richard C. Tees
DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-8624.1981.tb03051.x
03/1981Auditory-visual integration of temporal relations in infants.
Canadian Journal of Psychology / Revue canadienne de psychologie
Keith Humphrey and Richard C. Tees and Janet F. Werker
DOI: 10.1037/h0081731
12/1979Auditory-visual integration of temporal relations in infants.
Humphrey K and Tees RC and Werker J
PubMed: 546499
12/1979 - Research
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Bilingualism in Infancy
Babies who grow up with two languages face a different set of challenges in speech perception and word learning than do infants who grow up with only one language. We are currently undertaking a number of studies comparing bilingual and monolingual infants. These include a) tests of whether bilingual newborn infants can discriminate their two languages, or whether they mix both languages together; b) tests of speech sound discrimination in bilingual in comparison to monolingual infants; c) tests of word learning in bilingual infants (do they assume that each object can have only one label as monolingual infants do? Or are they more willing to accept two labels for each object?); and, d) tests of visual speech discrimination in bilingual infants (are they better able to discriminate languages than monolinguals when just watching silent, talking faces?)Critical periods
There is continuing debate as to whether speech perception is characterized by critical periods, i.e. windows in development when the perceptual system is most open to experience-based tuning. Recent work suggests that Gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA: an inhibitory neurotransmitter) circuit maturation triggers the critical period for visual cortical plasticity, as exemplified by premature onset in mice treated with benzodiazepines. Given that GABA triggers visual cortical plasticity in mice, I am now collaborating with T. Hansch at Harvard University, and T. Oberlander and W. Weikum in the Centre for Community Child Health to study speech perception in human infants exposed to benzodiazepines and other drugs during prenatal and early pre- and perinatal development, asking whether exposure to these substances changes the timing of perceptual plasticity for speech sounds, and whether differential timing of the onset of plasticity has the cascading effects on subsequent language development. This work, together with an epigenetic analysis component, was recently funded by the Human Frontiers Science Program (with T. Hensch as PI).
Studying the link between speech perception and language acquisition
In previous work we have shown that although infants have established native language speech sound categories by the end of the first year, and although they can use these categories to show differentiation of well-known words shortly after their first birthday, infants have difficulty using speech sound categories to guide the learning of new words. Recently we have shown that individual differences in infant performance in this task at 18 months of age predict later language development. We are currently following up this work and comparing infants at genetic risk for a language delay (first degree relative with a phonological disability) to typically developing infants on their ability to use native speech sound categories to direct word learning at 17 months, and then following the children longitudinally.
Research Roundup: October 2021
This month's Research Roundup covers babies' learning mechanisms that help them match unfamiliar voices to unfamiliar faces, the top risk factor that could signal greater disease severity in pediatric catecholaminergic polymorphic ventricular tachycardia, a virtual reality-based solution to reducing procedural anxiety in kids, and genetic testing for reducing diagnostic delay in monogenic inborn errors of immunity.
