Research
Research Goals:
- To increase our understanding of how infants learn and remember.
- To examine differences in learning as a function of age.
- To examine the role of intersensory integration in infant learning and memory.
Background:
My research examines processes related to learning and memory and to intersensory integration in human infants. Specifically, my research is directed towards understanding how information from different sensory modalities (sight and touch) influences learning and memory in infants, aged 3-5 months.
In the everyday perceptual world of an adult human, the world appears organized and unified despite the fact that information about the world is often presented simultaneously from multiple sensory modalities. For instance, an object sensed simultaneously by both the visual and haptic (touch) systems is still perceived as a single object, and an object normally sensed only visually is still recognized even when that object is experienced only tactually. This ability to combine information from different sensory modalities to form a unified perceptual world is referred to as intersensory integration. For adults, intersensory integration seems effortless, likely due to our extensive experience with the world. But for infants, who have less experience to draw upon, intersensory integration may prove challenging as an ever-changing array of sensory information is presented. How do infants cope with the need for intersensory integration? How does the need for intersensory integration affect infants’ learning and memory?
Research in intersensory integration has demonstrated that intersensory interactions in infancy are not a singular phenomenon. Age-related differences have been observed across different ages and tasks but few studies have assessed the role of intersensory integration within a learning context, thus many questions are left unanswered. Can infants use cross-modal correspondences to retrieve a memory or to reactivate a memory? Are cross-modal correspondences remembered longer? What effect do cross-modal correspondences have on learning? Do they facilitate learning or inhibit learning?
Finally, the knowledge gained in understanding normal infant learning will help us, in turn, to identify those infants who show delayed/different patterns of learning. The ability to identify such patterns in infancy, rather than in early childhood, will allow for earlier intervention for those children at risk for developmental learning disabilities.