Projects

Infant Visual Attention and Memory

 

Infant visual attention is one of the most fundamental aspects of infant learning, as preverbal infants learn almost everything about the world through their eyes. By understanding what grabs and holds your baby's attention, we can begin to unravel the marvels of infant learning. By using eye-tracking technology, we can measure where your baby is looking, how quickly they move their eyes, and how long they look. By examining these aspects of infant visual attention, we hope to gain a better understanding of how attention influences memory and learning.

Eye-Tracking Technology

 

  

This is an example of performance during a task. The red circle represents where the participant was looking--the larger the circle, the longer the participant looked to that specific location. Advancements in visual eye tracking technology have allowed researchers to ask all kinds of exciting new questions!

 

High-Risk Populations

Some infants are at an increased risk for learning difficulties throughout their lifetime, including deficits in spatial attention, social and emotional processes, and information processing speed. Our research is interested in whether there are important differences in the ways in which high-risk infants respond to visual stimuli. Our research is specifically examining developmental outcomes associated with prenatal opioid exposure. We hope this research will contribute to early identification of infants at risk for cognitive delays and inform future intervention efforts.