The Language Development Lab (Yuriko Oshima-Takane) investigates how children learn the meaning of different types of sentences. We are currently exploring what kinds of cues children use when learning the meaning of sentences with new or familiar words. How do they know that some words refer to actions and not to objects? Do they use their knowledge about the objects (e.g., what they look like, what they do, etc.) when they learn the meaning of sentences? Do they use morpho-syntactic or discourse cues in the input to determine whether a new word refers to an object (e.g., it's a dax) or an action (e.g., it's daxing)? Do they use social cues such as eye gaze? In order to answer these questions, children between 12 and 36 months of age will be shown a variety of animated events on a screen (e.g., an object jumping/running; someone demonstrating how new toys work), while hearing various sentences with new or familiar words. We will measure the amount of time the children look at each movie to help us determine how they interpreted the sentences. We also examine what type of words and sentences children use by recording and analyzing children's speech during interactions with their parents. 

The Language and Cognitive Neuroscience Lab (Laura Gonnerman) 

The McGill Education Child Development Lab (Victoria Talwar) investigates children’s cognitive social development. Our research is informed by the disciplines of psychology, education and law to examine children’s behaviours that are pertinent to children’s adaptive development, child witness testimony and professionals who work with children. We conduct studies examining how children learn and develop different social behaviors such as honesty, politeness, regulation of their own emotions and understanding other’s feelings and beliefs. We also investigate how the development of these behaviours impact and relate to child witness testimony. Studies include research on the developmental trajectories of children’s honesty and related behaviours and risk factors (e.g. their moral development, empathy, impulse control, parenting styles), children’s perceptions and evaluations of bullying behaviour, children’s understanding of concepts such as death and methods to reduce children’s anxieties and fears of such events, and methods of promoting children’s accurate and truthful testimony.