Infancy is a period of significant change for both the brain and behavior. During the first two years of life, the brain experiences an explosion of synaptic connections and myelination, alongside rapid development in motor, linguistic, and social behavioral abilities. Understanding the relationship between brain development and behavioral…

How do infants learn about the formal properties of language using only cues they can access in speech? And what intuitions do they bring to the learning problem? Chapter 2: To explore whether current notions of statistically-based language learning could successfully scale to infants' linguistic experiences "in the wild", we implemented…

This dissertation presents behavioral studies that target the early syntactic representations of "wh"-movement during infancy and early childhood. Previous studies show that by 20 months-old, infants represent "wh"-movement and use this knowledge to respond to "wh"-questions during language comprehension tasks…

This study investigates the material-discursive contexts available for lactation-pumping--amongst U.S. teachers who wish to continue nursing [a] child(ren) upon returning full-time to the classroom. Guided by critical feminist methodologies, I conducted interviews and focus groups with 11 teacher-parents who chose to lactate or nurse their infants…

Code-switching (switching between languages) is a common linguistic behavior in bilingual speech directed to infants and children. In adult-directed speech (ADS), acoustic-phonetic properties of one language may transfer to the other language close to a code-switch point; for example, English stop consonants may be more Spanish-like near a switch.…

Infants are born highly sensitive to the natural patterns found in languages. They use their perceptual sensitivity to acquire detailed information about the structure of languages in their environment. To date, most studies of infant perception and early language acquisition have investigated spoken/auditory languages and hearing infants (e.g.…

Early childhood providers care for infants and toddlers with developmental delays and special needs in their programs and classrooms. This study addressed the problem that there is insufficient professional development (PD) training for early childhood providers working with infants and toddlers with special needs in inclusive settings. The…

Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) education is essential to the economic growth, health, and progress of the modern world. One cognitive ability that underpins thinking and learning in STEM, as well as other disciplines, is relational ability. This ability to spot common relations shared by different objects, events, ideas, or…

Outdoor play is a crucial in supporting child development, resiliency, social skills, creative thinking, adaptability, family growth, and family engagement. Unfortunately, children are spending less time outside because of technology, parent fears, and other factors. Parents who have a child with a disability have even more challenges when it…

Infancy is a pivotal time in the development of a human's cognitive ability. There is a lack of research in this area, specifically on mothers and their beliefs about literacy practices and the home learning environment. By utilizing Bronfenbrenner's ecological framework, this study explores the beliefs of mothers and how they impact the infants'…

The problem addressed by this study was children's impeded oral language development when parents do not engage them in frequent conversational exchanges during the infant and toddler years. The purpose of the study was to explore parent behaviors and perceptions. Two questions guided the study: when do parents talk with their children? and how do…

Insufficient referral and participation in Part C Early Intervention (EI) services are common among children aged birth to 3 years, including those automatically eligible due to diagnosed medical conditions. States have established lists of diagnosed medical conditions to streamline eligibility determination for these children. However, there is…

This qualitative phenomenological study explored the lived experiences of undergraduate college student-parents who endeavored to breastfeed a baby while simultaneously enrolled in onground classes. Federal law stipulates employers must provide employees with sufficient designated lactation spaces and ample time to express breastmilk. On a college…

Researchers have found young children's academic skills and life outcomes are correlated to teachers' postsecondary education. Despite this, 60% of infant/toddler-PK4 teachers who work in center-based settings in the District of Columbia do not have postsecondary education beyond the high school level. The purpose of this basic qualitative study…

Multiple domains develop simultaneously and interact throughout infancy and early childhood. Although relationships between motor and language skills have been examined cross-sectionally during the first three years of life, little is known regarding the individual factors that influence the development of these domains as well as the relationship…