arlenewa@rci.rutgers.edu
Department of Psychology
office: 732-445-2028
Rutgers University
Human Development Project:
732-445-4774
53 Avenue E
FAX: 732-445-0036
Education
B.A. Psychology, University of Texas at
Austin (1975)
Ph.D. Psychology, Cornell U (1980) (major in Experimental
Psychology; minors in Cognition; Animal Behavior)
Almost any parent or sibling can tell you that an infant understands a great deal, especially about emotions and intentions portrayed by other people. But the actual evidence for that understanding is difficult to obtain. I have been studying infants' understanding of other people's facial and vocal expressions since my dissertation research. I am interested in determining whether young infants (3 months and older) can do more than just tell apart two expressions by noticing that one has an upturned mouth and another a grimace or frown. To this end, I conduct research with infants ranging in age from 3 to 7 months using a number of procedures (intermodal matching, habituation of visual attention, interaction studies). Most recently, we demonstrated that infants as young as 3 months recognize the happy and sad facial and vocal expressions when these are portrayed by their own mothers (Kahana-Kalman & Walker-Andrews, 2001), and the happy, sad, and angry facial and vocal expressions of their mothers and highly involved fathers (Montague & Walker-Andrews, in press; probably November, Developmental Psychology). Currently, researchers affiliated with the Human Development Project are extending this work by testing infants' categorization and generalization of expressions posed by their mothers and fathers when they subsequently view the expressions of unfamiliar adults.
In addition, I conduct research on infants' object and event perception. I am always interested in projects that allow infants to explore dynamic events giving them the opportunity to learn something about the objects and people participating in them. Bring an idea to the lab and we can design a study to look at it. Collaboration is a necessary ingredient for progress.
Finally, I also conduct studies on children's pretend play. I view pretense as a researcher's dream: one can involve a child in a game of pretend and learn what the child knows about the causes of real-world events, about emotion, and about pretend itself. We have done a couple of studies with children ranging from 15 months to 4 years of age in this context, as well as some studies with children with autism (Harris & Walker-Andrews, 1993; Walker-Andrews & Kahana-Kalman, 1999; Blanchette, Walker-Andrews, and Kahana-Kalman, under revision).
Download an application for graduate work in Psychology
I am interested in recruiting one or more new graduate students starting in 2002. Please contact me if you have interests in perceptual development, cognitive development, or infants' perception of emotion. My interests include infants' understanding of objects and events, as well as person perception and preschooler's understanding and participation in pretend play.
