Child Development Unit
At the La Trobe University Child Development Unit (CDU), we research the social, emotional, cognitive, and perceptual development of children. This research – part of our School's specialisation in cognitive and developmental psychology – is important because as we understand more about children’s development we are better able to identify risk factors for atypical development. In fact, some of the studies look specifically at atypical development.
Our research is with infants, toddlers and children who have started school. These children have, for the most part, been recruited through Maternal and Child Health (MCH) Centers. The MCH nurses bring the Child Development Unit to the attention of parents (see CDU flyer: PDF 208KB), who then volunteer to place their baby’s name on our registry. This registry contains the names and addresses of many infants and children of varying ages.
Before a study begins, letters are sent inviting parents of children in the appropriate age group to participate. These studies take place in well-equipped laboratory playrooms, and most are video taped. The researchers make the studies interesting and fun. In some studies children engage in a variety of games. In others their spontaneous behaviour is observed. The children who take part in these studies enjoy participating and typically wish to come back for more!
The program of research underway at the Child Development Unit focuses on the early social cognitive development in typically developing infants and young children. This complements the work within the area of Autism undertaken at the Olga Tennison Autism Research Centre. Together with Honours and postgraduate students, we study the development of pretend play and its social and cognitive underpinnings. We also investigate the contribution of early social cognitive skills in infancy, such as joint attention and imitation, to the development of social competence in preschool children. We have recently explored how caregivers' focus on the mental intentions of infants, contributes to the development of pretend play at age two years. Some of this work has been conducted in collaboration with Dr Mark Nielsen at the Early Cognitive Development Unit at the University of Queensland.
CDU Staff
| Academic |
|
| Dr Cheryl Dissanayake | |
| Dr Kristelle Hudry |
k.hudry@latrobe.edu.au |
| Research Staff |
|
| Carmela Germano (Lab Manager) |
c.germano@latrobe.edu.au |
| Ru Cai |
r.cai@latrobe.edu.au |
| Lindsay Pamment |
l.pamment@latrobe.edu.au |
Child Development Unit projects
