Staff profile

Professor Edith L. Bavin

Adjunct Professor

Faculty of Science, Technology and Engineering

School of Psychological Science
Department of Psychology

George Singer Building, room 466, Melbourne (Bundoora)

 

Qualifications

Teaching Dip (3 year) London, B Ed. Calgary, MA, PhD Buffalo, NY

Membership of professional Associations

Fellow Association for Psychological Science, Executive Committee International Association for the Study of Child language, Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies

Area of study

Psychology

Brief Profile

Professor Bavin's previous research focussed on the acquisition of an indigenous language spoken in central Australia. More recently her research has been concerned with assessing children's language knowledge and language processing skills. A particular area of interest has been the cognitive skills of children with Specific Language Impairment (SLI). This research has investigated visuo-spatial memory, verbal memory, attention, narrative skills and the numerical cognition of children with SLI. Other projects have investigated the memory and attention of children with SLI and ADHD and the auditory processing skills of 4-7 year olds.

Professor Bavin is a chief investigator on the Early Language in Victoria Study (ELVS), based at the Royal Children’s Hospital. The study is investigating the early predictors and natural history of language impairment and literacy development in a longitudinal study with 1900 children (from 8 months to 7 years). Other current research projects are on the language processing of children with autism using eye tracking, and the language and cognitive development of young children with cochlear implants.

She is the editor of the Journal of Child Language and edited the Cambridge Handbook of Child Language published in 2009.

Research interests

Cognitive and developmental psychology

- child language acquisition and the factors that influence it

Teaching Units

 

 

Consulting

Parenting Research Centre (Early Home Leaning project); The Longitudinal Study of Indigenous Children

Recent Publications

Hutchinson, E., Bavin, E.L., Efron, D., & Sciberras, E. (accepted June 2, 2011). A comparison of working memory profiles in school-aged children with SLI, ADHD, co-morbid SLI and ADHD and their typically developing peers. Child Neuropsychology.

Ukoumunne, O. C., Wake, M., Carlin, J., Bavin, E.L., Lum, J., Skeat, J., Williams, J., Conway, L., Cini, E., Reilly, R. (accepted February 7, 2011). Profiles of language development in pre-school children: a longitudinal latent class analysis of data from the Early Language in Victoria Study (ELVS). Child: Care, Health & Development.

Veness, C., Prior, M., Bavin, E.L., & Eadie, P. (accepted January 2011). Early indicators of autism spectrum disorders at 12 and 24 months of age: A prospective, longitudinal study. Autism.

Nuske, H. J. & Bavin, E.L. (2011). Narrative comprehension in 4–7-year-old children with autism: testing the Weak Central Coherence account. International Journal of Language & Communication Disorders 46, 108–119.

Prior, M., Bavin, E., and Ong, B. (2011). Predictors of school readiness in five -to six -year old children from an Australian longitudinal community sample. Educational Psychology 31, 1, 3-16. 

Reilly, S., Wake, M, Ukoumunne, O. C., Bavin, E.L., Prior, M. Cini, E., Conway, L., Eadie, P., Bretherton, L. (published on line, 8 Nov.  2010). Predicting Language Outcomes at 4 Years: Findings from the Early Language in Victoria Study. Pediatrics.

Eadie, P., Ukoumunne, O. C., Skeat, J., Prior, M., Bavin, E., Bretherton, L., Reilly, S. (2010). Assessing early communication behaviours: Structure and validity of the Communication and Symbolic Behaviour Scales -Developmental Profile (CSBS-DP) in 12-month infants. International Journal of Language and Communication Disorders, 45, 572-585.

Skeat, J., Wake, M., Reilly, S., Eadie, P., Bretherton, L., Bavin, E.L., & Ukoumunne, O. C. (2010). Predictors of early precocious talking:  A prospective population study. Journal of Child Language 37, 1109-1121.

Bavin, E.L., Grayden, D., Scott, K. & Stefanakis, T. (2010). The relationship between auditory processing and language in 4-5 year-olds. Language and Speech 53, 31-47.

Bavin, E.L. (2009). Widening the field: The process of language acquisition. Behavioural and Brain Sciences, 32, 449-450.

Reilly, S., Bavin, E.L., Bretherton, L., Conway, L., Eadie, P., Cini, E., Prior, M., Ukoumunne, O.C., & Wake, M. (2009).  The Early Language in Victoria Study (ELVS): a prospective, longitudinal study of communication skills and expressive vocabulary development at 8, 12 and 24 months. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 11, 344-357.

Reilly, S., Onslow, M., Packman, A., Wake, M., Bavin, E.L., Prior, M., Eadie, P., Cini, E., Bolzonello, C., & Ukoumunne, O.C. (2009). Predicting stuttering onset in children by the age of 3 years: a prospective, community cohort study. Pediatrics, 123, 270-277.

Reilly, S., Wake, M., Bavin, E.L., Eadie, P., Bretherton, L., & Prior, M. (2008). Late talking toddlers: the need for longitudinal research on community-based samples. International Journal of Language & Communication Disorders, 43, 473-475.

Bavin, E.L., Prior, M., Reilly, S., Bretherton, L., Williams, J., Eadie, P., Barrett, Y.,   & Ukoumunne, O.C. (2008). The Early Language in Victoria Study: predicting vocabulary at age 1 and 2 years from gesture and object use. Journal of Child Language, 35, 687-701.

Prior, M., Bavin, E.L., Cini, E., Reilly, S., Bretherton, L.Wake, M., & Eadie, P. (2008). Influences on communicative development at 24 months of age: child temperament, behaviour problems, and maternal factors, Infant Behavior & Development, 31, 270-279.

Dodwell, K., & Bavin, E.L. (2008). Memory and narratives of children with Specific language impairment. International Journal of Language and Communication Disorders, 43, 201-218.

Reilly, S., Wake, M., Bavin, E., Prior, M., Williams, J., Bretherton, Eadie, P., L., Barrett, Y., & Ukoumunne, O. C.  (2007). Predicting language at 2 years of age: results from a prospective community study. Pediatrics, 120:e1 - e9.

Lum, J., & Bavin, E.L. (2007). A study of grammaticality judgments by children with and without SLI. Journal of Speech, Language and Hearing Research, 50, 1618-1630.

Kidd, E., & Bavin, E.L. (2007). Lexical and referential influences on on-line spoken language comprehension: A comparison of adults and primary school age children. First Language, 27, 29-52.

Reilly, S., Eadie, P., Bavin, E.L, Wake, M, Prior, M., Williams, J., Bretherton, L., Barrett, Y. & Ukoumunne, O. C. (2006). Growth of infant communication between 8 and 12 months: A population study. Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health, 42, 764-770.

Kidd, E., & Bavin, E.L. (2005). Lexical and referential cues to sentence interpretation: An investigation of children’s interpretations of ambiguous sentences. Journal of Child Language, 32, 855-876.

Naigles, L., Bavin, E.L. & Smith, M. (2005). Toddlers Recognize Verbs in Novel Situations and Sentences. Developmental Science, 8, 424-431.

Bavin, E.L., Wilson, P., Maruff, P., & Sleeman, F. (2005). Spatio-visual memory of children with Specific Language Impairment: evidence for generalized processing problems. International Journal of Language and Communication Disorders, 40, 319-332.

 

Research projects

The language and cognitive development of young children with cochlear implants

Language processing of children with autism using eye tracking

The Early Language in Victoria Study (ELVS)