Staff profile

Professor Edith L. Bavin FAPS

Adjunct Professor

Faculty of Science, Technology and Engineering

School of Psychological Science
Department of Psychology

George Singer Building, room 241, 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 earlier research was on the acquisition of Warlpiri, 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.

A long-term research project on which Professor Bavin is a CI is 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 14 years).   Another current research project is the language processing of children with autism using eye tracking

An ARC Linkage grant is supporting research on the language and cognitive development of young children with cochlear implants. In this project, which Professor Bavin is running acoss four states, infants are recruited prior to implantation and followed for 3-4 years.

Professor Bavin served as the editor of the Journal of Child Language until 2012; she edited the Cambridge Handbook of Child Language, published in 2009.

Research interests

Cognitive and developmental psychology

- language and language impairment; child language acquisition and factors that influence it

Teaching units

 

 

Consulting

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

Recent publications

 

Bavin, E.L., (to appear). Memory profiles of children with SLI. In S.Stavrakaki (Ed). Specific Language Impairment (Language Acquisition and Language Disorders series), John Benjamins Publishing Co.

Bavin, E.L. & Bretherton, L. (in press). The Early Language in Victoria Study (ELVS): Late Talkers, Predictors and Outcomes. In. L, Rescorla & P. Dale (Eds.) Late Talkers: From Research to Practice. Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co.

Bavin, E.L. (in press). The acquisition of ergativity in Warlpiri. In E. L. Bavin & S. Stoll (Eds). The Acquisition of ergativity, John Benjamins Publishing Co.

Stoll, S. & Bavin, E.L. (in press). The acquisition of ergative languages, In E.L. Bavin, & S. Stoll (Eds.) The acquisition of ergativity. John Benjamins Publishing Co.

 

Bavin, E.L. & Naigles, L. R. (Eds.) (2013). Atypical Development, (Special issue: Journal of Child Language, 40 (1).

Castles, A., Mclean, G., Bavin, E.L., Bretherton, L., Eadie, P., Prior, M., Ukoumunne, O.,Wake, M., & Reilly, S. (accepted 21 September 2012). Home computer use linked to letter knowledge in pre-school children: A population-based study. Paediatrics and Child Health.

Petruccelli, N., Bavin, E.L.,.& Bretherton, L. (2012). Children with Specific Language Impairment and Resolved LaTalkers:   Working Memory Profiles at 5 years. Journal of Speech, Language and Hearing Research, 55, 1690–1703.

Hutchinson, E., Bavin, E.L., Efron, D., & Sciberras, E. A comparison of working memory profiles in school-aged childre with SLI, ADHD, co-morbid SLI and ADHD and their typically developing peers. Child Neuropsychology, 2012, 18 (2), 190–207.

Ukoumunne, O. C., Wake, M., Carlin, J., Bavin, E.L., Lum, J., Skeat, J., Williams, J., Conway, L., Cini, E., Reilly, S. (accepted February 7, 2011, available on line 24 March 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, 16,163-177.

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)