Human Development Colloquium: Dr. Leher Singh (National U of Singapore)

Effects of Social Diversity on Early Attention, Perception, and Learning

Abstract: In this talk, I will focus on effects of different sources of environmental diversity on infant development. Drawing on a series of studies examining effects of language, racial, and socioeconomic diversity on early development, I will present findings from recent studies in my lab that investigate how these diversifying experiences influence basic developmental processes, such as perceptual flexibility, social categorization, and allocation of attention. I will situate these studies within changing trends in participant diversity in infant research. Finally, I will discuss the impact of these findings on universalist theoretical frameworks and present a new framework for greater sociocultural specificity in infant research.

Bio: Leher Singh is an Associate Professor of Psychology at the National University of Singapore, where she directs the Infant and Child Language Laboratory. Her research has focused on effects of multilingualism on a range of early cognitive processes. She serves as Associate Editor at Developmental Science and Journal of Cognition and Development. Her research has been funded by NIH, NSF, Social Sciences Research Council (Singapore) and Ministry of Education (Singapore).