Top psychologists from the University of Wisconsin will present the latest on youth language and emotions during the May 10 Leona Tyler Lecture Series, which is free and open to the public.
Jenny Saffran and Seth Pollak have traveled internationally to speak on changing views of infant language development and children’s emotions.
Saffran’s presentation is titled, “Beyond Nature versus Nurture: Changing views of infant language development.”
In a summary of her talk, Saffran said: “Long before infants produce their first word, they have learned a tremendous amount about their native language(s). What do infants know, and how did they learn it?”
Saffran will describe results from multiple lines of research that suggest that infants learn by tracking statistical properties of language. Implications for atypical language development will also be considered, she added.
Pollak’s presentation is titled, “Children's Emotions: Learning, Development, and Biology.”
In a summary of his talk, Pollak said: “How is the brain shaped and refined by children's early social and emotional experiences? To address this question, I will discuss studies of children who have had very stressful early life experiences.”
Pollak will highlight ways in which society can address central issues in human development by studying the type, quality, and timing of children’s social experiences on brain and behavioral development.
Leona Tyler, the eighty-first president of the American Psychological Association and only the fourth woman to be elected to that office, died on April 29, 1993, at the age of 86. Her professional career as a psychologist was based at the University of Oregon, where she began as an instructor in 1940 and ended as professor and dean emerita in 1993.
The lectures start at 3:30 p.m. in the Giustina Ballroom of the Ford Alumni Center, 1720 E. 13th Ave., Eugene.
That is the same date as the presentation by the Dalai Lama in Matthew Knight Arena, next to the alumni center, which ends at 3 p.m.; please consider traffic and parking concerns.
- from the UO Department of Psychology