“The more we understand about typical development, the more we can help children with special problems,” says Dr. Mark Schmuckler, director of the Laboratory for Infant Studies. “Every bit of knowledge we gain from our research brings pediatricians and family practitioners that much closer to understanding the problems their patients bring to them. The more we do, the more we find out.”
Schmuckler has been engaged in research since his days as a doctoral student at Cornell University. “When I began graduate work, my primary interest was musical perception and cognition,” he says. “It was just by chance that I began working with Dr. Eleanor Gibson, one of North America’s most distinguished developmental psychologists, and discovered how interesting the field was.”
Research in the Laboratory for Infant Studies couldn’t be carried out without the help of people in the community. By participating in experiments, parents and children play an important role in assisting Dr. Schmuckler and other researchers identify the factors contributing to development.
At the lab, our research looks at questions like:
- How do infants’ abilities to control their arms and legs develop?
- How do infants use their motor skills to interact with things they can see?
- How are their motor abilities related to their comprehension of visual stimuli?
- Do infants perceive rhythm changes and can that perception be measured by the speed of their walking?
Interested about what current studies are running at the Laboratory for Infant Studies? Please click here.