Learn more about the highly trained researchers and staff members conducting ongoing experiments in the Lab.
  • How are cognitive and social-affective systems structured, organized, and re-organized over the course of development?


  • What are the genetic, neurobiological and family influences on social and cognitive development?


  • How do children with neurodevelopmental disorders inform our understanding of these fundamental issues?

These are the broad questions that are addressed in several inter-related interdisciplinary research programs that are ongoing in our lab.
The research programs conducted in our lab began about 25 years ago. Our research has been supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health and private foundations. We collaborate with colleagues at several other institutions both in the Boston area and elsewhere.
The lab includes people with backgrounds in numerous disciplines, including developmental, clinical or cognitive psychology, psycholinguistics, neuroscience, biology, communication disorders, and related fields.
We currently have several research programs involving children and adults with autism spectrum disorders, Williams syndrome, and specific language impairment, as well as normal controls. The studies include experimental studies focusing on face processing, language, and related aspects of social cognition, and brain imaging studies, using a variety of methodologies.
Our research is published in journals and edited volumes. Visit this section for downloadable versions of some of our recent publications.
We often have opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students, post-doctoral fellows, research assistants, and other project personnel to work in the lab on different aspects of the ongoing research or to conduct projects using data that have been collected in recent years. If you are interested in joining our research team as a staff member, summer/visiting employee, graduate student, or postdoctoral fellow, visit this section.