Morse Scholar Alumni 2017–2019
Current Position
Assistant Professor, Department of Communicative Sciences & Disorders
Michigan State University
Contact
About
Ron am an assistant professor in the Department of Communicative Sciences & Disorders at Michigan State University.
He studies how children learn language, including children with typical language development, developmental language disorder, and autism spectrum disorder. He uses behavioral responses and eye-tracking methods to measure different aspects of children’s ability to learn new words. His recent work investigates how children form detailed representations of the sounds that form words.
If you are interested in learning more about Developmental Language Disorder (DLD), check out this free eBook by Dr. Jeanne Tighe and the organizations Raising Awareness of Developmental Language Disorder (RADLD) and DLD and Me.
He completed my postdoctoral fellowship with Karla McGregor in the Word Learning Lab at Boys Town National Research Hospital and my PhD with Jenny Saffran in the Infant Learning Lab at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Education
| 2011 | BA | Human Biology | Stanford University |
| 2014 | MS | Developmental Psychology | University of Wisconsin-Madison |
| 2020 | PhD | Developmental and Child Psychology | University of Wisconsin-Madison |
| 2024 | Postdoctoral Fellow | Boys Town National Research Hospital | |
| 2017–2019 | Morse Scholar | Major Professor: Jenny Saffran, PhD | Waisman Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison |
In the News
- Here’s How a Cat Can Hinder Children Learning New Words
April 5, 2018
Selected Publications
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Mathée-Scott, J., Prescott, K. E., Pomper, R., Saffran, J., & Weismer, S. E. (2024). Prediction by Young Autistic Children from Visual and Spoken Input. Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 10.1007/s10803-024-06568-z. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-024-06568-z
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Hearnshaw, S., Baker, E., Pomper, R., McGregor, K. K., Edwards, J., & Munro, N. (2024). Four Cases of Children With Phonological Impairment and Precocious Vocabulary: Making Sense of a Clinical Conundrum. American journal of speech-language pathology, 1–19. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1044/2024_AJSLP-23-00370
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Hearnshaw, S., Baker, E., Pomper, R., McGregor, K. K., Edwards, J., & Munro, N. (2024). I remembered the chorm! Word learning abilities of children with and without phonological impairment. International journal of language & communication disorders, 59(3), 913–931. https://doi.org/10.1111/1460-6984.12967
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Hearnshaw, S., Baker, E., Pomper, R., McGregor, K. K., Edwards, J., & Munro, N. (2023). The Relationship Between Speech Perception, Speech Production, and Vocabulary Abilities in Children: Insights From By-Group and Continuous Analyses. Journal of speech, language, and hearing research : JSLHR, 66(4), 1173–1191. https://doi.org/10.1044/2022_JSLHR-22-00441
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Pomper, R., McGregor, K. K., Arbisi-Kelm, T., Eden, N., & Ohlmann, N. (2022). Direct Instruction Improves Word Learning for Children With Developmental Language Disorder. Journal of speech, language, and hearing research : JSLHR, 65(11), 4228–4249. https://doi.org/10.1044/2022_JSLHR-22-00300
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Mathée-Scott, J., Larson, C., Venker, C., Pomper, R., Edwards, J., Saffran, J., & Ellis Weismer, S. (2022). Use of Mutual Exclusivity and its Relationship to Language Ability in Toddlers with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 52(10), 4528–4539. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-021-05321-0
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Pomper, R., Kaushanskaya, M., & Saffran, J. (2022). Change is hard: Individual differences in children’s lexical processing and executive functions after a shift in dimensions. Language learning and development : the official journal of the Society for Language Development, 18(2), 229–247. https://doi.org/10.1080/15475441.2021.1947289
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Pomper, R., Ellis Weismer, S., Saffran, J., & Edwards, J. (2021). Coarticulation facilitates lexical processing for toddlers with autism. Cognition, 214, 104799. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2021.104799
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Venker CE, Pomper R, Mahr T, Edwards J, Saffran J, Ellis Weismer S. (2020). Comparing Automatic Eye Tracking and Manual Gaze Coding Methods in Young Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Autism Research. 13(2), 271–283. https://doi.org/10.1002/aur.2225
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Pomper R, Ellis Weismer S, Saffran J, Edwards J. (2019). Specificity of Phonological Representations for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 49(8):3351-3363. doi: 10.1007/s10803-019-04054-5.