Jenny Saffran, PhD

Position title: Letters & Science Mary Herman Rubinstein Professor, Psychology

Jenny Saffran, PhD

PhD, University of Rochester

Contact Information

Waisman Center Room 538A
1500 Highland Avenue
Madison, WI 53705
608.263.5792
jenny.saffran@wisc.edu
Infant Learning Lab

Research Statement

How do babies learn language? We approach this question through lab-based experiments designed to reveal the learning abilities that infants bring to this challenging task. Research foci include statistical learning, or the means by which infants track patterns and regularities in the input, and its relationship to other cognitive processes such as prediction and active sampling. We are also very involved in questions concerning the nature of the knowledge acquired during language learning, including what words actually mean to babies, the environmental input that shapes word knowledge, and experience-driven individual differences. Finally, we actively collaborate with researchers who have extensive expertise in developmental disabilities in order to better understand diverse developmental trajectories in language learning.

Research Topics:

Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Child Development, Language, Multilingualism

Selected Publications

PubMed