I conduct research in the broad field of cognitive development, more specifically examining the use of gesture by both child and adult learners and communicators, as well as concept learning by children and adults. I partner extensively with researchers in education, with a focus on development from infancy through to adolescence.

Cognitive development; gesture; learning; communication; early childhood; concept learning

I teach primarily in research methods and statistics. My current teaching duties are on the Honours statistics unit PSYH4418 Design and Statistics IV.

I supervise students on a range of topics, primarily in the areas of:

• Children’s use of gesture in their reporting of previously experienced events,
• The use of gesture in performing novel cognitive tasks, and
• The consequences of both observing and producing gesture for task performance.

I am currently the Chair of the low-risk Human Sciences Research Ethics Committee for the Faculty of Medicine, Health and Human Sciences, and the Co-Director of Research Training in the School of Psychological Sciences.