Tweety Language Development Lab

Dr. Gerken, the director of the Tweety Lab, is a professor of psychology and linguistics. She is also the associate editor of Language Learning and Development. Her main interest is language acquisition and, more specifically, infants' and children's sensitivity to linguistic structure. She is also interested in how language is represented in the mind and the relation between linguistic grammars and language behaviors like comprehension and production.

Carolyn is a postdoctoral fellow in the lab. She completed her Ph.D. in 2010 from the University of Pennsylvania, and spent a year as a postdoc at the UC San Diego Center for Research in Language. Her research concerns how children learn the sounds and words of their native language, and how bilinguals process sounds in both their languages. At the University of Arizona, she is conducting infant studies with LouAnn Gerken, training in Specific Language Impairment research and assessments in Elena Plante's lab, and continuing her collaborations with Daniel Swingley (Penn) and Sarah Creel (UCSD). She also enjoys playing the bassoon, biking all over Tucson, and taking her dog to the park!  Read more about her 7.5 and 14 month infant experiments here!

Kara recently completed her doctoral program in Linguistics at the University of Arizona. She is now a Post-Doctoral Fellow at the University of Alberta, but she is still collaborating with the Tweety Lab on continuations of some of her research projects.  Her main research interests involve the role of prosody (the rhythmic and melodic aspects of speech) in syntax acquisition in infants and adults. She is also conducting experiments on infant music perception. Kara teaches yoga, gardens, and embarks on complicated cooking projects in her free time.  Read more about her experiments here!

Andréa graduated from UC Berkeley with a BA in linguistics in 2008, from Utrecht University with an MA in linguistics in 2010, and is now a third year PhD student in linguistics at the University of Arizona. She is currently researching whether age and phonological experience affects whether phonetic variation is beneficial to word learning. When not in the lab, she likes to travel, cook and bake, hike, and belly dance.  Read more about her experiment here! 

Sara graduated May 2010 from the University of Arizona with a B.S. in Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences. She is currently assisting with the 7.5 month study, the 9 month visual perception study, the 11 and 17 month studies. As the former lab manager of the SLHS Department's L4 Lab, Sara is primarily in charge of handling public matters and sees to the administrative needs of the lab. She has recently decided to return to school to complete prerequisite coursework for medical school, with plans to become an Obstetrician. In her spare time, Sara likes to camp, read, cook, and spend time with her three dogs. She also enjoys photography, geocaching, and cruising the Barrio Viejo on her tricycle.

Jeannette is a fourth-year undergraduate student of Linguistics and Spanish at the University of Arizona. She is currently working in the Tweety Lab on her Honors Thesis in Linguistics and as a research assistant. In the past, Jeannette was primarily responsible for the scheduling and running of the 9 month Razanne study and the 14 month study. Beginning this Fall, Jeannette will be working on a new 9-month visual perception study for her Honor's thesis. When she's not doing homework, Jeannette enjoys reading, cooking, baking, organizing, hanging out with family, and playing video games with her husband.

Lauren is currently double majoring in Linguistics and Anthropology at the University of Arizona. She is currently assisting with the 2-6 year old Phonetic Variation study. In her free time, Lauren enjoys reading, crocheting, and visiting her family in San Diego.

Michelle is an undergraduate at the UofA studying linguistics and speech pathology. She enjoys reading, ballet, ethnography, learning new languages, baking, relaxing outside, and swimming.

Lark is a fourth-year undergraduate student of Psychology and Turkish at the UA. Having spent the first decade of her life living in Istanbul, Turkey, she grew up to be fluent in both English and Turkish as a true bilingual. She hopes to use her studies to conduct research on bilingualism in the future. Her favorite pastimes include ballet, singing, performing, attending concerts, and traveling.

Celeste will begin working in the Tweety Lab in August of 2013. Check back for her updated biography!

Kimmy will begin working in the Tweety Lab in August of 2013. Check back for her updated biography!