Infant research

For years babies were thought to be passive observers. However, new research has revealed that this is far from true thanks to the many ways we can study pre-verbal infants.

The methods we use to study infants include:

• eye-tracking

• electroencephalogram (EEG), a non-invasive sensor net which measures brain activity

• behavioural techniques.

Through these methods, we can gain a greater understanding of how infants process information, interact and learn from the world around them.

Australian children speech database

This project involves creating a speech database of children’s vocabulary development, specifically for Australian English. There are several children speech databases in the world, but there is yet to be one for Australian English. At Swinburne Babylab, we are collecting a dataset of spoken language from Australian children aged one to three years old.

This research will reveal how Australian children develop early language skills.

Our past research has addressed questions such as:

• How do babies see, think about and remember faces and objects?

• How good are babies at detecting changes in what they hear and see?

• How does brain activity change from babyhood to toddlerhood?