The single most important job that developing organisms have is to master their environments. Learning is the driving mechanism that supports this process of mastery. In this symposium, we will explore biobehavioral mechanisms underlying such learning across development. Beginning in early infancy, Dr. Natalie Brito will present her work exploring links between language exposure, resting EEG and learning outcomes. Next, Dr. Dima Amso will demonstrate how the fundamental precursor for learning, attention, is differentially deployed by children in 2D vs. naturalistic environments. Then, moving through childhood and adolescent stages of development, Dr. Bridget Callaghan will examine the maturation of hippocampal encoding networks during an associative learning task, and Dr. Jennifer Silvers will discuss how the brain encodes safety and fear cues during observational learning of parents and strangers. Using a translational bridge, Dr. Heidi Meyer will then discuss how learning safety gates the expression of fear in adolescence. The innovative work presented in this symposium cuts across several domains (affective, cognitive, virtual, naturalistic), and uses a variety of assessment tools (behavior, EEG, MRI), to bring forth insights on the science of learning. Such insights are highly valued by funding agencies as we strive to better the educational and life prospects of children. Considering that learning is a core instigator of development, this symposium will be of wide interest to the members of ISDP. Top notch female researchers based at 5 different institutions across the United States, and who hail from around the globe, strengthen the international relevance of the symposium.
Presenters:
- Dima Amso, Brown University, Providence, USA
- Natalie Brito, New York University, New York City, USA
- Bridget Callaghan, Columbia University, New York, USA
- Jennifer Silvers, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, USA
- Heidi Meyer, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York City, USA
Presentation 1: ASSOCIATIONS AMONG SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS, HOME LANGUAGE ENVIRONMENT, AND RESTING EEG DURING INFANCY, N.H. Brito, W.P. Fifer, J. Isler and K.G. Noble ABSTRACT
Presentation 2: LEARNING TO ATTEND: 2D AND NATURALISTIC ENVIRONMENTS REQUIRE DIFFERENT LEARNING SYSTEMS. D. Amso and Thomas Serre ABSTRACT
Presentation 3: MEMORY MATURATION: UNDERSTANDING THE ROLE OF THE HIPPOCAMPUS IN LONG-TERM MEMORY FORMATION ACROSS DEVELOPMENT, B.L. Callaghan and N. Tottenham ABSTRACT
Presentation 4: OBSERVATIONAL LEARNING AS A MECHANISM FOR TRANSGENERATIONAL TRANMISSION OF FEAR, Jennifer Silver and Nim Tottenham ABSTRACT
Presentation 5: AGE DIFFERENCES IN THE IMPACT OF SAFETY SIGNALS ON FEAR EXPRESSION AND REGULATION, H. Meyer and F. Lee ABSTRACT