Labs
Infant Communication Lab
The Infant Communication Lab studies the nature and development of the relationship between motor activity, postural stability, communication, and language in infants at risk for autism and infants with no such risk. Current projects focus on four major topics: a) how changes in motor activity and postural stability relate to advances in other developmental domains; b) how motor planning develops over time; c) how communication, gesture, and language develop over time in infants; and d) how caregivers communication with infants changes over time and in relation to advances in motor development.
Director: Jana Iverson, PhD
Location: 3311 Sennott Square
Contact: 412-624-9355
Pittsburgh Early Autism Study
Graduate Student Advisees:
- Samantha Plate
- Joshua Schneider
Education & Training
- PhD, University of Chicago
Research Interest Summary
Research Interests
Representative Publications
LeBarton, E.S. & Iverson, J.M. (2016). Gesture development in toddlers with an older sibling with autism. International Journal of Language and Communication Disorders, 51, 18-30.
Northrup, J.B. & Iverson, J.M. (2015). Vocal coordination during early parent-infant interaction predicts language outcome in high-risk infants. Infancy, 20, 523-547
Parlad̩, M.V. & Iverson, J.M. (2015). The development of coordinated communication in infants at high risk for Autism Spectrum Disorders. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 45, 2218-2234
Koterba, E.A., Leezenbaum, N.B., & Iverson, J.M. (2014). Object exploration in infants with and without risk for autism. Autism, 18, 97-105.
Leezenbaum, N.B., Campbell, S.B., Butler, D.M., & Iverson, J.M. (2014). Maternal verbal responses to communication of infants at low and heightened risk for autism. Autism, 18, 694-703.
LeBarton, E.S. & Iverson, J.M. (2013). Fine motor skill predicts expressive language in infant siblings of children with autism. Developmental Science, 16, 815-827.
Nickel, L.R., ^Thatcher. A.R., Keller, F., Wozniak, R.H., & Iverson, J.M. (2013). Postural development in infants at heightened vs. low risk for Autism Spectrum Disorder. Infancy, 18, 639-661.
Winder, B.M., Wozniak, R.H., *Parlad̩, M.V., & Iverson, J.M. (2013). Spontaneous initiation of communication in infants at low and heightened risk for Autism Spectrum Disorders. Developmental Psychology, 49, 1931-1942.
Iverson, J.M. (2010). Developing language in a developing body: The relationship between motor development and language development. Journal of Child Language, 37, 229-261.
