Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley, 1977 Professor Member, Developmental Psychology Program Dean, College of Arts and Sciences ladamson@gsu.edu 404-413-5114 750 Urban Life (laboratory) and 741 General Classroom (administrative)

My research examines children’s communication development from early moments of mutual alertness to symbol-infused conversations. I have been particularly interested in the developmental transformation of the structuring of attention and topics during social interactions. Through the study of both typical and atypical developmental paths, I hope to contribute to theoretical understandings of early social and cognitive development and to inform applied efforts to facilitate communication and language acquisition.

Currently, my primary project is a NIH-funded longitudinal investigation of the development of joint attention after infancy that documents how the focus of shared attention expands as symbols infuse social interactions. With my long-standing colleague Roger Bakeman and a team of students and research staff, I am systematically observing typically developing children, some of whom are unusually low and high talkers, and young children with developmental syndromes including autism and Down syndrome. We are especially interested in understanding how variations in when children begin to speak and in the integrity of joint attention affect the development of different communicative functions such as interacting, requesting, commenting, and narrating and how young children begin to converse about the past and the future, to discuss beliefs and desires, and to read, write, and draw. In addition, I am collaborating with MaryAnn Romski and Rose Sevcik to document the effects of augmented language interventions on the course of early communication development in young children who are at high risk for delayed language acquisition.

During the past few years, I have also become increasingly involved in efforts that foster interdisciplinary and international educational and research collaborations. To this end, I am a founding member of the Center for Research in Atypical Development and Learning (CRADL), and I am the principal contact person for two university internal grants, a Research Program Enhancement grant that helps to fund graduate research assistants who study atypical communication development and an International Strategic Initiative grant for establishing social and behavioral science collaborations in South Africa.

Representative Publications

Adamson, L. B., Bakeman, R., & Deckner, D. F. (2005). Variations in shared attention and language development. In L. Namy (Ed.), Symbol development and symbol use. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.

Romski, M. A., Sevcik, R. A., Adamson, L. B., & Bakeman, R. (2005). Communication patterns of individuals with moderate or severe cognitive disabilities: Interactions with unfamiliar partners. American Journal on Mental Retardation, 110, 226-238.

Adamson, L. B., Bakeman, R., & Deckner, D. F. (2004). The development of symbol-infused joint engagement. Child Development, 75, 1171-1187.

Adamson, L. B., Bakeman, R., & Deckner, D. F. (2004). Patterns of joint attention development after infancy. In Y. Oyabu, M. Tanaka, & H. Itoh (Eds.), Development and disorder of joint attention. Tokyo: Kawashima-shoten.

Sevcik, R.A., Romski, M. A, & Adamson, L.B. (2004). Research directions in augmentative communication for preschool children: Case example and research directions. Disability and Rehabilitation, 26, 1323-1329.

Adamson, L. B., & Frick, J. E. (2003). The Still-Face: A history of a shared experimental paradigm. A target article, Infancy, 4, 451-473.

Adamson, L. B., McArthur, D., Markov, Y., Dunbar, B., & Bakeman, R. (2001). Autism and joint attention: Young children’s responses to maternal bids. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 22, 439-453.

Adamson, L. B., & Bakeman, R. (1999). Viewing variations in language development: The communication play protocol. Augmentative and Alternative Communication (Newsletter for ASHA Division 12), 8, 2-4.

Adamson, L. B., & Russell, C. L. (1999). Emotion regulation and the emergence of joint attention. In P. Rochat (Ed.), Early social cognition: Understanding others in the first months of life (pp. 281-297). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

Adamson, L. B., & Chance, S. (1998). Coordinating attention to people, objects, and symbols. In A. M. Wetherby, S. F. Warren, & J. Reichle (Eds.), Transitions in prelinguistic communication: Preintentional to intentional and presymbolic to symbolic (pp. 15-37). Baltimore, MD: Brookes.

Adamson, L. B., Foster, M. A., Roark, M. L., & Reed, D. B. (1998). Doing a science project: Gender differences during childhood. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 35, 845-857.

Adamson, L. B., & Romski, M. A. (Eds.) (1997). Communication and language acquisition: Discoveries from atypical development. Baltimore, MD: Brookes. Includes Adamson, Order and disorder: Classical developmental theories and atypical communication development. (pp. 2-23).

Adamson, L. B. (1995). Communication development during infancy. Volume in the Advanced Developmental Series. Madison, WI: Brown and Benchmark. Re-released in 1996 by Westview Press. Boulder Co. Japanese translation by Y. Oyabu and M. Tanaka published by Kawashima Shoten in 1999.

Adamson, L. B. (1992). Variations of early language use. In L. T. Winegar & J. Valsiner (Eds.), Children's development within social contexts: Vol. 1, Metatheory and theory (pp. 123-141). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

Adamson, L. B., Romski, M. A., Deffebach, K., & Sevcik, R. A. (1992). Symbol vocabulary and the focus of conversations: Augmenting language development for youth with mental retardation. Journal of Speech and Hearing Research, 35, 1333-1343.

Adamson, L. B., & Bakeman, R. (1991). The development of shared attention during infancy. In R. Vasta (Ed.), Annals of Child Development, Vol. 8 (pp. 1-41). London, England: Kingsley.

Adamson, L. B., & Dunbar, B. (1991). Communication development of young children with tracheostomies. Augmentative and Alternative Communication, 7, 275-283.

In addition to the research collaborations with colleagues, I have guided with several students through all phases of a research study. Listed below are some of the journal articles I have published with students:

Deckner, D. F., Adamson, L. B., & Bakeman, R. (in press). Child and maternal contributions to shared reading: Effects on language and literacy. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology.

McArthur, D., Adamson, L.B., & Deckner, D. F. (in press). As stories become familiar: Mother-child conversations during shared reading. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly.

Deckner, D. F., Adamson, L. B., & Bakeman, R. (2003). Rhythm in mother-infant interactions. Infancy, 4, 201-217.

Prezbindowki, A. K., Adamson, L. B., & Lederberg, A. R.. (1998). Joint attention in deaf and hearing 22-month-old children and their hearing mothers. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 19, 377-387.

Russell, C. L., Bard, K. A., & Adamson, L. B. (1997). Social referencing by young chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes). Journal of Comparative Psychology, 111, 185-193.

McArthur, D., & Adamson, L. B. (1996). Joint attention in pre-verbal children: Autism and developmental language disorder. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 26, 481-496.

Deffebach, K., & Adamson, L. B. (1994). Teaching referential and social-regulative words to toddlers: Mothers' use of metalingual language. First Language, 14, 249-261.

Rosen, W. A., Adamson, L. B., & Bakeman, R. (1992). An experimental investigation of infant social referencing: Maternal messages and gender differences. Development Psychology, 28, 1172-1178.

Smith, C. B., Adamson, L. B., & Bakeman, R. (1988). Interactional predictors of early language, First Language, 8, 143-156.

Jones, C. P. & Adamson, L. B. (1987). Language use in mother-child and mother-child-sibling interactions. Child Development, 58, 356-366.