QualificationsPostdoctoral Fellow, NIMH at University of Denver, Developmental Psychology, 1987. Ph.D., Clark University, Psychology, 1983. M.A., Clark University, Psychology, 1980. B.A., San Francisco State University, Psychology, 1978. Expertise and Research InterestsThe majority of my research efforts have focused on the relations between infants' acquisition of motor skills (e.g., crawling and reaching) and intellectual development. A particular focus has been the onset of self-produced locomotion as an organizer of spatial-cognitive development. I have invested substantial effort in exploring new methodologies to analyze the acquisition of infant locomotor skills. Human movement is very complex; to measure this behavior I worked to develop a state-of-the-art 3-dimensional, automatic tracking system built around computer-drive video-image-processing techniques that borrowed heavily from the fields of sports medicine and sports sciences. My goal has been to create better measures of motor-skill acquisition so that I could examine relations between motor development and intellectual development. I have pursued a separate research path in collaboration with researchers at both the University of Denver and the Institute for Behavior Genetics at the University of Colorado, Boulder. We use a midtwin/midparent research strategy for studying the stability and continuity of the intellectual functioning across development, especially as assessed with newer, information-processing measures of infant performance (e.g., infant recognition memory and visual reaction time). This research involved the collection of data from a large sample of MZ and DZ twin infants and their parents. Adult measures of intellectual functioning were used as a proxy to estimate the later intellectual functioning of the twin infants. A third research path extends my interest in action-based ways of knowing in infancy to the question of how infants and toddlers acquire an understanding of the future, or what will happen next in their world. This is an exciting new area of research, but one that is both theoretically and empirically wanting. We have theories and methods in developmental psychology for studying memory and how we make sense of past experiences, but not for examining the origins of how we prepare and organize our behavior for future events and activities. This behavior is typified by what we commonly call planning, problem-solving, goal-orientation, set, and intentionality. As a foray into these uncharted waters, my collaborators and I adopted an interview and survey research approach that is quite a departure from our typical laboratory methods. We adopted this approach, because, surprisingly, there was no existing descriptive or normal data about everyday future-orientation in the early years. We interviewed parents of young children to ascertain what everyday, observable behaviors (both language and nonlanguage-based) in the first three years of life might indicate when and how an understanding of the future emerges. A related research program that is in the initial stages of development reflects my efforts in an exciting new area that I plan to pursue actively in the years ahead. I received funding from the MacArthur Foundation to study the development of children's temporal representations for events in past, present, and future time. One of the basic questions that I am asking in this research program concerns how children think about events in the future. A central goal is to uncover the similarities and differences in the ways that children represent future actions and events compared to their representations of actions and events in past and present time. This line of research is directed at both empirical and theoretical issues related to how children come to think about and understand events in time. A unifying theme that runs throughout my various research programs concerns how infants, toddlers, and young children organize their knowledge around experiences that are action-based and are goal-oriented, be it the spatial orientation that is required when a baby crawls across a room to find her favorite toy or an older child's consideration of the order in which he will do daily activities tomorrow. These are areas of research that I think are central to cognitive development, have received little empirical investigation, and afford the potential for conceptual progress, because relevant theories are primitive, at best. My research efforts have been and will continue to be focused on understanding more about the development of action-based, goal-oriented behavior. Cross-departmental interests: Education, Museum studies, Anthropology Foreign interests: France Other ExpertiseAcademic Experience: - 2001-2004 Susan and Donald Sturm Professorship for Excellence in Teaching, University of Denver - 2000 Colorado Professor of the Year, Council for the Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) and the Carnegie Foundation (competitive selection) - 1999 - 2000 Carnegie Scholar, The Pew National Fellowship Program for Carnegie Scholars, Carnegie Academy for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, Pew Charitable Trusts and Carnegie Foundation - 1995 - 1996 American Association for the Advancement of Science Congressional Science Fellow, Esther Katz Rosen Endowed Congressional Fellowship in Child Policy, American Psychological Association, American Psychology Foundation (competitive selection)-- I served as a special legislative aide ineducation policy on the Senate Labor and Human Resources Committee for Senator Paul Simon (D-IL) - 1993 United Methodist Church University Scholar/Teacher of the Year Award, University of Denver; I have had experience with the following funding agencies: NICHHD(F), ADAMH(F), NRSA/PHS(F), NIMH, NSF, BRSG(F), MacArthur Foundation(F), March of Dimes Foundation(F) Business Experience: Gerry Co., Denver, Colorado. Consulted on the design and utility of infant walker devices Media Experience: I have given numerous interviews on all aspects of children's development issues with broadcast and print media (e.g., Boston Globe, L.A. Times, Washington Post, Denver Post, NBC and ABC affiliates in Denver) Future ResearchCurrent and future research is aimed at understanding the developmental origins of future orientation in young children. Psychology has generated theories and much empirical research about past thinking (e.g., memory) and how we respond to the present, but little research has been focused on the development of future-oriented processes (e.g., anticipation, expectation formation, planning). KeywordsCOS Keywords:Anthropology, Cognitive Psychology, Computer and Information Sciences, Developmental Psychology, Early Childhood Development, France, Infants, Museums, Psychology.Additional Terms:Computer Instrumentation, Developmental Psychology, Early Childhood, Infancy, Intellectual Development, Mentee, Mentor, Motor Development, Spatial Cognition, Spatial-Cognition, Time Knowledge.Languages(Reading, Writing, Speaking)French: (Functional, Basic, Basic) MembershipsAmerican Psychological Association, Division 7 Association for Psychological Science Cognitive Development Society International Society on Infant Studies Society for Research in Child Development Honors and Awards2001-2004,
Sturm Professorship for Excellence in Education,
Sturm Family Foundation,
University of Denver
2000, Colorado Professor of the Year,
CASE (Council for the Advancement and Support of Education; Carnegie Foundation,
University of Denver
1999-2000,
Carnegie Scholar,
The Pew National Fellowship Program for Carnegie Scholars, Carnegie Foundation,
The Carnegie Academy for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning,
Scholoraship of Teaching and Learning in Web-based pedagogy
1995-1996,
American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)Congressional Science Fellow & American Psychological Association Esther Katz Rosen Endowed Congressional Fellowship in Child Policy,
American Psychological Association,
U.S. Senate Labor and Human Relations Committee,
Child Policy: Education, Health, Welfare, Literacy
1993, United Methodist Church University Scholar/Teacher of the Year,
University of Denver
Previous Positions1993-1995, Mayor's Advisory Committee on Day Care, City of Denver
1992-1995, Member,
Children's Museum of Denver,
Program Committee
1985-1987, Individual USPHS Postdoctoral Fellow,
University of Denver
1983-1985, NIMH Institutional Postdoctoral Trainee,
University of Denver
Funding Received
Publications
Profile DetailsLast Updated: 4/11/2004 COS Expertise ID #299410 Reference this profile directly: http://myprofile.cos.com/bensonj10 Individual Expertise profile of Janette B. Benson, Copyright Janette B. Benson. © COS ExpertiseTM, 2008, ProQuest LLC All rights reserved. |