Assistant Professor (CSE/DPE)
Dr. Eric Jackman Institute of Child Study
Office: 3rd Floor, 56 SPA
Tel: 416-934-4502
Fax: 416-934-4500
patricia.ganea@utoronto.ca
Website: Language and Learning Lab
Keywords
Cognitive development: early symbolic development, theory of mind development; science learning in young children.
Language development: children's understanding of absent references, early word learning, pragmatics development.
Research Interests
My primary research area is early cognitive development. I investigate the processes involved in young children's learning about the world through symbolic means, such as language, pictures, videos, and replica objects. I am especially interested in children's use of language to think and communicate about what is perceptually not present. Developing the ability to communicate about absent objects and events is a major cognitive achievement, one that enables children to learn about the world indirectly. My research is focusing on the social, linguistic and representational factors that influence children’s learning about the world. I am also interested in how children develop an understanding of the pragmatics of language and of social cognition.
Representative Publications
Peer-reviewed journal articles:
Ganea, P. A., Ma, L., & DeLoache, J. S. (2011). Young children’s learning and transfer of biological information from picture books to real animals. Child Development, doi: 10.1111/j.1467-8624.2011.01612.x
Ganea, P. A., Koenig, M. A., Gordon, M.K. (2011). Changing your mind about things unseen: Toddlers’ sensitivity to prior reliability. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology. 109, 445-453.
Saylor, M. M., Ganea, P. A., & Vasquez, M. (2011). What’s mine is mine: Twelve-month-olds use possessive pronouns to identify referents. Developmental Science, 14, 859-864.
Tare, M., Chiong, C., Ganea, P. A., & DeLoache, J. S. (2010). Less is More: How manipulative features affect children’s learning from picture books. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 31, 395-400.
Ganea, P. A. & Harris, P. L. (2010). Not doing what you are told: Early perseverative errors in updating mental representations via language. Child Development, 81, 457-463.
Ganea, P. A., Allen, M. A., Butler, L., Carey, S., & DeLoache, J. S. (2009). Toddlers’ referential understanding of pictures. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 104, 283-295.
Ma, L. & Ganea, P. A. (2009). Dealing with conflicting information: Young children’s reliance on what they see versus what they are told. Developmental Science, 2009, 1-10.
Ganea, P. A., Pickard, M. & DeLoache, J. S. (2008). Transfer between picture books and the real world by very young children. Journal of Cognition and Development, 9, 46-66.
Ganea, P. A., Shutts, K., Spelke, E., & DeLoache, J, S. (2007). Thinking of things unseen: Infants’ use of language to update object representations. Psychological Science, 18(8), 734-739.
Ganea, P. A., & Saylor, M. M. (2007). Infants’ use of shared linguistic information to clarify ambiguous requests. Child Development, 78(2),493-502.
Saylor, M. M., & Ganea, P. A. (2007). Infants interpret ambiguous requests for absent objects. Developmental Psychology, 43(3), 696-704.
Ganea, P. A. (2005). Contextual factors affect absent reference comprehension in 14-montholds. Child Development, 76(5), 989-998.
Ganea, P. A., Lillard, A. S., Turkheimer, E. (2004). Preschooler’s understanding of the role of mental states and action in pretense. Journal of Cognition and Development, 5, 213-238.
Book Chapters:
DeLoache, J. S. & Ganea, P. A. (2009). Symbol-based learning in infancy. In A. Needham & A. Woodward (Eds.), Learning and the infant mind. Oxford, Oxford University Press.
DeLoache, J. S., Ganea, P. A., & Jaswal, V. (2008). Early learning through language. In Colombo J, McCardle P, Freund L (Eds.), Measuring language in infancy. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
DeLoache, J. S., & Ganea, P. A. (2007). The early growth of symbolic understanding and use:A tribute to Ann Brown. In Campione, J. C., Metz, K. E., & Palincsar, A. S.(Eds.), Children’s learning in the laboratory and in the classroom: Essays in honor of Ann Brown. New Jersey, Lawrence Erlbaum & Associates.
