Research Overview

My overarching research interest is in how we learn about the world through language and how we communicate successfully, how is it that can people make sense of the signs and sounds an other person is making. Communication relies on more than producing and understanding words; there is a lot of meaning that we need to infer beyond what a speaker has chosen to say.

I am interested in questions about:

• how listeners make sense of the things people say?

• how speakers choose what to say?

• what processes underlie inferencing?

• what is the developmental trajectory of inferencing across the lifespan?

• how do our expectations shape communication?