Kelsey L. Frewin

Hello, I’m Dr Kelsey Frewin. I’m a postdoctoral researcher in developmental psychology and my research explores how babies come to understand objects , actions , and the words their parents use to describe them.

Specifically, I research early cognitive development in infancy, focusing on when and how babies learn words and the role that access to language plays in how babies learn to recognise objects and divide up the world around them.

PhD Research

I completed my doctoral studies at the Cardiff University Centre for Human Developmental Science in 2023, with Sarah Gerson, Chiara Gambi and Ross Vanderwert, exploring when babies start to understand their first verbs and links between their verb knowledge and motor development.

You can read about more my PhD research here.

Postdoctoral Research

Since 2023, I have been a postdoctoral researcher at the University of East Anglia investigating infant object categorisation as part of the Baby Language & Conceptual Knowledge (BLoCKS) team, lead by Teodora Gliga. In this work, I have been figuring out which object categories – such as books, balls, and cows – babies recognise from their experiences at home, using machine learning approaches to infant EEG.

I have also been working with deaf babies born to hearing families to understand whether access to language helps babies learn about these categories.

You can read more about what I’ve been up to with BLoCKS here.

Methods

Across my research, I use a range of techniques to explore early development including infant EEG and eye-tracking, caregiver-infant interaction, standardised measures of development (such as the Mullen Scales of Early Learning and Preschool Language Scale), and caregiver report measures.

Get in Touch

If you’d like to find out more about my work, there is more detail available in the Publications and Research pages.

I’m always happy to hear from other researchers and curious parents! Feel free to email me at [email protected].