On May 30th, we celebrated an accomplishment at the Institute. The Joint Visual Attention Lab under the direction of Dr. Rechele Brooks has had more than 3000 infants participate in studies.
Dr. Brooks started studying infants and the development of gaze following at the University in 1999. Her work with Dr. Andrew Meltzoff has shown that following others' gaze gives infants a nonverbal means to connect to and learn from their social partners, as well as providing important social-cognitive support for acquiring language. The research has been supported by funding by National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, UW's Royalty Research Fund, and the Bill & Melinda Gates' Foundation. The participation of 3000 infants shows the depth of support for research from parents in the community.
