College of Liberal Arts

Using game technology to help adolescents on the autism spectrum

Oct 26, 2021

People on the autism spectrum often struggle to interpret facial cues, partially because they are unable to recognize how eye gaze direction is used to predict the actions and intentions of others. This can have huge implications for understanding behavior, language learning, and social interaction…

Penn State receives a five-year, nearly $6 million grant to study factors promoting early childhood development

Oct 18, 2021

The effects of genetics, home environment, and prenatal substance use on child health and brain development are largely unknown, even though pregnancy and early childhood are incredibly important periods of growth. To address this knowledge gap, Penn State was recently awarded a five-year, $5.8…

Pérez-Edgar named editor-in-chief of psychology journal

Sep 23, 2021

Koraly Pérez-Edgar, McCourtney Professor of Child Studies, professor of psychology, and associate director of the Social Science Research Institute, was recently named editor-in-chief of Developmental Psychology, one of the flagship journals of the American Psychological Association. Her new role…

Increasing linguistic diversity to advance human-technology interaction

Sep 22, 2021

People are becoming increasingly dependent on human technologies such as smart voice assistants and computer-based tutoring for access to governmental, community, health, and educational services. However, the technology is largely based on standard American English and conflicts with the diversity…

Childhood gender nonconformity in boys linked to early androgens

Sep 10, 2021

In laboratory animals, sex differences in behavior occur because different hormone levels produced by males and females influence patterns of gene expression in the developing brain. However, the origins of sex differences in human behavior are not as well understood, according to a team of…