Megan Burkhardt-Reed, PhD
President’s Postdoctoral Fellow, UCLA (she/her)
About Me
I am a President’s Postdoctoral Fellow at University of California, Los Angeles. I am based in the Emergence of Communication Laboratory (PI: Anne Warlaumont, Communication) and the Language and Cognitive Development Laboratory (PI: Catherine Sandhofer, Developmental Psychology).
My primary line of research focuses on better understanding how children acquire and develop language and the potential roles of early communicative behaviors in the origin and evolution of language.
Featured Publications
Burkhardt-Reed, M.M. & Oller, D.K. (in resubmission). Frequencies and functions of vocalizations and gestures in the second year of life. Submitted to PLOS ONE: August 22, 2023; Resubmitted to journal: February 18, 2024
Long, H.L. Ramsay, G., Griebel, U., Bene, E.R., Bowman, D.D., Burkhardt-Reed, M.M., Oller, D.K. (2022). Perspectives on the origin of language: Infants vocalize most during independent vocal play but produce their most speech-like vocalizations during vocal turn taking. PLOS ONE, 17(12), e0279395.
Burkhardt-Reed, M.M., Long, H.L., Bowman, D.D., Bene, E.R., & Oller, D.K. (2021). The origin of language and relative roles of voice and gesture in early communication development. Infant Behavior and Development, 65, 101648.
Long, H. L., Bowman, D.D., Yoo, H., Burkhardt-Reed, M. M., Bene, E. R., & Oller, D. K. (2020). Social and non-social functions of infant vocalizations. PLOS ONE, 15(8), 1-18.