Research

 

I am a 5th year experimental psychology doctoral student working with Dr. Fred Wightman at the University of Louisville and Dr. Derek Houston at Indiana University. My research investigates the implications of individual and experiential differences (e.g., early language experience, memory capacity) for developmental trajectories of language. I am particularly interested in children who learn English at an atypical time or in an atypical fashion, as a window into the plasticity of development. My work thus far has included typically-developing children, children internationally adopted from Eastern Europe and Asia, and deaf children who use cochlear implants.

Currently I am conducting a series of studies focused on early nonverbal cognition and spoken language development in young deaf children who use cochlear implants. A second set of studies focuses on the English language development of internationally-adopted preschoolers and the mediating role of parental language input.

I can be reached by email at carissa DOT shafto AT gmail DOT com.

Click here for my CV 

Education

Ph.D. (Experimental Psychology), University of Louisville, in progress
M.S. (Experimental Psychology), University of Louisville, 2009

B.A. (Psychology), Northeastern University, magna cum laude, 2003
B.S. (Linguistics), Northeastern University, magna cum laude, 2003

Publications

Snedeker, J., Geren, J., & Shafto, C. L.  (in press).  Disentangling age and linguistic experience: A longitudinal study of the acquisition of English in internationally-adopted children. Cognitive Psychology.

Shafto, C. L. & Adelson, J. L.  (in press).  A random intercept regression model using HLM: Cohort analysis of a mathematics curriculum for mathematically promising students.  To appear in G. D. Garson (Ed.), Hierarchical Linear Modeling: Guide and Applications.  Austin, TX: Sage Publications.

Shafto, C. L., Conway, C. M., Field, S. L., & Houston, D. M.  (in press).  Visual sequence learning in infancy: Domain-general and domain-specific associations with language.  Infancy. DOI: 10.1111/j.1532-7078.2011.00085.x.

Snedeker, J., Geren, J., & Shafto, C. L.  (2007).  Starting over: International adoption as a natural experiment in language development. Psychological Science 18, 79-87.

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Manuscripts under Review/in Revision

Shafto, C. L., Houston, D. M., & Bergeson, T. R.  (under review).  Sensory deprivation and cognitive development: Findings from deaf infants.

Shafto, C. L., Geren, J., & Mervis, C. B.  (under revised review).  English language and reading skills of children adopted from Eastern Europe after age 2 1/2 years: A preliminary investigation.

Shafto, C. L., Geren, J., & Snedeker, J.  (in revision).  Running fast, but running behind: English language abilities of children internationally adopted into the US between 2 and 8 years.

Shafto, C. L., Geren, J., & Snedeker, J.  (in revision).  Acquisition rate mediates the effect of maternal input on English vocabulary acquisition in internationally-adopted children.

Selected Funding

NIDCD NRSA Individual Predoctoral Fellowship (F31), January 2011 - June 2013