The Wolfson Centre for Child Development and Family Research 

About

The suite supports a clinic alongside the research of seven principal investigators funded by grants from the ESRC, the Wellcome Trust and the Leverhulme Trust.  The research conducted within the Wolfson Suite covers a wide range of topics including cognitive development, social development, language development, and parent-child interaction. 

Projects

• Mind mindedness in research and practice - Professor Elizabeth Meins and her group investigate the nature and consequences of parent-child interaction. Meins’ current project is funded by an ESRC Professorial Fellowship and is evaluating the efficacy of a smartphone app in improving the quality of infant–mother interaction in a sample of teenage mothers and their children. For further information about this project, see the Mind Mindedness website. 
• Understanding children’s gestures - Dr Elizabeth Kirk conducts ESRC-funded research on infant gesture and communication. Her work focuses on the role of gesture in parent-child communication, symbolic development and creativity.
• Language development in typical and atypical development - Dr Emma Hayiou-Thomas and her group conduct research into typical and atypical language development in children. They use experimental and behavioural genetic designs to examine the factors underlying language disorders such as specific language impairment and dyslexia. Dr Lisa Henderson and Professor Gareth Gaskell and their group use the eye-tracking facilities within the Wolfson Suite in Leverhulme-funded research to explore influences on children’s word learning.
• Social Origins - Dr Harriet Over and her group conduct experimental research into the origins of social cognition and behaviour in young children. Their work is funded by the ESRC’s Future Research Leaders programme.
• York Educational Assessment Clinic (YEAC) - Dr Sophie Brigstocke runs the YEAC, which assesses children for developmental disorders such as dyslexia, specific learning impairment, dyscalculia and other learning difficulties. The clinic aims to translate cutting edge research conducted within the department of psychology into clinical practice, and a large number of the clinic’s clients volunteer to take part in research studies.  More information about the clinic is available here. 

Who We Are

• Dr Elena Geangu
• Professor Gareth Gaskell 
• Dr Emma Hayiou-Thomas
• Dr Lisa Henderson
• Dr Bailey House
• Professor Elizabeth Meins
• Professor Harriet Over

Visiting The Wolfson Suite

The Wolfson Suite is located on the second floor of the Berrick Saul Building on the University of York campus. There is an elevator to the second floor that enables easy access for families with pushchairs.