Category: Babies & Early Childhood (0-5)

PEDAL Seminar: Pretence and Creativity during Childhood and Beyond
26 September 2017
This joint Psychology & Education and PEDAL seminar by Dr Julie Kirkham examines pretend play and creativity in the context of early and middle childhood. Dr Julie Kirkham is a Senior Psychology Lecturer and Programme Leader for the MSc Family and Child Psychology at the University of Chester. Her research interests include children’s symbolic development […]

Play: A window into children’s social worlds
11 September 2017
This was a keynote lecture from world renowned Professor of Educational Psychology, Professor Anthony Pellegrini titled Object Use & Play in Childhood: Development and Possible Social Functions. Professor Pellegrini discussed the potential evolutionary significance of play and the challenges and rewards of getting scientists out of the lab and onto the playground! Professor Anthony Pellegrini […]

Shaping Social Play Behaviour in Interactive Playgrounds
11 September 2017
The introduction of sensing technology in traditional play spaces such as playgrounds has given rise to the possibility of analysing children’s behaviour during actual play. Not only can this help to better understand what is going on during games but when combined with feedback and actuation technology, such as projections or robots, it can be […]

Harnessing New Technology to Better Understand the Family Language Environment
11 September 2017
In this PEDAL presentation, Dr Elian Fink talks about the collaborative project Baby Talk, where they used a light-weight wearable pedometer to record infant-caregiver interactions. Play interactions between infant and caregiver have been studied in developmental psychology under many guises, including attachment behaviours, parental sensitivity and scaffolding. Baby Talk aimed to explore the association between […]

PEDAL Seminar: Self-regulation – Foundation skills for children’s healthy development
31 August 2017
Part of the PEDAL Seminar series, in this seminar PEDAL and the Psychology & Education research group at the Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge come together to discuss the importance of children’s self-regulation skills. This seminar is introduced by Dr David Whitebread, and is presented by Dr Megan McClelland (Hallie Ford Center for Healthy […]

What matters to children themselves when they start school?
6 May 2020
Christine O'Farrelly, Ailbhe Booth (University College Dublin), Mimi Tatlow-Golden (The Open University), and Beth Barker

Supporting families with their children’s behaviour: The Healthy Start, Happy Start Study
6 June 2021
Christine O’Farrelly, Hilary Watt, Daphne Babalis, Marian Bakermans-Kranenburg, Beth Barker, Sarah Byford, Poushali Ganguli, Ellen Grimas, Jane Iles, Holly Mattock, Julia McGinley, Charlotte Phillips, Rachael Ryan, Stephen Scott, Jessica Smith, Alan Stein, Eloise Stevens, Marinus van IJzendoorn, Jane Warwick, Paul Ramchandani.

The protective effects of peer play against mental health problems
27 July 2022
Yiran Vicky Zhao, Jenny Gibson

Symbolic play and autistic children’s structural language development
27 July 2022
Yiran Vicky Zhao, Jenny Gibson

Links between mums’ mental health and children’s pretend play
6 July 2021
Zhen Rao, Beth Barker, Christine O'Farrelly, and Paul Ramchandani