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EDUCATION
Ph.D 2006 Clark
University (Worcester, MA): Developmental
Psychology
Toddler’s experimental usage of novel verbs: Relations
with naturalistic talk
M.A. 2002
University of Connecticut (Storrs, CT): Developmental Psychology
Children’s
early comprehension and production of verb-argument structure and
aspectual morphology
B.A. 2000
Clark University (Worcester, MA): Highest Honors in Psychology, Magna
cum Laude
Children use
constructional variations as perspective-taking devices: An examination
of verb-argument structure in peer discourse
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
2006- Assistant Professor
University of North Carolina at Asheville (Asheville, NC)
2005-2006 Visiting Faculty Appointment
Hamilton
College (Clinton,
NY)
2003-2005 Adjunct Faculty Appointments
Regis College (Weston, MA)
Quinnipiac University (Hamden, CT)
University of Connecticut (West
Hartford, CT)
2001-2005 Teaching Assistant Appointments
Clark University (Worcester,
MA)
University
of Connecticut (Storrs, CT)
2001-2002 UConn Mentorship Connection
Mentor for advanced high school
students during summer research program.
2003
College Teaching Certificate Program
Nominated to participate in Teaching
Certificate Program.
RESEARCH
EXPERIENCE
SCLD LIPS
(Socialization, Communication, & Language Development: Language as
Indexing Perspective and Stance)
Research Group at Clark University.
Participated
in research group examining the role language plays in children’s
socialization from a developmental-functionalist perspective, where we
presented and discussed current research articles, and collaborated on
all ongoing projects. Trained graduate and undergraduate students on
methodology, transcription, data analysis, and lab management.
Doctoral
student
(Fall 2002 – present). Recruited toddlers and their parents from local
child care centers and playgroups for mothers. Carried out novel verb
paradigm and naturalistic observation at each child’s home.
Transcribed
data and trained undergraduate assistant in data transcription and
reliability coding. Created a coding scheme, coded children’s language
use, and carried out qualitative data analysis and interpretation.
Undergraduate
honor’s thesis student
(Fall 1999-Spring 2000). Collected a naturalistic language data set on
peer interaction with graduate students, created a coding scheme for
grammatical construction usage, conducted qualitative data analysis and
interpretation.
Undergraduate research assistant
(Fall 1998-Spring 2000). Worked with graduate students on coding
schemes for mental state verb usage in English- and German-speaking
samples, qualitative data analysis, and data interpretation of existing
transcripts of naturalistic mother-child interactions.
PLUM
(Parenting, Language, & Understanding of Minds) Research Group at Clark
University
Research
assistant
(Fall 2002-Spring 2005). Worked on a NICHD Grant to Dr. Penelope Vinden,
“Low-Income Families: Parenting, Maternal Language, and Mind.”
Recruited participants, administered theory of mind tasks and the TELD,
helped create coding schemes, collaborated on qualitative data analysis
and interpretation. Co-supervised and trained undergraduate research
assistants.
UConn Child
Language Lab Research Group at the University of Connecticut, Storrs
Research
assistant
(Fall 2000-Summer 2002). Worked on a UConn Research Foundation Large
Grant to Dr. Letitia Naigles, “Investigating the relations between
lexicon and grammar in early child language via a comparison of
toddlers’ comprehension and production.” Supervised and trained
undergraduate and new graduate students on lab management, participant
recruitment, use of the intermodal preferential looking paradigm, data
coding, interrater reliability, quantitative data analysis, and data
interpretation.
PUBLICATIONS
Smith, M. (under review). Do
familiar verb constructions inform novel verb generalization in 2- and
3-year-olds? Evidence from everyday talk and elicited production.
Smith, M., &
Budwig, N. (in press 2008). The development of verb-argument structure in
child discourse: On the use of construction variation in peer
play. In A. Tyler, Y. Kim, & M. Takada
(Eds.), Language in the context of use: Usage-based approaches to
language and language learning. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.
Naigles, L.,
Bavin, E., Smith, M. (2005). Toddlers recognize verbs in novel
situations and sentences. Developmental Science,
8(5), 424-431.
Naigles, L.,
Bavin, E., Smith, M. (2002). Generalizing novel verbs to different
structures: Evidence for the importance of understanding meaning.
Proceedings of the 26th University Conference on Language
Development (pp. 417-428). Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Press.
PRESENTATIONS
Smith, M. (2008, June). Do
familiar verb constructions inform novel verb generalization in 2- and
3-year-olds? Evidence from everyday talk and elicited production. Paper
presented at the meeting of the Jean Piaget Society, Quebec City,
Quebec, CA.
Cenko, E., Budwig, N., Hu, J., Smith, M., & Goodspeed, S.
(2006, June). The development of verb constructions: A comparative
analysis of Head Start and middle class children. Poster
presented at the meeting of the Jean Piaget Society, Baltimore,
Maryland.
Hu, J., Budwig, N., & Smith, M. (2005). Responses to
toddlers’ verb constructions: Rethinking the role of caregiver
input. Poster presented at the meeting of the Cognitive
Development Society, San Diego, California.
Smith, M. & Budwig, N. (2005). Children’s flexibility
with novel verbs: A context-sensitive training study. Poster
presented at the meeting of the Society for Research in
Child Development, Atlanta, Georgia.
Naigles, L., Wagner, L., & Smith, M. (2004). Early
comprehension of aspect morphology. Paper presented at ISIS,
Chicago, IL.
Trionfi, G., Smith, M., & Vinden, P. (2003, June).
Requests: A mechanism for the sib effect? Poster presented at
the meeting of the Jean Piaget Society, Chicago, Illinois.
Trionfi, G., Vinden, P., Smith, M. (2003, April). The
sib effect: Do siblings requests play a part? Paper presented
at the meeting of the Society for Research in Child
Development, Tampa, Florida.
Smith, M. & Budwig, N. (2003, February). The
development of verb-argument structure in child discourse: On the
use of construction variation in peer play. Paper presented
at the Georgetown University Round Table on Languages and
Linguistics, Washington, D.C.
Smith, M., Naigles, L., & Wagner, L. (2002, November).
Comprehension and production of aspectual morphology in 22-
and 26-month olds. Paper presented at the meeting of the Boston
University Conference on Language Development, Boston, MA.
Smith, M., Naigles, L., Bavin, E., & Wagner, L. (2002,
July). IPL comprehension of verb-argument structure in 22- and
26-month-olds. Paper presented at the meeting of the International
Association for Child Language, Madison, Wisconsin.
Smith, M., Naigles, L., & Bavin, E. (2001, May). How
well does the MacArthur communicative development inventory predict
performance on preferential looking tests of argument structure? Paper
presented at the meeting of the Jean Piaget Society,
Berkeley, California.
Smith, M. (2001, April). Children use constructional
variations as perspective-taking devices in peer discourse. Poster
presented at the meeting of the Society for Research in
Child Development, Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Smith, M. (2000, October). Children's use of
constructional variations in peer discourse. Poster presented at the
meeting of the New England Psychological Association,
Lewiston, Maine.
Budwig, N., Moissinac, L., & Smith, M. (2000, July).
How literal is desire in two year-olds' interactions with their
caregivers?: A comparative analysis of German and American
dyads. Paper presented as part of a symposium led by J.
Bernicot and S. Ervin-Tripp at the 7th International Pragmatics
Association Conference, Budapest.
Smith, M., Budwig, N., Moissinac, L., & Pinet, M. (2000,
June). Conceptual universals and cultural variations in constructing
self-other relations: A comparative analysis of desire and belief talk
in American and German caregiver-child interactions. Paper
presented at the meeting of the Jean Piaget Society, Montreal.
Budwig, N., Smith, M., Moissinac, L., & Pinet, M. (2000,
January). Conceptual universals and cultural variations: Desire and
belief talk in American and German caregiver-infant interactions. Paper
presented at the New England Mini-Conference on Infant Studies, Clark
University, Worcester, MA.
Smith, M., & Budwig, N. (1999, October). Children's
developing talk about desire: The use of want and need in mothers' and
children's talk. Poster presented at the
meeting of the New England Psychological Association, Hartford, CT.
AWARDS & FELLOWSHIPS
Hiatt Summer Research Fellowship, Clark
University
n
2004
Student Travel Grant, International Association for the
Study of Child Language Conference
n
2002
Summer Doctoral Fellowship, University of
Connecticut
n 2001-2002
Zeaman Graduate Fellowship in Psychology, University of
Connecticut
n 2000-2001
Predoctoral Fellowship, University of
Connecticut
n 2000-2002
Bell-Gurel Faculty-Student Award in Psychology (with Dr.
Nancy Budwig), Clark University
n
2000
Herman A. Witkin Award for creativity in research in
psychology, Clark University
n
1999-2000
Clark University Merit
Award
n
1996-2000
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