The University of Sheffield
Department of Psychology

Dr Jane Herbert BA, PhD

photo of Dr Jane HerbertAddress
The University of Sheffield
Sheffield S10 2TP
UK
Tel: (+44) 0114 222 6512      
Fax: (+44) 0114 276 6515
Email J.S.Herbert@sheffield.ac.uk
Room: LG-6

 Qualifications

BA(Hons) (University of Otago New Zealand), PhD (University of Otago New Zealand)

Teaching and administrative duties

I am module organiser for module 328: Learning and Memory in Young Children and also teach on module 249. I am also p/g Tutor Soc Sci.

Research Interests

My research focuses on changes in learning and memory as a function of brain maturation and social experience during infancy and early childhood.

Imitation procedure
To study this, my colleagues and I have primarily used an imitation procedure where infants are shown a series of actions with novel stimuli and their ability to reproduce these actions is assessed immediately or after a delay. My research reveals that infants have very specific and highly detailed memories which can be retrieved over relatively long periods.

However, memory retrieval fails at young ages when there are changes in the details of the environment or the stimuli between the learning experience and the subsequent retrieval of this information. For example, 6-month-old infants´ memory fails if a new person is present when they are retrieving their memory for a puppet game. My recent research has examined how the ability to retrieve information in new situations changes when infants begin to crawl and when they begin to talk.

Facilitating learning
In recent research, I have been investigating the extent to which videos and books can provide infants and young children with information that is useful in the real world. A recent study has shown that exposing infants to faces from racial groups other than their own using a picture book improves their ability to recognise and identify individuals from different racial groups. 

Although much of my research focuses on the imitation paradigm, I am also particularly interested in comparing across methodologies to refine our understanding infant learning and memory, and to determine the extent to which the memory systems of infants are similar to, or different from, the memory systems of older children and adults. For example, current research is investigating when children begin to engage in "mental time travel" and start thinking about the future. In adults, I am interested in whether odours might be particularly helpful for retieving memories from early in life.

Teaching

My teaching has evolved from my developmental and cognitive research interests. In my 2nd year teaching, I cover early development and discuss the role of genes and the environment on child development. In my 3rd year module, I guide students through issues in cognitive development such as when learning begins, how we can evaluate memory in someone that can’t verbally tell us what they remember, and why we forget. This module then challenges students to apply their psychology knowledge to real-world issues, such as evaluating the claims that some marketers make about their products facilitating children’s cognitive development.

Activities and Distinctions

Recent Grant Funding

2012
“Memory for events in early infancy: Why do some children forget what others remember?” Swedish Research Council (SEK 3,000,000). Co-applicants: Mikael Heimann (PI Linkoping University, Sweden), Tomas Tjus (University of Gothenburg, Sweden), Anett Sundqvist (Linkoping University), Felix Koch (Linkoping University), and Andrew Meltzoff (University of Washington, USA).
2011
”Does promoting parents’ engagement with their infants benefit language development?” British Academy Small Research Grant (£7,500). Co-applicants: D. Matthews (Psychology), J. Pine (University of Liverpool, Psychology).
2009
"Infants' Learning from Television: A Training Programme", University of Otago Research Grant (NZ$10,953). Co-applicant: J. Gross (University of Otago, Psychology).
2008
“Can Experience Change the Other Race Effect?” ESRC Research Council Small Grant (£82,218). Co-applicants: M. Heron & O. Pascalis (Psychology).
“Early cognitive development in full-term and premature infants” Sheffield Hospital Charitable trust (£29,772). Co-applicants: E. Whitby (Academic Radiology), M. Smith (Jessops Maternity Hospital), O. Pascalis & R. Nicolson (Psychology).
2006
“Fine-tuning the picture: 4-year-olds learning from television” ESRC Research Council Small Grant (£100,000). Co-applicant: M. Blades (Psychology).
 

Recent Publications

HERBERT, J.S. (2011)
The effect of language cues on infants' representational flexibility in a deferred imitation task.
Infant Behavior & Development, 34, 632-635.

HERON-DELANEY, M., ANZURES, G., HERBERT, J.S., QUINN, P.C., SLATER, A.M., TANAKA, J.M., LEE, K., & PASCALIS, O. (2011).
Perceptual Training Prevents the Emergence of the Other Race Effect during Infancy.
PLoS ONE 6(5): e19858. 

SEEHAGEN, S. & HERBERT, J.S. (2011).
Infant imitation from televised peer and adult models.
Infancy, 16, 113–136.

JONES, E.J.H., PASCALIS, O., EACOTT, M.J. & HERBERT, J.S. (2011).
Visual recognition memory across contexts.
Developmental Science, 14, 136-147.

SEEHAGEN, S., & HERBERT, J.S. (2010).
The role of demonstrator familiarity and language cues on infant imitation from television.
Infant Behavior and Development, 33, 168-75.

View a full list of Jane Herbert's publications.

Postgraduate Students