Research Statement
Makeba Parramore Wilbourn is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology & Neuroscience at Duke University. Dr. Wilbourn received her Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology from Cornell University in 2008. Her research explores the relations between gesture, thought, and language throughout development. This research examines how these relations are impacted by perceptual, cognitive, and/or socio-cultural (e.g., income) influences. General topics include vocabulary development, non-verbal communication (e.g., gestures), parent-child interactions, and oral storytelling/narratives in children and adults. Dr. Wilbourn will discuss current and future research specifically related to (1) how the relation between gesture and language development changes throughout infancy and (2) how culturally-specific factors (e.g., ethnicity/race, dialect, poverty) influence children's gestural use and oral language development in the United States.
