Media Room

Media Relations Staff

Jonathan Gust
Director of Media Relations
(610) 519-6508
jonathan.gust@villanova.edu

Kathleen Scavello
Assistant Director of Media Relations
(610) 519-6733
kathleen.scavello@villanova.edu

Kate Johnston
Assistant Director of Media Relations (Villanova School of Law)
(610) 519-8333
kate.johnston@villanova.edu

Kiera Daly
Media Relations Specialist (610) 519-7357
kiera.daly@villanova.edu

Emily Walsh
Media Relations Coordinator
(610) 519-5152
emily.walsh@villanova.edu

Media Relations E-mail
media.relations@villanova.edu

Did You Know?

Villanova University is one of only two Augustinian Catholic institutions of higher education in the country.

Faculty Experts - Rebecca Brand, Ph.D.

Rebecca Brand, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Department of Psychology
Villanova University College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Area of Expertise:

"Motionese" or Infant-Directed Action
Vocabulary Development
Television and Infant Development
Sex Differences in Emotional Displays
Evolutionary Theories of Attraction

Summary

Unlocking some of the mysteries of the world of infants is Dr. Brand's specialty. She researches and writes about related topics such as how television affects infant development, "motionese" or infant-directed action, and vocabulary development. Dr. Brand can also discuss the psychology of sex and relationships.

Education

Ph.D., University of Oregon
M.S., University of Oregon
B.A., Vassar College

Selected Publications

Brand, R.J., & Shallcross, W.L., "Infants prefer motionese to adult-directed action," Developmental Science, 11, 853-861, 2008.
Brand, R.J., Markey, C.M., Mills, A., & Hodges, S.D., "Sex differences in self-reported infidelity and its correlates," Sex Roles, 57, 101-109, 2007.
Brand, R.J., Shallcross, W.L., Sabatos, M.G., & Massie, K.P., "Fine-grained analysis of motionese: eye gaze, object exchanges, and action units in infant-versus adult-directed action," Infancy, 11, 203-214, 2007.
Brand, R.J., & Tapscott, S., "Acoustic packaging of action sequences by infants," Infancy, 11, 321-332, 2007.

Selected Professional Experience

Visiting Assistant Professor of Psychology, Reed College
Teaching Assistant, Department of Psychology, University of Oregon
Instructor, Department of Psychology, University of Oregon
Research Coordinator, Roberta Golinkoff's Infant Lab, University of Delaware

Selected Research

Villanova Summer Research Fellowship and Research Support Grant, "How Do Mothers' Behaviors Affect Child Learning? : The Relationship Between Mothers, Action Modifications and Infants' Imitation," (2007).
National Institutes of Health R-03 Research Grant (1R03 HD049562-01), "Infant-Directed Speech and Infants Action Processing," (2005-2007).
Villanova Summer Research Fellowship and Research Support Grant, "When Actions Can't Speak for Themselves: The Role of Speech in Infants' Action Processing," (2004).
National Institutes of Health NRSA Pre-doctoral Fellowship, "Inhibitory Control and Word Learning," (2000-2002).

About Villanova
Since 1842, Villanova University’s Augustinian Catholic intellectual tradition has been the cornerstone of an academic community in which students learn to think critically, act compassionately and succeed while serving others. There are more than 10,000 undergraduate, graduate and law students in the University's five colleges – the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, the Villanova School of Business, the College of Engineering, the College of Nursing and the Villanova University School of Law. As students grow intellectually, Villanova prepares them to become ethical leaders who create positive change everywhere life takes them.

Media Room