UBC Early Development Research Group

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The Early Development Research Group (EDRG) is made of seven research centres in UBC’s Department of Psychology studying development in children and infants.

10/16/2026

Fun Fact Friday!

💡 Did you know that infants as young as nine months old start forming long-term memories?

💭 Episodic memories are recollections of specific events in our lives that form the basis of our identity. It is commonly believed that they begin forming between ages 3 and 4, but recent findings suggest that they are created much earlier!

🧠 The hippocampus is responsible for the origins of our memories, which is a brain structure that is involved in encoding and retrieving memories. Study findings have highlighted nine to twelve months of age as an important time for memory development.

🧓 The loss of most of our early memories in adulthood relates to the structural changes that happen in the hippocampus early in life, disrupting the long-term storage of infant recollections. However, experiments have shown that they can still be retrieved, even if they are normally inaccessible.

🌟 Understanding how episodic memories are formed in infancy is important to determine why some experiences have a greater impact on us later in life than others!

Text adapted from The International Congress of Infant Studies (ICIS)

10/14/2026

📚 Research suggests that early vocabulary patterns and communication styles can explain why some children start speaking later, and how they catch up over time! Early language patterns and word choices play an important role in shaping how children learn to communicate and navigate the world.

🔎 Key Insights

🗣️ "Late bloomers" start speaking late (fewer than 50 words by age 2), but usually catch up by the age of 5. ""Long-term late talkers"" continue to struggle with vocabulary, grammar, and verbal memory into adolescence.

🧩 Late bloomers and typical talkers use more shape-based words (like ball or spoon), which help the brain form connections and learn new words faster. Long-term late talkers rely more on complex, multidimensional nouns (like blanket or pizza), which are harder to build language rules from.

👋 Late bloomers often use gestures (like pointing or waving) to communicate when words are tricky. Long-term late talkers use fewer gestures overall, showing that their challenge involves communication as a whole, not just speech.

📖 Following your child's lead during play, re-reading storybooks, and asking open-ended questions (e.g. "Would you like milk or water?") actively boosts vocabulary and expressive skills.

✨ Takeaway

Talk, listen and engage! Every child develops at their own pace but early communication patterns tells us a lot. Pay attention to how your child uses gestures and shape words, not just spoken speech. By following their lead, describing daily activities, and giving them extra time to respond without rushing, you can help build their vocabulary and boost their confidence to speak! 🧸👀

Text adapted from Frontier Young Minds

10/09/2026

💭 Did you know that how children use screens may matter more than simply how much screen time they get?

📚 Recent research shows that while infants and toddlers now use screens nearly two hours a day, the impact on children's language development varies depending on the type of media and the way caregivers support learning around it.

🖥️ Passive viewing of TV shows and movies is associated with lower vocabulary, but interactive media through the use of video chat, educational apps, and e‑books is not associated with lower language outcomes.

🧠 Young children struggle to transfer what they learn from screens into real life until around ages three to four. When screen time is social, educational, or used together with a caregiver, it can even buffer against negative effects. Pairing media with hands-on experiences or co‑viewing and talking with children strengthens learning and supports language development.

Rather than focusing only on the amount of screen time, caregivers can consider how, when, and why children are using media.

Text adapted from The International Congress of Infant Studies

10/07/2026

💭 Research suggests that young children build executive function through language development! Executive function is the cognitive processes that are used to regulate behaviour and solve problems. Learning language labels is important for self-regulation, flexible thinking, and long-term academic success!

🔎 Key Insights

🏷️ Using labels for different categories, like color or shape, helps children's brain organize objects in their minds, adapt to change, and solve problems more easily.

🧠 Children who showed greater brain activity during sime word and matching games at age 2.5 were better at complex sorting tasks at age 4.5

🌱 Developing good executive function in childhood can provide lasting benefits into adolescence and adulthood, leading to higher academic achievements, better mental and physical health, and lower risk of criminal behaviour.

🗣️ Using category-focused language (ex. saying ""The color of that ball is red"") helps children focus on key properties and switch between rules more easily.

✨ Takeway

Talk while you play! Language and labels are important however you do not need to constantly direct while playing, using descriptive category words while allowing your children to explore, experiement and mistakes is more than enough. Allowing children to figure how things work builds strong, flexible minds for life! 🤔🧩

Text adapted from BOLD Science

10/02/2026

💭 Did you know that babies’ exuberant behaviours are actually an important part of how they learn?

📖 A recent article highlights how babies learn through their own movements, interactions with others, and exploration of their environment.

🍼 Every coo, crawl, babble, grab, and wobble is part of a natural learning process that helps babies understand objects, practice motor skills, and build the foundations of communication. These busy behaviours teach babies how objects work, how their bodies move, and how to make sounds.

🪀 Talking about what babies are doing, responding to their babbles, and exploring objects together strengthens learning, supports communication, and helps babies stay engaged in more complex play. Even simple interactions, like responding to a “ba ba ba” or saying “jump” while a baby jumps, can create important learning opportunities.

Text adapted from Child and Family Blog

09/27/2026

The UBC Baby Learning Lab, directed by Dr. Lauren L. Emberson, conducted a study led by graduate student Zahra Abolghasem to explore how experiences influence babies’ visual perception. 🔎

In the Sprinkles study, babies watched colourful moving dots that looked similar to sprinkles on a cupcake. The researchers wanted to understand whether babies could learn to expect which direction the dots would move, and whether this learning would change how they perceived the dots’ movement. 🧁

They found that babies’ perception of the dots changed after they learned to expect their direction of movement. This suggests that babies’ visual systems are flexible and can adapt relatively quickly based on their experiences and what they learn. 📚

Text adapted from EDRG 2025 Newsletter

09/25/2026

🌿 Did you know that playing freely in nature may support children’s development in more ways than we realize?

🧠 A systematic review of 16 studies found that unstructured play in natural environments was associated with positive outcomes across several areas of childhood development, including cognitive development, physical activity, motor skills, social skills, emotional well-being, and creativity.

🌱 Nature play can be as simple as building a stick fort, making mud pies, exploring outdoors, or playing freely with natural materials. These experiences give children opportunities to move, create, problem-solve, and interact with others.

✨ So the next time your little one wants to go outside, remember — unstructured nature play may be more than just fun. It can be an opportunity for children to learn, explore, and grow!

Text adapted from Psychology Today

09/23/2026

📚 Research suggests that pre-school age children are already using advanced spatial skills, like mental rotation, to make sense of the world around them! Mental rotation is important for early reading, math and future STEM learning.

🔎 Key Insights

📖 Mental rotation supports reading by helping children tell the difference between similar letters that are easily confused, like b and d, or p and q.

💭 Researchers found that children solve mental rotation tasks using either a holistic strategy (visualizing the whole image at once) or a piecemeal strategy (focusing on individual details).

🧠 Children as young as 3 solve visual problems using the same mental rotation strategies as adults, most often rotating an entire image in their mind at once!

🧩 Children who break images down into pieces instead of visualizing them as a whole may also be the same children who struggle with discriminating letters.

Takeaway

✨ Encouraging hands-on play with puzzles, blocks and shape games is a great way to help support literacy! Giving children opportunities to practice rotating real objects helps them build strong spatial skills, boosts school perforamcen and inspires future STEM learning. 📕🧪➗

Text adapted from The Conversation

09/16/2026

🧐 Research suggests that participating in sports during childhood can help support emotional well-being and protect them from sadness and anxiety as teens. Beyond physical activity, sports gives opportunities for children to build lasting mental resilience and confidence!

🔎 Key Insights

⚽️ Children who played sports reported having fewer emotional problems in early adolescence, unlike other physical activities like playing outside or riding a bike.

😊 Building self-esteem was found to be the primary way sports protect mental health, as mastering new skills helps kids feel better about themselves and better handle negative emotions.

🤝 Sports teams also help fufuill childrens other social needs by giving opportunities for children to make friends and feel connected to others!

Takeaway

✨️ Playing sports is a powerful way for children to build their self-confidence and protect their emotional well-being. Parents and educators can support kids' mental health by encouraging them to try different sports until they find one that they enjoy and feel good doing! ⛹🏐🏸

Text adapted from Frontiers for Young Minds

08/12/2026

We’ve been searching for these emojis for a while…should we make it official?

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https://edrg.psych.ubc.ca/typical-visit/sign-up-online/

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