Unfortunately, due to financial limitations, we cannot accept international applications for this PhD

The Project

A funded PhD position is available to address a fundamental question in developmental science: how does shared reading between caregivers and young children support early learning, and what are the interpersonal neural mechanisms that underpin these benefits? Shared reading is one of the strongest predictors of children's early language, literacy and cognitive development. Through shared books, children are exposed to recent vocabulary, more complex language structures, as well as reciprocal interactions with adults. Experimental research has shown that interventions promoting caregiver-child book sharing can improve children's subsequent language outcome and attention skills.

Shared reading is a dynamic, interactive process. Caregivers continuously adapt their speech, gaze, gestures and pacing in response to children's attention and behaviour. These moment-to-moment adjustments may create optimal opportunities for learning by helping children attend to,



process and retain new information. The temporal coordination of adult behaviour and infant’s neural activity may therefore be a key mechanism through which shared reading supports development.

Currently, however, we understand very little about how learning unfolds moment-to-moment during these interactions, and how underlying neural mechanisms support later developmental outcomes.

The PhD Project Aims To Move Beyond Quantity-based Measures Of Shared Reading To Investigate The Neural Mechanisms Through Which Caregiver-child Interactions Support Learning. By Addressing The Following Questions:

• How do caregivers and children coordinate their behaviour during shared reading, and which features of this interaction create optimal opportunities for learning?
• How does moment-to-moment neural activity, measured using dual-brain EEG, become coordinated between caregivers and children during shared reading

📌 Fully funded PhD place at ISEY (Dumka)
🏢 ISEY - Institute for the Science of Early Years and Youth
📍 Dumka