Judith Becker Bryant
Title: Professor and Associate Chair Department of Psychology
Specialty: All topics affecting children and parents – from language to what young children are like and why they do things they do, and how parents can interact with, teach and understand their children, to talking to children and everyday children’s issues. “Most of my career has focused on basic research on how children learn conversational skills, politeness, turn-taking; how parents socialize these skills, implications of using these skills for popularity and interactions with peers.”
Contact Information:
USF College of Arts & Sciences
Phone: (813) 974-0475
E-mail this USF Collaborative Partner
Details:
Topics of expertise:
All topics affecting children and parents – from language to what young children are like and why they do things they do, and how parents can interact with, teach and understand their children, to talking to children and everyday children’s issues. “Most of my career has focused on basic research on how children learn conversational skills, politeness, turn-taking; how parents socialize these skills, implications of using these skills for popularity and interactions with peers.”
Educational and professional background:
Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Yale. Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota in Child Psychology. “I’m a researcher, not a clinician, working with typical children.”
What was your Collaborative grant and what did you learn from it?
“I got a grant from the Pinellas County Juvenile Welfare Board to develop a test of phonological sensitivity (ability to think about language sounds and parts of words apart from the meaning of words) in Spanish. The importance of this test is that these skills in English predict children’s ability to read and decode words. Colleagues in USF Communication and Science Disorders are also involved as an interdisciplinary effort. We believe there should be some transfer from Spanish to English. The test should help identify Spanish-speaking children who will have difficulty learning to read in English. There is no such test commercially available. The K-4 schools are very excited about it. Early detection is quite critical.”
What have you done since the grant?
“I got seed money to get more grants to do more testing.”
What have you learned from your research that you wish every professional knew?
“The most important thing I’ve learned from research on language is how important children’s minds are apart from whatever skills they have innately or what the world has provided them. Children process all that in unique and interesting ways. They are active learners, not just passive creatures.”
What have you learned from your research that you wish every student knew?
“Each student needs to know that they have a wellspring within themselves that’s their very own contribution to the world. They can often find this through the arts. It’s self-valuing and seeing the world through different eyes.”
What do you think is the biggest issue in your field right now?
“Biology. The biggest issue now is how genes and physiology influence children’s behavior and how that understanding might help children with particular psychological problems or atypical development.”
