My research interests involve a diverse range of topics with the following questions at their core: How do we represent knowledge? What is its developmental progression, and what are the social and educational implications?

One set of topics involves theory of mind, in particular, the socio-cognitive and educational implications of young children’s developing ability to represent other people’s mental states (i.e., beliefs, desires, emotions, intentions). I am now focusing on 5- to 8-year-olds’ theory of mind in their early literacy. A critical component of literacy is the ability to take one’s reader’s background knowledge – or lack of knowledge – into account in one’s written or dictated compositions. I am also investigating what appears to be a powerful intervention to foster such awareness, particularly among vulnerable populations (High-functioning autism, Asperger’s Syndrome and ADHD).

A second set of topics involves research on the development of poetic literacy. I have examined the developing ability to read poetry, the ways in which educators can foster metaphoric thinking, and I am now investigating developing expertise in the writing of poetry (published poets versus novice poets).

Research Spotlight   

“Why doesn’t her Gruffee look like mine?”

Children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) demonstrate improved communication skills using a unique computer-based task in Joan Peskin‘s research —Thinking about a reader’s mind: Fostering communicative clarity in the compositions of youth with autism spectrum disorders

A critical component of effective communication is the ability to consider the knowledge state of one’s audience, yet individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) have difficulty representing the mental states of others. In the present study, youth with high-functioning ASD were trained to consider their reader’s knowledge states in their compositions using a novel computer-based task. After two training trials, participants who received visual feedback from a confederate demonstrated significantly greater communicative clarity on the training measure compared to a control group. The improvements from training transferred to similar and very different tasks, and were maintained approximately six weeks post-intervention. These results provide support for the sustained efficacy of a rapid and motivating communication intervention for youth with high-functioning ASD.