Harvard University · PsychologyThe WordWise Lab
Elika Bergelson · Cambridge, Massachusetts
Research Focus
Dr. Elika Bergelson's research lab at Harvard University focuses on how infants learn language, particularly how they understand words before they can say them. The lab investigates the interplay between social behavior and cognitive development during early childhood, with an emphasis on understanding children's language comprehension. This work aims to improve early diagnosis and interventions for children with language delays or disorders, specifically by exploring the key factors that help older infants learn words more effectively than younger ones.
language developmentword learninginfant comprehensionjoint attentioncognitive skillssocial developmentearly interventiondevelopmental delayslanguage disordersautism spectrum disorder
Research Aims
3AIM 01Test the link between pointing and word comprehension in infants.
AIM 02Establish the relationship between linguistic skills and word comprehension.
AIM 03Disentangle the effects of maturity and exposure in word learning.
Skills the Lab Values
longitudinal studiesbehavioral assessmentsexperimental designdata collectionlanguage comprehension testinginfant observational techniquesstatistical analysiscross-sectional analysispsycholinguistic assessmentsexperimental task development
Output against the department
Publications150top 50% of dept.148th of 296
this lab
most publishedleast published
Citations4.6kbottom 42% of dept.173rd of 296
this lab
most citedleast cited
Career totals from OpenAlex, compared against labs that share a department. A department spans everything from one paper to tens of thousands, so bar heights are on a log scale — otherwise the largest lab would flatten every other bar to a line.