Carol O Eckerman
Professor Emeritus
Psychology and Neuroscience
214 Soc-Psych
Mailing Address: 214 Soc-Psych Durham, NC 27708
cecker@duke.edu
Research Summary
Premature Infants and Communication Skills
Research Description
My research focuses upon delineating processes of developmental change, creating explanatory models of how biological, behavioral, and social-cultural factors act together in development, and detailing how developing organism's own modes of functioning shape their subsequent paths of development. I address these issues mainly through the study of how human newborns become transformed into three-year-olds who have mastered several of the basic forms of cooperative action valued within their culture (e.g., social games, verbal conversations, cooperative problem-solving). Four interrelated lines of inquiry are ongoing. The first relates differences among very-prematurely-born infants in early central nervous system development to their paths of social-communicative development over the first two years of life. The second uses classical eyeblink conditioning paradigms to better characterize the behavioral differences between preterm and full-term infants in terms of cognitive, attentional, and arousal processes. The third asks whether the pivotal roles of imitative behavior in the early communicative development of USA toddlers also occur for the Seltaman toddlers of Papua New Guinea. The fourth details children's communicative and memory skills and the social experiences that facilitate their transition from being effective communicators about present events to their becoming effective communicators about past events.
Education
PhD,
Psychology,
Columbia University,
1968
M.A.,
Psychology,
Columbia University,
1966
A.B. (with Honors),
Psychology,
The College of Wooster,
1963
Recent Publications
Journal Articles
Peterman, K., & Eckerman, C.O..
(under review).
Sharing is important: The function of self-disclosure in the peer conversations of five-year-olds.
.
Herbert, J., Eckerman, C. O., Goldstein, R.F., & Stanton, M.E..
(2004).
Contrasts in infant classical eyeblink conditioning as a function of premature birth.
Infancy
,
5
(3)
.
Herbert, J., Eckerman, C.O., & Stanton.
(2003).
The Ontogeny of Human Learning in Delay, Long-Delay, and Trace Eyeblink Conditioning.
Behavioral Neuroscience
,
117
(6)
.
Claflin, D.I., Herbert, J., Greer, J., Eckerman, C.O., & Stanton, M.E..
(2002).
A Delay-Interval Study of Classical Eyeblink Conditioning in 5-Month Human Infants.
Developmental Psychobiology
,
41
,
329-340.
Didow, S.M. & Eckerman, C.O..
(2001).
Toddler Peers: From Nonverbal Coordinated Action to Verbal Discourse.
Social Development
,
10
,
170-188.
Haden, C.A., Ornstein, P.A., Eckerman, C.O., & Didow, S.M..
(2001).
Mother-Child Conversational Interactions as Events Unfold: Linkages to Subsequent Remembering.
Child Development
,
72
,
1016-1031.
Ivkovitch, D., Collins, K.L., Eckerman, C.O., Krasnegor, N.A., & Stanton, M.E..
(1999).
Classical Delay Eyeblink Conditioning in 4- and 5-Month-Old Infants.
Psychological Science
,
10
,
4-8.
C.O. Eckerman & Whitehead, H..
(1999).
How Toddler Peers Generate Coordinated Action: A Cross-Cultural Exploration.
Early Childhood Education
.
C.O. Eckerman, Hsu, H-C., Molitor, A., & Leung, E.H.L..
(1999).
Infant Arousal in an En-Face Exchange with a New Partner: Effects of Prematurity and Preinatal Biological Risk.
Developmental Psychology
,
35
,
282-293.
Eckerman, C.O., & Didow, S.M..
(1996).
Nonverbal imitation and toddlers' mastery of verbal means of achieving coordinated action.
Developmental Psychology
,
32
,
141-152.
Eckerman, C.O., Oehler, J.M., Hannan, T.E., & Molitor, A..
(1995).
The development prior to term age of very-prematurely-born newborns' responsiveness in En Face exchanges.
Infant Behavior and Development
,
18
,
283-297.
Eckerman, C.O., Oehler, J.M., Medvin, M.B., & Hannan, T.E..
(1994).
Premature newborns' behavior as social partners before term age.
Infant Behavior and Development
,
17
,
55-70.
Brazy, J.E., Eckerman, C.O., Oehler, J.M., Goldstein, R.F., & O'Rand, A.M..
(1991).
Nursery neurobiologic risk score: Important factors in predicting outcome in very low birth weight infants.
The Journal of Pediatrics
,
118
,
783-792.
Eckerman, C.O., & Stein, M.R..
(1990).
How imitation begets imitation and toddlers' generation of games.
Developmental Psychology
,
26
,
370-378.
Eckerman, C.O., Davis, C.C., & Didow, S.M..
(1989).
Toddlers' emerging ways of achieving social coordinations with a peer.
Child Development
,
60
,
440-453.
Eckerman, C.O., & Didow, S.M..
(1989).
Toddlers' social coordinations: Changing responses to another's invitation to play.
Developmental Psychology
,
25
,
794-804.
Oehler, J.M, Eckerman, C.O., & Wilson, W.H..
(1988).
Social stimulation and the regulation of premature infants' state prior to term age.
Infant Behavior and Development
,
11
,
333-351.
Eckerman, C.O., & Didow, S.M..
(1988).
Lessons drawn from observing young peers together.
Acta Paediatrica Scandinavica
,
77
,
55-70.
Eckerman, C.O., Sturm, L.A., & Gross, S.J..
(1985).
Differet developmental courses for very-low-birthweight infants differing in early head growth.
Developmental Psychology
,
21
,
813-827.
Dorval, B., & Eckerman, C.O..
(1984).
The development of conversation.
Mongraphs of the Society for Research in Child Development
,
49
(2)
,
91.
Brazy, J., Eckerman, C.O., & Gross, S.J..
(1983).
Follow-up of infants.
Journal of Pediatrics
,
102
,
611-613.
Gross, S.J., Oehler, J.M., & Eckerman, C.O..
(1983).
Head growth and developmental outcome in very low-birth-weight infants.
Pediatrics
,
71
,
70-75.
McGehee, L.J., & Eckerman, C.O..
(1983).
The preterm infant as a social partner: Responsive but unreadable.
Infant Behavior and Development
,
6
,
461-470.
Gross, S.J., & Eckerman, C.O..
(1983).
Normative early head growth in very-low-birthweight infants.
Journal of Pediatrics
,
103
,
946-949.
Gross, S.J., Oehler, J.M., & Eckerman, C.O..
(1980).
Head circumference at birth and growth at six weeks as predictors of developmental outcome in very low birthweight infants.
Pediatric Research
,
14
,
434.
Eckerman, C.O., Whatley, J.L., & McGehee.
(1979).
Approaching and contacting the object another manipulates.
Developmental Psychology
,
15
,
585-593.
Eckerman, C.O., & Whatley, J.L..
(1977).
Toys and social interaction between infant peers.
Child Development
,
48
,
1645-1656.
Eckerman, C.O., Whatley, J.L., & Kutz, S.L..
(1975).
Grwth of social play with peers during the second year of life.
Developmental Psychology
,
11
,
42-49.
Eckerman, C.O., & Whatley, J.L..
(1975).
Infants' reactions to unfamiliar adults varying in novelty.
Developmental Psychology
,
11
,
562-566.
Eckerman, C.O., & Rheingold, H.L..
(1974).
Infants exploratory responses to toys and people.
Developmental Psychology
,
10
,
255-259.
Corter, C.M., Rheingold, H.L., & Eckerman, C.O..
(1972).
Toys delay the infants following of his mother.
Developmental Psychology
,
6
,
138-145.
Ross, H.S., Rheingold, H.L., & Eckerman, C.O..
(1972).
Approach and exploration of a novel alternative by 12-month old infants.
Journal of Experimental Child Psychology
,
13
,
85-93.
Rheingold, H.L., & Eckerman, C.O..
(1971).
Familiar social and nonsocial stimuli and the kittens response to a strange environment.
Developmental Psychobiology
,
4
,
71-89.
Eckerman, C.O., Rheingold, H.L., & Helwig, R.A..
(1971).
A laboratory for developmental psychologists.
Journal of Experimental Child Psychology
,
11
,
54-62.
Rheingold, H.L., & Eckerman, C.O..
(1970).
The infant separates himself from his mother.
Science
,
168
,
78-83.
Rheingold, H.L., & Eckerman, C.O..
(1969).
The infant's free entry into a new environment.
Journal of Experimental Child Psychology
,
8
,
271-283.
Chapters in Books
C.O. Eckerman & Peterman, K..
(2001).
Peers and Infant Social/Communicative Development.
In G. Bremner & A. Fogel (Eds.),
Blackwell Handbook of Infant Development
.
Oxford, UK: Blackwell.
Ivkovich, D., Eckerman, C.O., Krasnegor, N.A., & Stanton, M.E..
(2000).
Using Eyeblink Conditioning to Assess Neurocognitive Development.
In D.S. Woodruff-Pak & J.E. Steinmetz (Eds.),
Eyeblink Classical Conditioning: Human
.
Kluwer Academic Publishers.
Eckerman, C.O..
(1996).
Early social-communicative development: Illustrative development analyses.
In R.B. Cairns, et al. (Eds.),
Developmental science
.
New York: Cambridge University Press.
Eckerman, C.O..
(1993).
Toddlers' achievement of coordinated action with conspecifics: A dynamic systems perspective.
In L.B. Smith & E. Thelen (Eds.),
Dynamical systems in development: Applications
.
Cambridge, MA: Bradford Books, MIT Press.
Eckerman, C.O..
(1993).
Imitation and toddlers' achievement of coordinated action with others.
In J. Nadel & L. Camaioni (Eds.),
New perspectives in early comunicative development
.
London: Routledge.
Eckerman, C.O., & Oehler, J.M..
(1992).
Very-low-birthweight newborns and parents as early social partners.
In S.L. Friedman & M.D. Sigman (Eds.),
The psychological development of low birthweight children
.
Norwood, NJ: Ablex.
Eckerman, C.O., & Stein, M.R..
(1982).
The toddlers emerging interactive skills.
In K.H. Rubin & H.S. Ross (Eds.),
Peer relationships and social skills in childhood
.
New York: Springer-Verlag.
Eckerman, C.O..
(1979).
The human infant in social interaction.
In R.B. Cairns (Eds.),
Social interactions: Methods, issues, and illustrations
.
Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Rheingold, H.L., & Eckerman, C.O..
(1975).
Some proposals for unifying the study of social development.
In M. Lewis & L. Rosenblum (Eds.),
Peer relations and friendship
.
New York: Wiley.
Rheingold, H.L., & Eckerman, C.O..
(1973).
Fear of a stranger: A critical examination.
In H.W. Reese (Eds.),
Advances in child development and behavior
.
New York: Academic Press.
Rheingold, H.L., & Eckerman, C.O..
(1971).
Departures from the mother.
In H.R. Schaffer (Eds.),
The orgins of human social relations
.
New York: Academic Press.
Commentaries/Book Reviews
Eckerman, C.O..
(1975).
Researching infants' reactions to strangers (Review of The infant's reaction to stangers by T.G. Decarie.
Contemporary Psychology
,
20
,
328-329.
Other
Eckerman, C.O..
(August 1977).
Presentation of 1977 G. Stanley Hall Award to Harriet Lange.
American Psychological Association Convention, San Francisco, California.
(Reproduced in the Newsletter of the Division of Developmental Psychology, American Psychological Association)
