Makeba Wilbourn Explained

Makeba Wilbourn
Workplaces:Duke University
Alma Mater:California State University, Fullerton
Cornell University
Thesis Title:Understanding the perceptual and cognitive precursors to the acquisition of language: an examination of infants? Perception and use of manual gestures and signs
Thesis Url:https://hdl.handle.net/1813/10902
Thesis Year:2007
Awards:PECASE (2016)

Makeba Parramore Wilbourn (born May 29, 1973) is an American developmental psychologist and professor at Duke University in the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience. She studies how children acquire knowledge. She was awarded the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers from President Barack Obama. This is the highest honor bestowed on early career scientists in the US.

Early life and education

Wilbourn was born in Long Beach, California. She studied at the California State University, Fullerton, earning a bachelor's degree in 1997 and a master's degree in 2001.[1] [2] She was a State University of New York Minority Fellow at Cornell University between 2001 and 2003. She remained at Cornell University for her graduate studies, completing her PhD in developmental psychology in 2008. In 2006 she was awarded the Cornell University Provost's Diversity Fellowship. Her thesis considered language development and early-word learning.[3] She studied how English-learning toddlers acquired new words.[4] She joined Duke University in 2008.[5]

Research and career

Wilbourn studies how children learn language and how inputs such as gestures can impact cognitive development.[6] [7] [8] At Duke University she runs WILD, the Wilbourn Infant Laboratory.[9] They work closely with two nearby elementary schools studying culture, gesture and language.[10] She is funded by a National Science Foundation CAREER Award which supports her exploration of how communication impacts the development of vocabulary. Wilbourn is interested in how race and socioeconomic status impact this development, with a focus on the black - white vocabulary gap. She worked with Allen Gottfried on the Fullerton Longitudinal Study, a program which monitors intellectual giftedness and the relationship with parental involvement and leadership development.[11] She has studied the pointing gestures of infants, which can be used to develop early vocabulary.[12] She found that the pointing gestures reflect a readiness to learn. She has also investigated Social Role Theory and children's gender stereotypes, finding that children were more restrictive for males who engaged in counterstereotypic roles.[13]

Her work looks at at-risk students, in particular the language delayed and deaf, as well as autistic and African-American toddlers.[14] She also investigates the relationship between thought and language in monolingual and bilingual children. She has discussed how language development may contribute to racial biases with Frank Stasio on WUNC.[15] In 2017 she took part in the Kavli Frontiers of Science Japanese-American symposium.[16] Wilbourn is involved with community outreach and mentoring programs, and offers summer internships for underrepresented students at Duke University.[17]

Awards and honours

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Makeba Parramore Wilbourn Duke Psychology & Neuroscience. psychandneuro.duke.edu. 2018-12-22.
  2. Web site: CSUF News Center - Alumna Earns Presidential Early Career Award. news.fullerton.edu. 24 January 2017 . 2018-12-22.
  3. Wilbourn. Makeba. 2007. UNDERSTANDING THE PERCEPTUAL AND COGNITIVE PRECURSORS TO THE ACQUISITION OF LANGUAGE: AN EXAMINATION OF INFANTS? PERCEPTION AND USE OF MANUAL GESTURES AND SIGNS. en-US.
  4. SAGE Journals: Your gateway to world-class journal research. First Language. 26. 2. 187–205. en. 10.1177/0142723706060746. 2747792. 19774108. 2006. Casasola. M.. Wilbourn. M. P.. Yang. S..
  5. Web site: Makeba Parramore Wilbourn Scholars@Duke. scholars.duke.edu. 2018-12-22.
  6. Web site: Makeba Wilbourn Honored by President Obama, Receives Presidential Early Career Award. today.duke.edu. 13 January 2017 . en. 2018-12-22.
  7. Web site: Makeba Parramore Wilbourn, Ph.D. Colloquium Speaker. www.nccu.edu. 2018-12-22.
  8. Web site: Understanding the development of gesture, language, and learning through a socio-cultural lens Department of Psychology. psychology.yale.edu. 2018-12-22.
  9. Web site: People. wild.psych.duke.edu. 2018-12-22.
  10. Web site: Research. wild.psych.duke.edu. 2018-12-22.
  11. Consistency of hand-preference across the early years: long-term relationship to verbal intelligence and reading achievement in girls.. Kee. Daniel. Gottfried. Allen W.. 2011. Developmental Psychology. en. Wilbourn. Makeba Parramore. 47. 4. 931–42. 10.1037/a0023834. 21574699. 16269635.
  12. Lucca. Kelsey. Wilbourn. Makeba Parramore. 2018. Communicating to Learn: Infants' Pointing Gestures Result in Optimal Learning. Child Development. en. 89. 3. 941–960. 10.1111/cdev.12707. 28032638. 1467-8624. free.
  13. Kee. Daniel W.. Wilbourn. Makeba Parramore. 2010-05-01. Henry the Nurse is a Doctor Too: Implicitly Examining Children's Gender Stereotypes for Male and Female Occupational Roles. Sex Roles. en. 62. 9–10. 670–683. 10.1007/s11199-010-9773-7. 53324400. 1573-2762.
  14. Web site: Makeba Parramore Wilbourn, Ph.D. . en-US. 2018-12-22.
  15. Web site: The Art And Science Of Code-Switching: Meet Makeba Wilbourn. Stasio. Will Michaels, Frank. www.wunc.org. 4 September 2017 . en. 2018-12-22.
  16. Web site: Makeba Wilbourn. www.nasonline.org. 2018-12-22.
  17. Web site: WILD - News. wild.psych.duke.edu. 2018-12-22.
  18. Web site: The Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers: Recipient Details NSF - National Science Foundation. www.nsf.gov. 2018-12-22.
  19. Web site: Duke developmental psychologist wins award from President Obama, discusses her research. The Chronicle. 2018-12-22.
  20. Web site: Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Program. National Science Foundation. Scholars@Duke. scholars.duke.edu. 2018-12-22.
  21. Web site: Summer Mentored Grant Writing Award. Center for Developmental Science. Scholars@Duke. scholars.duke.edu. 2018-12-22.
  22. Web site: Elva Knight Research Grant. International Reading Association. Scholars@Duke. scholars.duke.edu. 2018-12-22.
  23. Web site: Education Researchers: Apply for $8,000 Elva Knight Research Grant. literacyworldwide.org. 2018-12-22.
  24. Web site: Ralph E. Powe Junior Faculty Enhancement Award. Oak Ridge Associated Universities. Scholars@Duke. scholars.duke.edu. 2018-12-22.
  25. Web site: Fullerton. Outstanding Alumna of the Year – Psychology. California State University Scholars@Duke. scholars.duke.edu. 2018-12-22.
  26. Web site: The. Ford Foundation Fellowships/ Predoctoral. National Academies Scholars@Duke. scholars.duke.edu. 2018-12-22.

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