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Maria Arredondo

  • Assistant Professor
  • Human Development & Family Sciences
  • Human Ecology

I am recruiting graduate students to start Fall 2025 (application deadline - December 1st 2024)

Profile image of Maria Arredondo
maria.arredondo@austin.utexas.edu
Child Learning & Development Studies Lab Curriculum Vitae

Biography

Arredondo completed her PhD in Developmental Psychology at the University of Michigan. She then was a National Science Foundation (NSF) Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of British Columbia and Haskins Laboratories. She then joined the University of Texas at Austin as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Human Development and Family Sciences. She is also a Faculty Research Associate for the UT Population Research Center.

Research

My research focuses on understanding how infants and young children acquire their language(s). I am especially interested in why some children can become proficient bilinguals, while others seem to struggle. To test these questions, I use functional near-infrared spectroscopy to study the cognitive and neural networks that support bilingualism. I am also interested in how children come to learn and understand from their culture(s). Through all these mechanisms, I investigate what allows diverse and multilingual children to learn their languages and provides them with the skills to succeed academically. 

The methods of my studies include infant and child-friendly experimental designs, neuroimaging (functional near-infrared spectroscopy, also known as fNIRS), standardized assessments of language abilities, surveys, and one-on-one qualitative child-friendly interviews.

My personal experiences as a child immigrant and a second language learner have helped me understand the links between language and cognition. In my research, I seek to advance fundamental knowledge on bilingual children’s cognition, and inform families and schools on how providing immigrant, diverse and multilingual children with the opportunity to maintain their languages and cultures leads to academic success. In the contexts of increased global migration and growth of multilingual communities, research-based models of child development that include bilingualism in context are vital for addressing the needs of language acquisition and cognitive development.

I am always happy to support undergraduate and graduate research opportunities, please feel free to reach out.

Research Areas

  • Human Development
  • Culture, Inequality or Resilience

Fields of Interest

  • Behavior
  • Behavioral Neuroscience
  • Cognition & Perception
  • Contexts of Human Development
  • Functional & Molecular Imaging
  • Infancy and Childhood
  • Learning & Memory
  • Neural Development & Plasticity
  • Parenting & Caregiving

Centers and Institutes

  • Population Research Center

Education

  • Ph.D., Developmental Psychology, University of Michigan
  • M.S., Psychology, University of Michigan
  • B.S., Psychology and minor in Sociology, University of Houston

Publications

  • Garcini*, L. M., Arredondo*, M. M., Berry, O., Church, J. A., Fryberg, S., Thomason, M. E., & McLaughlin, K. A. (2022). Increasing diversity in developmental cognitive neuroscience: a roadmap for increasing representation in pediatric neuroimaging research. Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, 58, 101167. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dcn.2022.101167 *Shared First Authorship

    Arredondo, M. M., Garcini, L. M., & McLaughlin, K. A. (2022). Integration of equity and diversity frameworks to advance biological psychiatry. Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bpsc.2022.08.004

    Arredondo, M. M., Kovelman, I., Satterfield, T., Hu, X., Stojanov, L., & Beltz, A. (2022). Person-specific connectivity mapping uncovers differences of bilingual language experience on brain bases of attention in children. Brain and Language, 105084. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bandl.2022.105084

    Arredondo, M. M., Aslin, R. N., Zhang, M., & Werker, J. F. (2022). Attentional orienting abilities in bilinguals: Evidence from a large infant sample. Infant Behavior & Development, 66, 101683. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.infbeh.2021.101683

    Arredondo, M. M., Aslin, R. N., & Werker, J. F. (2021). Bilingualism alters infants’ cortical organization for attentional orienting mechanisms. Developmental Science, e13172. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/desc.13172 

    Arredondo, M. M. (2021). Shining a light on cultural neuroscience: Recommendations on the use of fNIRS to study how sociocultural contexts shape the brain. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology.

    Weatherhead, D., Arredondo, M. M., Nácar Garcia, L., & Werker, J. F. (2021). The Role of Audiovisual Speech in Fast-Mapping and Novel Word Retention in Monolingual and Bilingual 24-Month-Olds. Brain Sciences, 11(1), 114. https://www.mdpi.com/963042 

    Arredondo, M. M., Hu, X., Satterfield, T., Tsutsumi Riobóo, A., Gelman, S. A., & Kovelman, I. (2019). Bilingual effects on lexical selection: a neurodevelopmental perspective. Brain & Language, 195, 104640. Doi: 10.1016/j.bandl.2019.104640

    Arredondo, M. M.& Gelman, S. A. (2019). Do varieties of Spanish influence U.S. Spanish-English bilingual children’s friendship judgments? Child Development, 90, 655-671.Doi: 10.1111/cdev.12932

    Arredondo, M. M., Hu, X., Seifert, E., Satterfield, T., & Kovelman, I. (2018). Bilingual exposure enhances left IFG specialization for language in children. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 1-19.Doi: 10.1017/S1366728918000512

    Reh, R., Arredondo, M. M.,& Werker, J. (2018). Understanding individual variation in levels of second language attainment through the lens of critical period mechanisms. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition,1-2. Doi: 10.1017/S1366728918000263

    Tran, C. D., Arredondo, M. M., & Yoshida, H. (2018). Early executive function: the influence of culture and bilingualism. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition,1-19. Doi: 10.1017/S1366728918000160

    Arredondo, M. M., Hu, X., Satterfield, T., & Kovelman, I. (2017) Bilingualism alters children’s frontal lobe functioning for attentional control. Developmental Science. Doi: 10.1111/desc.12377

    Arredondo, M. M.,Rosado, M. & Satterfield, T. (2016). Understanding ethnic identity development and its impact on Spanish literacy for U.S. Latino children. Journal of Cognition and Culture, 16, 245-266. Doi: 10.1163/15685373-12342179

    Kremin*, L., Arredondo*, M. M., Hsu, L. S., Satterfield, T., & Kovelman, I. (2016). The effects of Spanish heritage language literacy on English reading for Spanish-English bilingual children in the U.S. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism. Doi: 10.1080/13670050.2016.1239692 *Shared first-authorship

    Tran, C. D., Arredondo, M. M., & Yoshida, H. (2015). Differential effects of bilingualism and culture on early attention: A longitudinal study in the U.S., Argentina, and Vietnam. Frontiers in Psychology: Language Sciences. Doi:  10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00795

Awards

  • 2020 SRCD Small Grants for Early Career Scholars. PI."Bilingual bebé: Linking neuro-cognitive mechanisms to dual-language learning."
  • 2020 Rising STARs Program at the University of Texas at Austin
  • 2018-2020 National Science Foundation (NSF SBE SPRF) Postdoctoral Fellowship; $138,000 “Infants’ emerging functional specialization in bilingual language acquisition and attentional processes.” Co-PIs: Janet F. Werker, Richard N. Aslin
  • 2018-2020 Killam Laureate Postdoctoral Fellowship at The University of British Columbia
  • 2012-2017 National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship (NSF GRFP)