The University of Chicago
Department of Psychology
5848 South University Avenue
Chicago, IL, 60637
Office: Green 504
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Dea Hunsicker
Background
Dea graduated with a BA from Wesleyan University. Before starting grad school she worked as a research assistant for the Study of Adult Development, the longest running longitudinal study in the country. As a member of the Goldin-Meadow lab she's currently studying the development of noun phrases and other forms of hierarchical structure in homesigners. Homesigners are the profoundly deaf children of hearing adults who aren't exposed to a sign language, and so develop a gesture system to communicate. By studying individuals in this unique situation without access to a language model, it's possible to gain better understanding of what the human mind contributes to language development and language evolution.
Research Interests
Dea's research interests include language development and language and thought questions. In particular, she's interested in the full range of how language can impact the way people think, from homesigners without access to a language model to individuals raised in multilingual environments.
Publications
Hunsicker, D. S., Mylander, C., Goldin-Meadow, S. Are There Noun Phrases in
Homesign? GESPIN Proceedings (Vol. I), 2009
Under Review
Hunsicker, D.S., Goldin-Meadow, S. Hierarchical structure in a self-created communication system: Are there noun phrases in homesign?
Presentations
Hunsicker, D. S., Cartmill, E., Goldin-Meadow, S. The role of gesture in noun phrase development. Jean Piaget Society Annual Meeting, Berkeley, CA 2011.
Hunsicker, D. S., Goldin-Meadow, S. Creating hierarchical structure: Do noun phrases appear in homesign? Boston University Conference on Language Development,Boston, MA 2010.
Hunsicker, D. S., Mylander, C., Goldin-Meadow, S. Are There Noun Phrases in Homesign? Gesture and Speech in Communication, Poznan, Poland 2009.
Hunsicker, D. S. Descriptive Hands: Noun Phrase Development in Homesign International Congress for the Study of Child Language, Edinburgh, Scotland 2008.
