Research Interests

The focus of my research is based in developmental psychology, and grounded in an epigenetic (Gottlieb, 2002), or systems (Smith & Thelen, 2003) approach to development. The overarching theme of my research is to examine the interaction between various aspects of language development, cognitive development, and social cognitive development, and their influence on the overall development of children with autism, language delay, and typical developmental processes. I am particularly interested in the developmental pathways of children with autism and how these children's language and cognitive development are affected by their social difficulties.

Selected Publications

Brown, H. K., Ouellette-Kuntz, H., Hunter, D., Kelley, E., Cobigo, V., & Lam, M. (2011). Beyond an autism diagnosis: Children’s functional independence and parents’ unmet needs. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 41,1291-1302. DOI 10.1007/s10803-010-1148-y

Dunfield, K., Kuhlmeier, V. A., O’Connell, L., & Kelley, E. (2011).  Examining the diversity of prosocial behavior: Helping, sharing, and comforting in infancy. Infancy, 16, 227-247.  DOI:10.1111/j.1532-7078.2010.00041.x

Li, A. S., Kelley, E. A., Evans, A. D., & Lee, K. (2011).  Exploring the ability to deceive in children with autism spectrum disorders. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 41, 185-195. DOI 10.1007/s10803-010-1045-4

Kelley, E., Naigles, L., & Fein, D. (2010). An in-depth examination of optimal outcome children with a history of autism spectrum disorders. Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders, 4, 526-538.  doi:10.1016/j.rasd.2009.12.001

Boncaddo, R., Dixon, J. A., & Kelley, E. (2010). The emergence of a novel representation from action: Evidence from preschoolers. Developmental Science, 13, 370-377.

Helt, M., Kelley, E., Kinsbourne, M. Pandey, J., Boorstein, H., Herbert, M., & Fein, D. (2008). Can children with autism recover? If so, how? Neuropsychology Reviews, 18, 339-366.

Dixon, J. A. & Kelley, E. (2007).  Theory revision and redescription: Complementary processes in knowledge acquisition. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 16, 111-115.