MARCH 20, 2015 12.30 - 16.00 INAUGURAL LECTURES BY ADJUNCT PROFESSOR LISA ARCHIBALD AND PROFESSOR KRISTINE JENSEN DE LOPEZ SOME CHILDREN STRUGGLE TO LEARN THEIR FIRST LANGUAGE DESPITE OTHERWISE TYPICAL DEVELOPMENT. THESE TWO LECTURES APPROACH THE ISSUE FROM TWO ANGLES: FIRST DEVELOPMENTAL DIFFERENCES IN LANGUAGE AND IMMEDIATE MEMORY PROCESSES AND SECOND TYPICAL AND ATYPICAL LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT AND ITS PARALLELS TO EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT. INAUGURAL LECTURE BY ADJUNCT PROFESSOR LISA ARCHIBALD DEVELOPMENTAL DIFFERENCES IN LANGUAGE AND IMMEDIATE MEMORY PROCESSES: IMPLICATIONS FOR CHILDREN WITH LANGUAGE LEARNING DISABILITIES Some children struggle to learn to their first language despite otherwise typical development. Such children, however, do not form a cohesive group. They have difficulty with varying aspects of language, in diverse circumstances, and at different stages of development. Research conducted in the Language and Working Memory Lab has been aimed at improving our understanding of the complex basis of language learning by examining the interdependency of two cognitive systems, working memory and the developing linguistic system. Taking an epidemiological approach, we have identified groups of children with impairments in language and/or working memory and examined the differential impacts of these impairments on language processing tasks such as sentence repetition and grammaticality judgment. As well, pilot work has demonstrated both domain-specific and profile-specific treatment outcomes for children with different language and working memory profiles. These results clearly underscore the potential benefits of developing a better understanding of the underlying cognitive limitations associated with impaired functioning in individual children. INAUGURAL LECTURE BY PROFESSOR KRISTINE JENSEN DE LÓPEZ INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH ON TYPICAL AND ATYPICAL LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT AND ITS PARALLELS TO EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT: IMPLICATIONS FOR IMPROVED INTERVENTION For many decades it has been argued that the early language development of all children follows similar stages independent of which language is being acquired. However, recent large scale European research shows that some aspects of language may develop earlier in some languages than in others. A similar case can be made for the language development of children that grow up with a language impairment. This suggests that typical and atypical language development are equally dependent on the input in the child’s environment. A second important area of children’s early development which also could be expected to be closely related to the specific culture of the child is the area of emotional development. Collaborative cross-cultural research on children’s abilities to attribute complex emotions such as schadenfreude shows universal as well as culture-specific developmental paths. Together these insights into children’s early development have implications for the field of theoretical as well as applied developmental psychology. AUDITORIUM 1.002, FREDRIK BAJERS VEJ 7H, 9220 AALBORG ØST WWW.CEDAPS.AAU.DK