About me

I am an Assistant Professor of Psychology (teaching stream, CLTA) at the University of Toronto. My work is currently funded by a SSHRC Insight Development Grant.

My research focuses on the learning mechanisms that allow young children to acquire their native language's rules (syntax) and words (lexicon). I'm particularly interested in how children (and adults) manage to learn the meaning of new words, so most of my experiments involve the use of pseudo-words (and cute stuffed animals!). Current projects investigate how bilingualism impacts young children's language and social development. Check out my publications and my lab page for more information.

I am also a child psychologist, specialized in neurodevelopmental disorders. I received my clinical training at the CHU Sainte-Justine and at the Hôpital Rivière-des-Prairies (both in Montreal, Canada). My clinical experience is a great source of inspiration for my clinically-oriented lectures (see Teaching section). I am registered with both the College of Psychologists of Ontario and the Ordre des Psychologues du Québec.

Background

I grew up in a small town in the heart of the Appalachians (Edmundston, New Brunswick). I received my undergraduate degree from the Université de Moncton. In 2017, I obtained my Ph.D. and Psy.D. from the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM). I had the pleasure to have Dr. Rushen Shi as my thesis advisor. You can learn about the fascinating subject of French liaison and its acquisition right here.

I conducted postdoctoral work at the Ecole Normale Supérieure in Paris with Dr. Anne Christophe. This line of work (SASC project) was supported by a postdoctoral grant from the Fyssen foundation and by a Marie Skłodowska-Curie fellowship.