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      Dr Fabia Franco

      PhD
      ROLE: Senior Lecturer in Psychology
      SCHOOL: Science & Technology
      DEPARTMENT: Psychology
      TELEPHONE: +44 (0)20 8411 5471
      EMAIL: F.Franco@mdx.ac.uk
      1. Biography &
        Qualifications
      2. Learning &
        Teaching Interests
      3. Research Outputs &
        Interests
      4. Funded Research &
        Knowledge Exchange Projects
      5. Engagement &
        Impact

      • Biography &
        Qualifications

        I studied in Italy at the Universities of Padua (BSc/MSc Psychology Magna cum Laude; awarded the Italian Society of Psychology prize for best dissertation yrs. 1980-82) and Bologna (PhD Psychology).

        I spent a post-doctoral period at the University of Stirling to work with George Butterworth at the Infant Study Unit, thanks to grants from the Italian CNR and European Science Foundation. I remained as post-doctoral fellow to extend the research thanks to grants from the ESRC.

        In 1991 I became a tenured lecturer at the University of Padua. I spent a sabbatical year at the University of Cambridge in 1996 and I relocated to London for family reasons in 1998, when I joined Middlesex University.

        I was Visiting Professor at the University of Roma-Tre, Rome, during a sabbatical term in 2006, and Visiting Scholar at LPL (Laboratoire Parole et Langage) CNRS UMR 7309, University of Aix-Marseille, during a sabbatical period in 2014.

        I am Life Member of Clare Hall (Cambridge) since 1997 and Honorary Member of GRiDD (Group for Research in Developmental Disabilities, UCL Institute of Education, London), since 2013. I joined the Developmental Psychology Editorial Board of Frontiers in Pediatrics and Psychology in 2015, and AIRS (Advancing Interdisciplinary Research in Singing) in 2016. I am a member of The British Psychological Society / Developmental Section.


        Languages Spoken

        English; Italian (native); French (fluent); Spanish (basic).

      • Learning &
        Teaching Interests

        • Communication and Language (3rd year elective module)
        • Musical communication (3rd year seminar)
        • Developmental Psychology (2nd year core module)
        • Observational Methods (2nd year and masters).

        Supervision of empirical projects:

        • Final year empirical projects / dissertations
        • Internships (internal and external)
        • MScs
        • PhDs.

        I welcome Dissertation projects in the following areas:

        • Psychology of Music (including dance)
        • Selected topics in early development, particularly communication, language and music
        • The relationship between language and music, and selected topics in music psychology
        • Infants and young children's social cognition and communication in typical and atypical populations

      • Research Outputs &
        Interests

        Developmental Psychology:

        My main research focus is on infant communication and the development of language. In the course of my career I studied the development of a first sound-meaning system based on nonsegmental features in infant prelinguistic vocalisations; infant-directed speech; and joint attention, in particular the pointing gesture in infants. More recently I have begun to study the relationship between language and music in the development of human communication.

        I have established the Middlesex babyLab , a research laboratory dedicated to infant research and including observation facilities with AV digital support, sound-isolating booth, preferential looking/listening, Tobii eye-tracking.

        I am interested also in a number of other aspects of developmental psychology concerning young children's cognition and emotion in typical and atypical groups.

        Psychology of Music:

        Cognitive benefits of music exposure; Reading and musical expertise; Movement synchronization and affiliation; Music and emotion.

        Research students, interns and visiting researchers (current):

        Nina Politimou, Music processing, language processing and working memory in preschool children: The effects of short-term music training (final year PhD).

        Sara Boem (MSc Psychology Padua), Music Psychology, Erasmus+ Mobility grant (November 2016 - May 2017).

        Coulisse Bialic-Murphy (Msc Psychology Middlesex London), Dance, Music and Reading (January - May 2017).

        Ongoing collaborations:

        • Early musical interactions and language development in the second year (with S. Falk - Paris, M. Fasolo - Chieti, M. Spinelli & C. Suttora - Milan-Bicocca) and in preschoolers (with L. Stewart - Goldsmith's)
        • Infant-directed singing and musical interactions with infants and young children in hunter-gatherers (with J. Lewis - Anthropology/University College London and S. Falk - Aix-Marseille/LMU Munich)
        • Reading abilities and types of musical expertise in typical and dyslexic readers (with N. Brunswick - Middlesex)
        • Cognitive performance and physiological self-regulation with affect-matching / -mismatching music in children (with M. Van Puyvelde/Royal Military Academy of Belgium, and J. Swaine/Hull) and healthy 65+ (with E. Ward, Middlesex)
        • The Eyes Test revisited: A generalisation study with typical and atypical children (with M. Mazza/L'Aquila, D. Dimitriou/IoE University College London).
        • Music-language boundaries in human infancy (with M. Van Puyvelde/Royal Military Academy of Belgium)
        • The impact of dance-based exercise on cognitive abilities and work performance in middle aged women (with M. Vecchi PI and P. Brañas-Garzas, Middlesex Behavioural Economics).

        Publications:

        Franco, F., and Angelova, S. (2016). Emotion-related musical variables affect person perception:Differential effects for men and women in a synchronization task. Interaction Studies 17:2, 306-320, DOI: 10.1075/is.17.2.06fra.

        Franco, F., Chew, M., and Swaine (2016). Preschoolers' attribution of affect to music: A comparison between vocal and instrumental performance. Psychology of Music, 1st August online, DOI: 10.1177/0305735616652954.

        Van Puyvelde, M., and Franco, F. (2015). The interaction of music and language in the ontogenesis of human communication: A multimodal parent-infant co-regulation system. Proceedings of the International Conference on the Multimodal Experience of Music 2015. Sheffield (UK): HRI Online Publications, ISBN 978-0-9571022-4-8. Available online at:

        Gettings, S., Franco, F., & Santosh, P. (2015). Audio-conferencing as a method of facilitating sibling support groups: a pilot study. Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health, 9:8  doi:10.1186/s13034-015-0041-z.

        Franco, F., Swaine, J.S., Israni, S., Zaborowska, K.A., Kaloko, F., Kesavarajan, I. and Majek, J.A. (2014). Affect-matching music improves cognitive performance in adults and young children for both positive and negative emotions. Psychology of Music, DOI: 10.1177/0305735614548500.

        Franco, F., Pomorska, K., Abramowski, A., Itakura, S., and Nikaido, K. & D. Demetriou (2014). Can children with autism read emotions from the eyes? The Eyes Test revisited. Research in Developmental Disabilities, DOI: 10.1016/j.ridd.2014.01.037.

        Franco, F. Embodied attention in infant pointing. In J. Metcalfe & H. Torrace (Eds.), Agency & Joint Attention. NY: Oxford University Press, 2013 (pp. 152-164) (ISBN 978-0-19-998834-1).

        Franco, F., and Cross, I. (Guest Editors). Introduction to The Music of Language, The Language of Music: Meaning and Entrainment Questions. Empirical Musicology Review, 2012, Special Issue vol. 7/1-2, 2-4.

        Franco, F., & Martiskova, J. (2011). Can young children recognize emotion in the human voice? (Schopnosť rozpoznávania emócií z ľudského hlasu u detí predškolského veku). In E. Klčovanská & A. Topoľská (Eds) Psychologická teória a prax očami absolventa KP FF TU. Trnava (Slovakia): Trnava University Press, 2011 (pp. 125-132) (ISBN 978-80-8082-387-0).

        Major, A., Franco, F., & Zotovic, M., Preschoolers understanding of implicit causality and theory of mind development: A comparison between Serbian and Hungarian monolingual children (in English). Psihologija, 2010, 43/2,187-198. DOI:10.2298/PSI1002187M; UDC 159.955.072-053.4.

        Franco, F., Brunswick, N., & de Mornay Davies, P. Music of Language, Language of Music. The Psychologist, 2010, 11/3, 913-914.

        Franco, F., Perucchini, P., & March, B. Is infant initiation of joint attention by pointing affected by type of interaction? Social Development, 2009, 18 (1), 51-76.

        D’Odorico, L., Assanelli, A., Franco, F., Jacob, V. A follow-up study on Italian Late Talkers: Development of language, short-term memory, phonological awareness, impulsiveness and attention. Applied Psycholinguistics, 2007, 28, 157-169.

        Franco, F. Infant pointing: Harlequin, servant of two masters. In N. Eilan, C. Hoerl, T. McCormack, J. Roessler (Eds.) Joint attention: Communication and other minds. Problems in philosophy and psychology. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005 (pp. 129-164).

        Assanelli, A., D'Odorico, L., Franco, F., & Salerni, N. Language delay and joint attention. Psicologia Clinica dello Sviluppo, 2005, IX N.2, 289-314.

        Levorato, C., Franco, F., Tasso, A., Russell, J. Implicit causality in verbs of visual perception: A crosslinguistic comparison between English and Italian. Giornale Italiano di Psicologia, 2005, XXXII N. 3, 131-154.

        Butterworth, G., Franco, F., McKenzie, B., Graupner, L., & Todd, B. Dynamic aspects of visual event perception and the production of pointing by human infants. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 2002, 20, 1-24.

        Franco, F., & Gagliano, A. Toddler’s pointing when joint attention is obstructed. First Language, 2001, 21, 289-321.

        Russell, J., Hill, E., & Franco, F. The role of belief veracity in understanding intentions-in-action: Preschool children's performance on the transparent intentions task. Cognitive Development, 2001, 16, 775-792.

        Assanelli, A., Salerni, N., Franco, F., & D'Odorico, L. Linguisitc delay and gestural communication. ELA2001 Proceedings, 2001.

        Franco, F., Levorato, C., Tasso, A., Russell, J. Cross-linguistic developmental evidence of implicit causality in visual perception and cognition verbs. In M. Perkins & S. Howard (Eds.) New directions in language development and disorders. New York: Plenum, 2000 (pp. 189-198).

        Franco, F. The development of meaning in infancy: Early communication and social understanding. In S. Hala (Ed.) The development of social cognition. Hove: Psychology Press, 1997 (pp. 95-160).

        Franco, F., & Wishart, J. Preverbal communication in young children with Down syndrome. In M. Aldridge (Ed.) Proceedings of the Child Language Seminar. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters Ltd., 1996 (pp. 52-65).

        Franco, F., & Butterworth, G. Pointing and social awareness: Declaring and requesting in the second year. Journal of Child Language, 1996, 23, 307-336.

        Franco, F., & Wishart, J. Gestural communication development in children with Down syndrome. In R. Vianello & C. Cornoldi (Eds.), Handicap e apprendimento: Ricerche e proposte di intervento (Handicap and learning: Research and intervention). Bergamo: Junior, 1995 (pp. 55-69).

        Franco, F., & Longobardi, E. Assessment of communication and early language. In G. Axia (Ed.), La valutazione dello sviluppo (Assessment of development). Roma: La Nuova Italia, 1994 (pp. 117-151).

        Butterworth, G., & Franco, F. Motor development: communication and cognition. In L. Kalverboer, B. Hopkins, R.H. Gueze (Eds.) A longitudinal approach to the study of motor development in early and later childhood. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993 (pp. 153-165).

        Jenkins, J., Franco, F., Dolins, F., & Sewell, A. Toddlers' reactions to negative emotion displays: Forming models of relationships. Infant Behavior and Development, 1995, 18, 273-281.

        Franco, F., & Wishart, J. The use of pointing and other gestures by young children with Down syndrome. American Journal of Mental Retardation, 1995, 100/2, 160-182.

        Franco, F. Some social perception processes in adult-infant interaction: An experimental approach. In G. Di Stefano and M. Tallandini (Eds.), Meccanismi e processi di sviluppo nell'interpretazione post-piagetiana (Mechanisms and processes of development in post-Piagetian modeling). Milano: Cortina, 1991 (pp. 359-398).

        Franco, F., Evidence, interpretation and theories about object permanence in the sensorimotor period. In G. Di Stefano and M. Tallandini (Eds.) Meccanismi e processi di sviluppo nell'interpretazione post-piagetiana (Mechanisms and processes of development in post-Piagetian modeling). Milano: Cortina, 1991 (pp. 249-302).

        D'Odorico, L., & Franco, F. Adult-infant interaction as a context for communicative development. In V. Ugazio (Ed.) I condizionamenti educativi (Educational constraints on development). Milano: Angeli, 1991 (pp. 184-208).

        D'Odorico, L., & Franco, F. Selective production of vocalisations in different communication contexts. Journal of Child Language, 1991, 18, 475-99.

        Franco, F., D'Odorico, L., & Campbell, R. Children's knowledge about infants. Eta' Evolutiva, 1990, 39, 91-96.

        Franco, F., Arcuri, L., & Cadinu, M. Implicit causality in interpersonal verbs: a test with Italian. Giornale Italiano di Psicologia, 1990, XVII/1, 159-174.

        Franco, F., & Arcuri, L. Implicit causality of verbs: Effects of semantic valence. British Journal of Social Psychology, 1990, 26, 61-70.

        Franco, F. Analysis of preverbal communicative development. In L. Camaioni and F. Simion (Eds.) Metodi di ricerca in psicologia dello sviluppo (Research methods in developmental psychology). Bologna: Il Mulino, 1989 (pp. 237-267).

        Franco, F., & D'Odorico, L. Baby Talk from the perspective of discourse production. Journal of Psycholinguistic Research, 1988, 17, 29-63.

        Franco, F. Similarities and differences between different types of social partners in adult-infant interaction. Eta' Evolutiva, 1988, 30, 103-113.

        Franco, F. Maturation and development: acoustical analysis of communication by cry. Revista de Logopedia, Foniatria y Audiologia (Spain), 1988, VIII/3, 162-172.

        Franco, F. Infant cry in the perspective of language development: spectrographic analysis of vocalisations and psychological accounts. In J. Kirkland (Ed.) Cry Reports; Special Issue 1987. Palmerston North, N. Z.: Massey University Press, 1988 (pp. 10-16).

        Franco, F., & D'Odorico, L. Context-discourse matching in Baby Talk. In M. Bertuccelli Papi and J. Verschueren (Eds.) The pragmatic perspective. Amsterdam: Benjamins, 1987 (pp. 213-228).

        Franco, F., Memory in infancy: precursors, prerequisites, or early memory organisations? Giornale Italiano di Psicologia, 1987, XIV/4, 563-576.

        D'Odorico, L., & Franco, F. Interactional context and Baby Talk: A comparison between mothers and fathers. Giornale Italiano di Psicologia, 1986, 2, 253-273.

        D'Odorico, L., Franco, F., & Vidotto, G. Temporal characteristics in infant cry and non-cry vocalisations. Language and Speech, 1985, 28, 29-46.

        D'Odorico, L., & Franco, F. The determinants of Baby Talk: Relationship to context. Journal of Child Language, 1985, 12, 567-586.

        Franco, F., & Gobbo, C. Analysis of exploratory behaviour in mother-infant interaction. Eta' Evolutiva, 1985, 20, 13-24.

        Franco, F. Differences in manner of phonation of infant cries: relationship to communicative context. Language and Speech, 1984, 27, 59-78.

        Franco, F. Non-segmental aspects of the acoustical differentiation of cry and non-cry vocalisations in the first year of life. Acta Phoniatrica Latina, 1984, V/3, 197-202.

        D'Odorico, L., & Franco, F. Communicative development of crying in the first year of life. Eta' Evolutiva, 1984, 19, 11-21.

        Franco, F. Functions and characteristics of crying in the first year of life. A critical review of the literature. Eta' Evolutiva, 1984, 19, 105-118.

        Franco, F. The development of research on the diagnostic use of spectrographic analysis of infant cry. Methodological problems and suggestions for a normative study. Psicologia Clinica, 1983, 2, 221-245.

        Franco, F. Jerome Bruner's contribution to the study of language development. Archivio di Psicologia Neurologia e Psichiatria, 1983, 1, 44-67.

        Conference papers (from 2010):

        • Franco, F., Baluch, B., Çatal, T., Danaye Tousi, M., Leivo, K., Major, A., Sigger, J., Skoczen, S., Zotovic, M. 1st Joint Conference of the Experimental Psychology Society and SEPEX. Granada (Spain), 15-17th April 2010.
        • Franco, F., Baluch, B., Çatal, T., Danaye Tousi, M., Leivo, K., Major, A., Sigger, J., Skoczen, S., Zotovic, M. 4th International Conference on Language, Culture and Mind (LCM 4). Turku (Finland), 21st-23rd June 2010.
        • Franco, F., Baluch, B., Çatal, Danaye Tousi, M., Leivo, K., Major, A., Sigger, J., Skoczen, S., Zotovic, M. 3rd UK Cognitive Linguistics Conference (UK-CLC3). University of Hertfordshire, 6-8th July 2010.
        • Franco, F., Falk, S., & Swaine, J. 1st Language & Music BPS Seminar (London, 20 July 2010).
        • Major, A., Franco, F., & Zotovic, M. et al. 5th International Conference on Child and Adolescent Psychopathology. London, 12-13 July 2010.
        • Franco, F., & Martiskova, J.. British Psychological Society – Developmental Section Annual Conference. London, 13-14 September 2010.
        • Franco, F., & Martiskova, J. Annual Psychology Conference, Trnava University (Slovakia), 15 October 2010.
        • Franco, F., Chew, M., and Rohrmeier, M. 2nd Language & Music BPS Seminar (Cambridge, December 2010).
        • Franco, F., Chew, M., & Rohrmeier, M. International Conference The Neurosciences and Music - IV: Learning and Memory (Edinburgh, 9-12 June 2011).
        • Franco, F., Chew, M., & Swaine, J. International Conference The Neurosciences and Music - IV: Learning and Memory (Edinburgh, 9-12 June 2011).
        • Franco, F., Bozdogan, O., Chew, M., & Swaine, J. The Music of Language, the Language of Music - 3: Communicative Interaction / Literacy & Expertise (London, 5-6 September 2011).
        • Franco, F., & Martiskova, J. BPS Annual Developmental Psychology Section Conference (Newcastle, 7-9 September 2011).
        • Franco, F., Chew, M., & Swaine, J. BPS Annual Developmental Psychology Section Conference (Newcastle, 7-9 September 2011).
        • Nunez, M., Butcher, J., Franco, F., Leekam, S. (2012). Joint attention in children with dual sensory impairment: Touching a shared world. Presented at the BPS Developmental Psychology Section Conference, Strathclyde University (Glasgow), 5-7th September.
        • Nunez, M., Franco, F., & Leekam, S. (2013). Atypical World/Mind Regulation: Dual-sensory Impaired Children use Multisensory Means for Joint Attention. 25th APS Annual Convention. Washington, D.C. (USA), 23-26 May.
        • Franco, F., & Angelova, S. (2013). Stepping Together to Music Affects Men and Women Differently: Mode and Tempo Effects on Person Perception in a Synchronization Task. 3rd International Conference on Music & Emotion, Jyväskylä (Finland), 11-15 June.
        • Franco, F., & Angelova, S. (2013). Stepping Together to Music Affects Men and Women Differently: Mode and Tempo Effects on Person Perception in a Synchronization Task. EuroMov Inaugural Conference, Montpellier, 24-25 June.
        • Franco, F., Swaine, J., & Zaborowska, K. (2013). Mood-matching music improves cognitive performance in adults and preschoolers. Nordoff-Robbins Plus Conference Music and Communication: Music Therapy and Music Psychology. London, 20 September.
        • Franco, F., D'Odorico, L., & Kozar, I. (2013). Sex mediates musical preferences in 6-month-old infants. Nordoff-Robbins Plus Conference Music and Communication: Music Therapy and Music Psychology. London, 20 September.
        • Franco, F., Kiakides, L., Brunswick, N., and Evans, A. (2014). The effect of musical experience on reading skills. British Dyslexia Association's 9th International conference. Guildford, 27-29 March.
        • Franco, F., Brunswick, N., Evans, A., Kiakides, L., & Martiskova, J. (2014). Exploring reading skills in function of different types of musical expertise. European Dyslexia Association (EDA) Summer Seminars 2014. San Marino, 19th-21st June.
        • Franco, F., and Swaine, J. Mood-matching music improves cognitive performance in adults and preschoolers. The Neurosciences and Music V - Cognitive Stimulation and Rehabilitation. Dijon (France), 29 May - 1 June.
        • Kozar, I., & Franco, F. Family background, preference for instrumental vs. vocal music and language development in infancy. The Neurosciences and Music V - Cognitive Stimulation and Rehabilitation. Dijon (France), 29 May - 1 June.
        • Politimou, A., & Franco, F. Western tonal knowledge in 3- and 4-year-old children. The Neurosciences and Music V - Cognitive Stimulation and Rehabilitation. Dijon (France), 29 May - 1 June.
        • Nunez, M., Franco, F. and Leekam, S. Multisensory joint attention: The deafblind path. 44th Annual Meeting of the Jean Piaget Society - Rethinking Language and Communicative Development. San Francisco (USA), 28-31 May 2014.
        • Franco, F., Pomorska, K., Abramowski, A. & Dimitriou, D. (2014). Can children with Autism read emotions from the eyes? The Eyes Test revisited. Sixth International Conference on Language, Culture and Mind (LCM6). Lublin (Poland), 23-26 June.
        • Franco, F., D'Odorico, L. & Kozar, I. (2014). Infant attention to vocal or instrumental music at 6 months is mediated by sex and exposure to singing: Follow-up on language development at 14 months. Presented at the XIXth Biennial International Conference on Infant Studies. Berlin, 3-5 July.
        • Franco, F. Sobolewska, T., Stewart, L. & Waller, A. (2015). Infant-directed song and speech: Attention deployment to sound and articulatory gesture in infancy. ICMEM2015, Sheffield, 22-24 March.
        • Politimou, N. & Franco, F. (2015). Links between musical and linguistic abilities in preschoolers: The role of the family's musical environment. Workshop on Infant Language Development (WILD2015), Stockholm, 6-10 June.
        • Franco, F., Kozar, I., & Sobolewska, T. (2015). Infant-directed singing, attention and language development in infancy. ECP2015, Milan, 7-10 July.
        • Politimou, N. & Franco, F. (2015). Links between musical and linguistic abilities in preschoolers: The role of the family's musical environment. ESCOM2015, Manchester, 17-22 August.
        • Franco, F., Swaine, J.S., & Van Puyvelde, M. (2015). Mood-matching music (not 'happy' music) improves cognitive performance and neuro-visceral integration in children. IV International Conference on Music and Emotion, Geneva, October 12-16.
        • Franco, F., Politimou, N., & Sobolewska. T. Sing for me, mama: Infant-directed singing facilitates early language development 15th WAIMH World Congress (World Association of Infant Mental Health), Prague, 29 May - 2 June 2016 (invited talk in symposium).
        • Politimou, N., & Franco, F. Links between musical and linguistic skills in young preschoolers: The role of the home musical environment. SYSMUS, Jyväskylä, Finland, 8-10 June 2016.

        Conferences/symposia recently organised:

        • Organizer and chair of a symposium "Music & language: Multimodal roots of communication in infancy", ICMEM (International Conference on Multimodal Experience of Music), Sheffiled (UK), 23-25 March 2015. Speakers: François et al. (Barcelona), Van Puyvelde (Brussels), Costa-Giomi (Texas), Franco, Sobolewska, Stewart & Waller (Middlesex/Goldsmiths).
        • Organizer and chair, Invited symposium in honour of L. D'Odorico, "Music and Language in the Development of Infant Communication", XIVth ECP (European Congress of Psychology), Milan, 7-10 July 2015. Speakers: Falk (Aix-Marseille/LMU Munich), Tsang (London Ontario), Van Puyvelde (Brussels), Filippa (Paris/Modena), F. Franco et al. (Middlesex/Milan-Bicocca).
        • BPS Seminars on The Music of Language, the Language of Music (2010-2011) - three interdisciplinary international meetings as follows:

        1. Development / Evolution, 19-20 July 2010 (London, Middlesex University)
        2. Meaning / Entrainment, 13-14 December 2010 (Cambridge, Centre for Music and Science)
        3. Pragmatics / Literacy, July 2011 (London, Middlesex University)

        Publication Feed

        Evaluating a continuing professional development course on cognitive functions for Music Therapists working in care homes

        Mangiacotti, Anthony and Franco, Fabia and Hsu, Ming Hung and Biasutti, Michele (2021) Evaluating a continuing professional development course on cognitive functions for Music Therapists working in care homes. The Arts in Psychotherapy . ISSN 0197-4556 (Published online first)

        Melodic expectations in 5- to 6-year-old children

        Politimou, Nina and Douglass-Kirk, Pedro and Pearce, Marcus and Stewart, Lauren and Franco, Fabia (2021) Melodic expectations in 5- to 6-year-old children. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology , 203 . ISSN 0022-0965

        Sing for me, Mama! Infants' discrimination of novel vowels in song

        Falk, Simone and Fasolo, Mirco and Genovese, Giuliana and Romero-Lauro, Leonor and Franco, Fabia (2021) Sing for me, Mama! Infants' discrimination of novel vowels in song. Infancy , 26 (2). pp. 248-270. ISSN 1525-0008

        Memory improvement in aging as a function of exposure to mood-matching music

        Ward, Emma V. and Isac, Alex and Donnelly, Maria and Van Puyvelde, Martine and Franco, Fabia (2021) Memory improvement in aging as a function of exposure to mood-matching music. Acta Psychologica , 212 . pp. 1-6. ISSN 0001-6918

        Singing to infants matters: early singing interactions affect musical preferences and facilitate vocabulary building

        Franco, Fabia and Suttora, Chiara and Spinelli, Maria and Kozar, Iryna and Fasolo, Mirco (2020) Singing to infants matters: early singing interactions affect musical preferences and facilitate vocabulary building. Journal of Child Language . ISSN 0305-0009 (Accepted/In press)

        View more publications

      • Funded Research &
        Knowledge Exchange Projects

        BRITISH ACADEMY SGS (PI): Emotional meaning of musical consonance and dissonance in cross-modal nonverbal tasks, with F. Bravo (Dresden), M. Mazza (L’Aquila, Italy), and M. Van Puyvelde (Brussels) - starting spring 2017.

        SEMPRE The Arnold Bentley Fund (PI): Do musical training and practice support reading? A study of professional dancers and musicians, with Nicola Brunswick and Coulisse Bialic-Murphy (Middlesex University, Psychology) - started January 2017

        AIRS (Advancing Interdisciplinary Research on Singing), Mapping the music of 2-4 year olds with LENA, with Lauren Stewart (Goldsmiths', Psychology) and Graham Welch (UCL Institute of Education) - February/July 2015.

        SEMPRE The Arnold Bentley Fund (PI): Do M'bendjele (BaYaka) Pygmies recognise communicative intent in Western infant-directed songs? Another look at music and universality, with Jerome Lewis (Anthropology, University College London, UK) and Simone Falk (Ludwig-Maximilian University Munich and LPL Aix-Marseille University, France) - September 2014/2016.

        SENSE, Joint attention and communication development in deaf-blind infants and young children, with Maria Nunez (PI, Glasgow Caledonian University) and Sue Leekam (Cardiff University) – September 2011/January 2014.

        MIDDLESEX UNIVERSITY GRANT (PI), Reading abilities and music: The role of different types of expertise, with N. Brunswick, L. Kiakides and A. Evans - May/July 2013.

        NUFFIELD FOUNDATION SGS (PI): Young children recognition of emotion in the human voice – January 2011 / September 2012.

        DFG (PAntrag im Programm „Initiierung und Intensivierung bilateraler Kooperationen" der DFG, Deutschland – Großbritannien), The intertwining of Speech and Song: Is there a relationship between perceptive and interactional aspects of parental singing and language development? With Simone Falk (PI, LMU Munich) - 2011/12.

        BRITISH ACADEMY SGS (PI): "If you are happy and you know it ....": Can preschoolers recognise emotion in music? With Marcia Chew, and Joel Swaine (Cambridge University, Centre for Music & Science) – October 2010 / June 2011.

        SEMPRE The Arnold Bentley Fund (PI): Speech and music tone processing in function of musical and language background (tonal v non-tonal), with Martin Rohrmeier (Cambridge University Centre for Music and Science / Berlin FU) and Marcia Chew - October 2010 / June 2011.

        BPS (British Psychological Society) (PI): Research Seminars Competition to organize three international meetings The music of language, the language of music - January 2010 / September 2011.

      • Engagement &
        Impact

        Membership of Professional Bodies and Learned Societies

        • B.P.S. (British Psychological Society), Graduate Member, Developmental Psychology Section, from 2001.
        • SEMPRE (Society for Education, Music & Psychology Research), from 2010.
        • AIRS (Advancement of Interdisciplinary Research in Singing), from 2016.

        Recent media  and general public engagements

        • I have contributed mother-infant materials mentioned with my research in the "Descent of Language" programme on BBC Radio 3, 27.09.15 (http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06b8q6y).
        • With my PhD student Politimou, I have presented a new experiment at the Cambridge Science Festival 17.03.16 (http://www.sciencefestival.cam.ac.uk/events/mind-behind-music).

        • Fabia Franco (Middlesex University, London), Music and communication: New perspectives relevant for the autistic spectrum. Keynote at the Symposium “ Intersubjectivity, theory of mind and music”, University of L’Aquila & Abruzzi Regional Centre for Autism, 11th November 2016.

        Contribution to the development of assessment tools

        • Siblings Views Questionnaires – Gettings, Franco & Santosh (available from XIP UCLB in 2017)
        • Communicative Development Inventory Greek adaptation (Markodimitraki, Papailiou, Politimou & Franco) (http://mb-cdi.stanford.edu/adaptations.html)
        • Music@Home: Questionnaires to assess informal musical experiences in the home, Q1-Infants, Q2-Preschoolers (Politimou, Müllensiefen, Stewart & Franco, 2017). Italian translation available.

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