Katelyn

Kurkul

Academic Title

Associate Professor, Human Development and Human Services

Research Interests
  • Early childhood
  • Social-cognition
  • Children’s questions
  • Informal learning
Research Summary

My research focuses on children’s early-learning experiences across sociocultural contexts. Specifically, I am interested in how children’s questions can be used as a mechanism for learning from others.

My research has been presented at numerous national and international conferences, and I have co-authored several book chapters on such topics as the role of peers in children’s learning and on cues children use to learn from others across cultural contexts.

In addition, I have published numerous scholarly articles in journals such as Child Development and the Journal of Experimental Child Psychology.

Education
  • Ed.D., Human Development, Boston University
  • M.A., Childhood Development, Tufts University
Recent Publications

Kurkul, K. E., Dwyer, J., & Corriveau, K.H. (2021). Children’s questions, teacher’s responses and children’s follow-up across diverse preschool settings. Early Childhood Research Quarterly. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecresq.2021.09.010

Kurkul, K. E., Castine, E., Leech, K., & Corriveau, K. H. (2021). How does a switch work? The relation between adult mechanistic language and children’s learning. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 72, 101221. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appdev.2020.101221

Leech, K. A., Haber, A. S., Arunachalam, S., Kurkul, K., & Corriveau, K. H. (2019). On the malleability of selective trust. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 183, 65-74. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2019.01.013

Kurkul, K., & Corriveau, K. (2018). Question, explanation, follow-up: A mechanism for learning from others? Child Development, 89(1), 280-294. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.12726

Kurkul, K., & Corriveau, K. (2017). The uncontrollable nature of early learning experiences. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 40. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0140525X17001017

Honors and Awards
  • Distinguished Research Award, Counseling and Human Development, American Educational Research Association.
  • Zampell Faculty Fellow