Julien Mayor

Professor - Helse-, utviklings- og personlighetspsyk

Norwegian version of this page

Email julien.mayor@psykologi.uio.no

Phone +47 22845149

Room V04-15

Available hours By agreement

Username

Visiting address Forskningsveien 3A Harald Schjelderups hus 0373 Oslo

Postal address Postboks 1094 Blindern 0317 Oslo

Press photo Download business card

Academic interests

For a more exhaustive overview, see: Research agenda

Language Acquisition, in particular word learning
Infant Speech Perception
Cognitive Development, and its interaction with Language Learning
Computational modeling in Psychology
Bilingualism

Background

2020 → Full professor, Department of Psychology, University of Oslo
2016-2020 Associate Professor, Department of Psychology, University of Oslo
2014-2016 Associate Professor, University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus
2011-2014 “Ambizione” Fellow, Department of Psychology, University of Geneva
2010-2011 Senior Post-Doctoral Fellow, Basque Center on Cognition, Brain and Language
2007-2010 Post-Doctoral Fellow, Department of Psychology, University of Oxford
2001-2005 PhD, Brain-Mind Institute, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne

Awards

2021 SPARK SOCIAL INNOVATION grant. BabyLex - The new generation of early language assessments. Role: Principal Investigator. Funding: NOK 400k.

2020 FRIPRO research grant from the Norwegian Research Council: BABYLEARN: The role of parental speech in infant language development: Insights from Norwegian language. Role. Co-Investigator (PI: Natalia Kartushina). Funding: NOK 8m.

2016 Malaysian Ministry of Science Technology and Innovation grant: eBaby language assessment: Development and application of an innovative mobile and tablet-based formal language assessment tool to detect language delay in young children. Role: Principal Investigator. Funding: RM 91k

2015 Malaysian Ministry of Education (FRGS) grant: Building an integrative model of early word learning via a dual approach; computational modeling and tablet-based experiments. Role: Principal Investigator. Funding: RM 91.2k

2015 Malaysian Ministry of Education (FRGS) grant: Developing an ecological model of early language intervention for autism within the cultural and multilingual contexts of Malaysia. Role: Co-Investigator (PI: Tze Peng Wang). Funding: RM 95.7k

2015 Awarded “Pump Priming” research grant: The Role of Mutual Exclusivity in Early Word Learning; a Tablet-based Experiment. Role: Principal Investigator. Funding: RM 10k

2014 NetWordS short visit grant from the European Science Foundation: Probing the impact of the infant lexicon on her speech perception with a dual approach: computational modelling and empirical study. Role: Principal Investigator

2011 ”Ambizione” fellowship from the Swiss National Science Foundation: A Neuro-computational Investigation of lexical development in Williams Syndrome Children. Role: Principal Investigator. Funding: CHF 423k.

Registered Reports in Stage 1/in press

Kartushina & Mayor (in press). Coping with dialects from birth: Role of variability on infants’ early language development. Insights from Norwegian dialects. Developmental Science.

Serres, Mayor & Kartushina (accepted pending data collection). The Role of Dialect Variability on Mispronunciation Sensitivity: An Insight to Infants’ Early Language Development from a Norwegian Context. Infancy.

Soderstrom, ..., Kartushina, Mayor, ... (accepted pending data collection). Testing the Relationship Between Preferences for Infant-Directed Speech and Vocabulary Development: A Multi-Lab Study. Journal of Child Language.

Tags: Developmental psychology

Visser, Ingmar; Bergmann, Christina; Byers-Heinlein, Krista; Dal Ben, Rodrigo; Duch, Wlodzislaw & Forbes, Samuel [Show all 27 contributors for this article] (2022). Improving the generalizability of infant psychological research: The ManyBabies model. Behavioral and Brain Sciences. ISSN 0140-525X. 45(E35). doi: 10.1017/S0140525X21000455.
Bergmann, Christina; Dimitrova, Nevena; Alaslani, Khadeejah; Almohammadi, Alaa; Alroqi, Haifa & Aussems, Suzanne [Show all 19 contributors for this article] (2022). Young children’s screen time during the first COVID-19 lockdown in 12 countries. Scientific Reports. ISSN 2045-2322. 12(2015). doi: 10.1038/s41598-022-05840-5. Full text in Research Archive
Kartushina, Natalia; Mani, Nivedita; Aslı, Aktan-Erciyes; Alaslani, Khadeejah; Aldrich, Naomi J. & Almohammadi, Alaa [Show all 52 contributors for this article] (2022). COVID-19 first lockdown as a window into language acquisition: associations between caregiver-child activities and vocabulary gains. Septentrio Conference Series. ISSN 0000-0000. 2(1). doi: 10.34842/abym-xv34. Full text in Research Archive
Sia, Ming Yean & Mayor, Julien (2021). Improvements of Statistical Learning Skills Allow Older Children to Go Beyond Single-Hypothesis Testing When Learning Words. Journal of Child Language. ISSN 0305-0009. doi: 10.1017/S0305000921000532. Full text in Research Archive
Kartushina, Natalia; Rosslund, Audun & Mayor, Julien (2021). Toddlers raised in multi-dialectal families learn words better in accented speech than those raised in monodialectal families. Journal of Child Language. ISSN 0305-0009. doi: 10.1017/S0305000921000520. Full text in Research Archive
Chai, Jun Ho; Low, Hui Min; Wong, Tze Peng; Onnis, Luca & Mayor, Julien (2021). Extra-linguistic modulation of the English noun-bias: evidence from Malaysian bilingual infants and toddlers. Journal of Cultural Cognitive Science. ISSN 2520-100X. 5, p. 49–64. doi: 10.1007/s41809-021-00078-5. Full text in Research Archive
Lo, Chang Huan; Rosslund, Audun; Chai, Jun Ho; Mayor, Julien & Kartushina, Natalia (2021). Tablet assessment of word comprehension reveals coarse word representations in 18–⁠20‐month‐old toddlers. Infancy. ISSN 1525-0008. 26(4), p. 596–616. doi: 10.1111/infa.12401. Full text in Research Archive
Althaus, Nadja; Gliozzi, Valentina; Mayor, Julien & Plunkett, Kim (2020). Infant categorization as a dynamic process linked to memory: Infant categorisation linked to memory. Royal Society Open Science. ISSN 2054-5703. 7:200328(10), p. 1–18. doi: 10.1098/rsos.200328.
Ackermann, Lena; Lo, Chang Huan; Mani, Nivedita & Mayor, Julien (2020). Word learning from a tablet app: Toddlers perform better in a passive context. PLOS ONE. ISSN 1932-6203. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0240519. Full text in Research Archive
Althaus, Nadja; Gliozzi, Valentina; Mayor, Julien & Plunkett, Kim (2020). Infant categorization as a dynamic process linked to memory. Royal Society Open Science. ISSN 2054-5703. 7(200328). doi: 10.1098/rsos.200328. Full text in Research Archive
Chai, Jun Ho; Lo, Chang Huan & Mayor, Julien (2020). A Bayesian-Inspired Item Response Theory–Based Framework to Produce Very Short Versions of MacArthur–Bates Communicative Development Inventories. Journal of Speech, Language and Hearing Research. ISSN 1092-4388. doi: 10.1044/2020_JSLHR-20-00361. Full text in Research Archive
Sia, Ming Yean & Mayor, Julien (2020). Syntactic cues help disambiguate objects referred to with count nouns: Illustration with Malay children . Child Development. ISSN 0009-3920. 92(1), p. 101–114. doi: 10.1111/cdev.13401. Full text in Research Archive
Frank, Michael; Alcock, Katherine; Arias-Trejo, Natalia; Ascherslegen, Gisa; Baldwin, Dare & Barbu, Stephanie [Show all 55 contributors for this article] (2020). Quantifying sources of variability in infancy research using the infant-directed speech preference. Advances in Methods and Practices in Psychological Science (AMPPS). ISSN 2515-2459. doi: 10.1177/2515245919900809. Show summary
The field of psychology has become increasingly concerned with issues related to methodology and replicability. Infancy researchers face specific challenges related to replicability: high-powered studies are difficult to conduct, testing conditions vary across labs, and different labs have access to different infant populations, amongst other factors. Addressing these concerns, we report on a large-scale, multi-site study aimed at 1) assessing the overall replicability of a single theoretically-important phenomenon and 2) examining methodological, situational, cultural, and developmental moderators. We focus on infants’ preference for infant-directed speech (IDS) over adult-directed speech (ADS). Stimuli of mothers speaking to their infants and to an adult were created using semi-naturalistic laboratory-based audio recordings in North American English. Infants’ relative preference for IDS and ADS was assessed across 67 laboratories in North America, Europe, and Asia using the three commonly-used infant discrimination methods (head-turn preference, central fixation, and eye tracking). The overall meta-analytic effect size (Cohen’s d) was 0.35 [0.29 - 0.42], which was reliably above zero but smaller than that found in a previous meta-analysis (0.72). The IDS preference was significantly stronger in older children, in those children for whom the stimuli matched their native language and dialect, and in data from labs using the head-turn preference procedure. Together these findings replicate the infant-directed speech preference but suggest that its magnitude is modulated by development, native language experience, and testing procedure.
Bobb, Susan; Von Holzen, Katie; Mayor, Julien; Mani, Nivedita & Carreiras, Manuel (2020). Co-activation of the L2 during L1 auditory processing: An ERP cross-modal priming study . Brain and Language. ISSN 0093-934X. 203. doi: 10.1016/j.bandl.2019.104739. Full text in Research Archive
Kartushina, Natalia & Mayor, Julien (2019). Word knowledge in six- to nine-month-old Norwegian infants? Not without additional frequency cues. Royal Society Open Science. ISSN 2054-5703. 6(9). doi: 10.1098/rsos.180711. Full text in Research Archive
Mayor, Julien & Mani, Nivedita (2018). A short version of the MacArthur–Bates Communicative Development Inventories with high validity. Behavior Research Methods. ISSN 1554-351X. 51, p. 1–2248. doi: 10.3758/s13428-018-1146-0. Full text in Research Archive
Mayor, Julien; Arias-Trejo, Natalia & Alva, Elda (2018). The Impact of Household Size on Lexical Typicality: An Early Link Between Language and Social Cognition? Frontiers in Psychology. ISSN 1664-1078. 9. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01445. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
To communicate successfully, speakers need to use words that are understood by their listeners; they thus need to understand that others have vocabularies different than their own. A key question is whether this social cognition skill is already present in infancy, and whether it can have an impact on early language production. Analysis of the vocabularies of 550 Mexican children revealed that, at 24 months of age, but not at 18 nor at 30 months of age, those who were raised in households with larger numbers of children had more stereotypical vocabularies than those with fewer children. This finding is discussed in light of the hypothesis that communicative pressure may shape early word production; it suggests that bidirectional effects between social cognition and language acquisition are present at two years of age.
Klinger, Joern; Mayor, Julien & Colin, Bannard (2016). Children’s faithfulness in imitating language use varies cross-culturally, contingent on prior experience. Child Development. ISSN 0009-3920. 87(3), p. 820–833. doi: 10.1111/cdev.12503.
Mayor, Julien & Plunkett, Kim (2014). Shared Understanding and Idiosyncratic Expression in Early Vocabularies. Developmental Science. ISSN 1363-755X. 17(3), p. 412–423. doi: 10.1111/desc.12130.
Mayor, Julien & Plunkett, Kim (2014). Infant Word Recognition: Insights from TRACE Simulations. Journal of Memory and Language. ISSN 0749-596X. 71(1), p. 89–123. doi: 10.1016/j.jml.2013.09.009.
Mayor, Julien & Plunkett, Kim (2011). A statistical estimate of infant and toddler vocabulary size from CDI analysis. Developmental Science. ISSN 1363-755X. 14(4), p. 769–785. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-7687.2010.01024.x.
Mayor, Julien (2010). Are Scientists Nearsighted Gamblers? The Misleading Nature of Impact Factors. Frontiers in Psychology. ISSN 1664-1078. 1(215).
Mayor, Julien & Plunkett, Kim (2010). A neurocomputational account of taxonomic responding and fast mapping in early word learning. Psychological review. ISSN 0033-295X. 117(1).
Gliozzi, Valentina; Mayor, Julien; Hu, Jon-Fan & Plunkett, Kim (2009). Labels as features (not names) for infant categorization: A neurocomputational approach. Cognitive Science. ISSN 0364-0213. 33(4), p. 709–738.
Mayor, Julien & Gerstner, Wulfram (2005). Noise-enhanced computation in a model of a cortical column. NeuroReport. ISSN 0959-4965. 16(11), p. 1237–1240.
Mayor, Julien & Gerstner, Wulfram (2005). Signal buffering in random networks of spiking neurons: Microscopic versus macroscopic phenomena. Physical Review E. Statistical, Nonlinear, and Soft Matter Physics. ISSN 1539-3755. 72(5).
Mayor, Julien & Gerstner, Wulfram (2004). Transient information flow in a network of excitatory and inhibitory model neurons: Role of noise and signal autocorrelation. Journal of Physiology - Paris. ISSN 0928-4257. 98(4-6), p. 417–428.

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Bochynska, Agata; Quintana, Daniel; Mayor, Julien; Leknes, Siri; Roettger, Timo & Mayiwar, Lewend [Show all 7 contributors for this article] (2022). Fram for troverdig forskning: Forskningen må være gjennomsiktig og etterprøvbar. Forskerforum. ISSN 0800-1715. 54(4), p. 38–39. Show summary
Forskere ved Universitetet i Oslo, Handelshøyskolen BI og Høgskolen i Østfold har etablert det nasjonale nettverket Norwegian Reproducibility Network (NORRN). NORRN skal bidra til god forskningspraksis i Norge gjennom å fremme og legge til rette for åpenhet og etterprøvbarhet av forskningsresultater.
Kartushina, Natalia; Robberstad, Silje; Munoz, Luis Eduardo & Mayor, Julien (2021). Acoustic properties of Norwegian infant-directed speech and their role in language development of 8-9-month-old infants.
Rother, Nicolas; Burtscher, Michael Josef; Gobet, Fernand; Mantzouranis, Gregory; Mayor, Julien & Pirrone, Angelo [Show all 9 contributors for this article] (2021). The beginning of a new era. Swiss Psychology Open (SPO). ISSN 2752-5341. 1(1). doi: 10.5334/spo.27.
Kartushina, Natalia; Robberstad, Silje & Mayor, Julien (2021). The Role of Parental Speech in Infant Language Development: Insights from 8-9-month-old Norwegian Infants .
Mayor, Julien; Gomez, Pablo; Chang, Franklin & Lupyan, Gary (2014). Connectionism coming of age: legacy and future challenges. Frontiers in Psychology. ISSN 1664-1078. 5(187).

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Published Aug. 22, 2016 1:49 PM - Last modified Mar. 23, 2022 9:25 AM

Projects

Research groups

Pragmatics: Theory & Experiments