Hello and welcome!

My name is Glenda Molina and I am a first year graduate student in the department of Cognitive and Linguistic Sciences at Brown University . Currently, I work with James Morgan in the Infant Research Lab.

The focus of my research is on the development of native-language phonetic categories. I want to investigate how phonetic categories are initially organized at the perceptual level, and how this organization is subsequently shaped by language-specific input. I am particularly interested in the cognitive underpinnings of speech sound processing:

• are the mechanisms we use specific to language or do we rely on more general cognitive schemes to interpret phonemes?
• how does infant processing differ from adult processing? do we always rely on the same mechanisms, or are there developmental changes throughout the lifespan?

Additional research interests include the neuro- and psycholinguistic bases of bilingualism.

I completed my undergraduate degree at Tufts University , where I majored in Biology and Spanish. Before coming to Brown I worked for Tufts' Community Health Department as program coordinator for the Health Careers Opportunity Program. During my spare time I enjoy painting, photography, and jewelry making. I also love to travel and to read about political affairs in Latin America .