Welcome to the Bortfeld Lab at UC Merced!

Our research investigates how early experience shapes language development, drawing on converging lines of work in Psychology, Cognitive Science, and Neuroscience. Across our studies, we emphasize the role of cortical plasticity and the emergence of hemispheric specialization in both experience-expectant and experience-dependent ways across early development.

Development in Typical and Atypical Populations

Our prior work focused on typically developing infants, examining how they come to recognize words in fluent speech and the extent to which the perceptual abilities that support this process are specific to language. Building on this foundation, our current developmentally focused research involves pediatric cochlear implant users. These children acquire language from a signal that is substantially degraded relative to the original source, providing a unique window into neural plasticity and developmental variability. We investigate how perceptual, cognitive, and social factors influence their outcomes and seek to identify how language learning can be optimized within this population.

Language Experience and Cognitive Processing

A complementary line of research examines how broader language experiences shape perception and cognition. In particular, we study heritage speakers in the United States, individuals exposed to one language at home while acquiring English as a dominant societal language. This group provides critical insights into how patterns of input, use, and identity shape neural organization for language. By investigating how bilingual and heritage language experience influences perceptual and cognitive processing, we aim to deepen our understanding of the dynamic interplay between language, experience, and brain development. 

Our Approach

Across all of our work, we integrate (1) multiple methods, (2) different levels of analysis, and (3) a broad theoretical perspective. Collectively, our findings underscore the central role of cortical plasticity and early experience—both perceptual and social—in shaping language development across diverse populations.