Kathryn Leech
Biographic Data
| ID | 5761281 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Kathryn Leech |
| GIVEN NAMES | Kathryn |
| FAMILY NAME | Leech |
| SIGNATURE | LEECH K |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-1461-3855 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 18 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 11 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 18 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2014 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 2 |
Integrating digital technologies in shared reading
As digital technologies increasingly shape children's early learning experiences, their role in supporting foundational literacy practices, such as shared reading, warrants investigation. The current article examined whether conversational agents (CAs) powered by artificial intelligence can enhance parent-child conversations that extend beyond the text (i.e., extratextual talk) and foster early literacy development. Forty parents and their 4- to …
Children recognize conflicting intent in testimony
Most previous research on social learning has focused on informants' epistemic states (e.g., knowledge, expertise), but less is known about informants' motivations for sharing information. For instance, an informant can be knowledgeable but might yield personal benefits from sharing this information. Gossip is a special kind of testimony in which the relationship between the gossiper and the target of gossip is critical when determining the trust…
How does caregiver–child conversation during a scientific storybook reading impact children's mindset beliefs and persistence
This study explores how caregiver–child scientific conversation during storybook reading focusing on the challenges or achievements of famous female scientists impacts preschoolers' mindset, beliefs about success, and persistence. Caregiver–child dyads (N = 202, 100 female, 35% non-White, aged 4–5, ƒ = .15) were assigned to one of three storybook conditions, highlighting the female scientist's achievements, effort, or, in a baseline condition, ne…
Contextual Modulation of Adult–Child Language Interaction
Word learning encompasses the understanding of interconnected clusters of words, where the comprehension of one word aids in the learning of another. Semantic networks, which have a long history in cognitive science, are commonly employed to explore these semantic relationships. However, limited research has been conducted on adults’ use of semantically relevant conversations in the field of early childhood education, and there is insufficient in…
Literacy Measures That Leverage the Strengths of Spanish-Speaking Latino Kindergarteners
Researchers largely rely on child language and literacy measures to determine the effectiveness of interventions for Latino dual language learners. However, some of these measures may miss certain strengths of these students. This study identified two unstandardized language and literacy tasks (IDELA food and animal vocabulary and personal narratives) that might leverage some eco-cultural assets of Latino children; it also examined concurrent ass…
Literacy is everywhere!”
Parent–child engagement in constrained (e.g., learning alphabet letters or sounds) and unconstrained (e.g., storytelling, defining words) literacy activities are central components of the home literacy environment. Unconstrained activities are particularly important for children’s oral language and support school readiness. Yet, many parents do not recognize that unconstrained activities can promote learning. This study examines whether an immers…
Missing persons
Little is known about young children's ability to talk about absent members of their social network. We analyzed the speech of four children from 2 to 5 years. References to absent caregivers were relatively frequent, even when children were 2 years old. Such references were often generated spontaneously rather than being repetitions of a name produced by the child's interlocutor. Children's comments about absent family members occasionally expre…
Positive impacts of a strengths-based family program on Latino kindergarteners’ narrative language abilities
Narrative language abilities are foundational to literacy development and are a culturally grounded measure of early literacy for Latino children. This study evaluates the impacts on narrative language abilities and the costs of a 4-week, strengths-based program that leverages two valued sociocultural practices with built-in benefits, personal narratives, and family food routines (e.g., grocery shopping), for improving Latino kindergarteners' lea…
An intervention to increase conversational turns between parents and young children
Behavioral and neural evidence indicates that young children who engage in more conversations with their parents have better later language skills such as vocabulary and academic language abilities. Previous studies find that the extent to which parents engage in conversational turn-taking with children varies considerably. How, then, can we promote extended conversations between parents and their children? Instead of asking parents to engage in …
Unique effects of book-reading at 9-months on vocabulary development at 36-months
Questions and explanations in the classroom
A brief parent-focused intervention to improve preschoolers’ conversational skills and school readiness
Preschool children's use of decontextualized language, or talk about abstract topics beyond the here-and-now, is predictive of their kindergarten readiness and is associated with the frequency of parents' own use of decontextualized language. Does a brief, parent-focused intervention conveying the importance of decontextualized language cause parents to increase their use of these conversations, and as a result, their children's? We examined this…
Going Beyond Input Quantity
There are clear associations between the overall quantity of input children are exposed to and their vocabulary acquisition. However, by uncovering specific features of the input that matter, we can better understand the mechanisms involved in vocabulary learning. We examine whether exposure to wh ‐questions, a challenging quality of the communicative input, is associated with toddlers' vocabulary and later verbal reasoning skills in a sample of …
Variations in the recruitment of syntactic knowledge contribute to SES differences in syntactic development
Average differences in children's language abilities by socioeconomic status (SES) emerge early in development and predict academic achievement. Previous research has focused on coarse-grained outcome measures such as vocabulary size, but less is known about the extent to which SES differences exist in children's strategies for comprehension and learning. We measured children's ( N = 98) comprehension of passive sentences to investigate whether S…
Training preschoolers’ prospective abilities through conversation about the extended self
The ability to act on behalf of one's future self is related to uniquely human abilities such as planning, delay of gratification, and goal attainment. Although prospection develops rapidly during early childhood, little is known about the mechanisms that support its development. Here we explored whether encouraging children to talk about their extended selves (self outside the present context) boosts their prospective abilities. Preschoolers (N …
Low-income fathers’ speech to toddlers during book reading versus toy play
Fathers’ child-directed speech across two contexts was examined. Father–child dyads from sixty-nine low-income families were videotaped interacting during book reading and toy play when children were 2;0. Fathers used more diverse vocabulary and asked more questions during book reading while their mean length of utterance was longer during toy play. Variation in these specific characteristics of fathers’ speech that differed across contexts was a…
Math talk during informal learning activities in Head Start families
A comparison of preschool children’s discussions with parents during picture book and chapter book reading
Discussions that occur during book reading between parents and preschool children relate to children’s language development, especially discussions during picture books that include extended discourse, a form of abstract language. While a recent report shows increased chapter book reading among families with preschool children, it is unknown whether chapter books also facilitate these types of conversations. Further, the substantial variation in …
A brief parent-focused intervention to improve preschoolers’ conversational skills and school readiness
Preschool children's use of decontextualized language, or talk about abstract topics beyond the here-and-now, is predictive of their kindergarten readiness and is associated with the frequency of parents' own use of decontextualized language. Does a brief, parent-focused intervention conveying the importance of decontextualized language cause parents to increase their use of these conversations, and as a result, their children's? We examined this…
Training preschoolers’ prospective abilities through conversation about the extended self
The ability to act on behalf of one's future self is related to uniquely human abilities such as planning, delay of gratification, and goal attainment. Although prospection develops rapidly during early childhood, little is known about the mechanisms that support its development. Here we explored whether encouraging children to talk about their extended selves (self outside the present context) boosts their prospective abilities. Preschoolers (N …
Positive impacts of a strengths-based family program on Latino kindergarteners’ narrative language abilities
Narrative language abilities are foundational to literacy development and are a culturally grounded measure of early literacy for Latino children. This study evaluates the impacts on narrative language abilities and the costs of a 4-week, strengths-based program that leverages two valued sociocultural practices with built-in benefits, personal narratives, and family food routines (e.g., grocery shopping), for improving Latino kindergarteners' lea…
A comparison of preschool children’s discussions with parents during picture book and chapter book reading
Discussions that occur during book reading between parents and preschool children relate to children’s language development, especially discussions during picture books that include extended discourse, a form of abstract language. While a recent report shows increased chapter book reading among families with preschool children, it is unknown whether chapter books also facilitate these types of conversations. Further, the substantial variation in …
Math talk during informal learning activities in Head Start families
Low-income fathers’ speech to toddlers during book reading versus toy play
Fathers’ child-directed speech across two contexts was examined. Father–child dyads from sixty-nine low-income families were videotaped interacting during book reading and toy play when children were 2;0. Fathers used more diverse vocabulary and asked more questions during book reading while their mean length of utterance was longer during toy play. Variation in these specific characteristics of fathers’ speech that differed across contexts was a…
Going Beyond Input Quantity
There are clear associations between the overall quantity of input children are exposed to and their vocabulary acquisition. However, by uncovering specific features of the input that matter, we can better understand the mechanisms involved in vocabulary learning. We examine whether exposure to wh ‐questions, a challenging quality of the communicative input, is associated with toddlers' vocabulary and later verbal reasoning skills in a sample of …
Variations in the recruitment of syntactic knowledge contribute to SES differences in syntactic development
Average differences in children's language abilities by socioeconomic status (SES) emerge early in development and predict academic achievement. Previous research has focused on coarse-grained outcome measures such as vocabulary size, but less is known about the extent to which SES differences exist in children's strategies for comprehension and learning. We measured children's ( N = 98) comprehension of passive sentences to investigate whether S…
Training preschoolers’ prospective abilities through conversation about the extended self
The ability to act on behalf of one's future self is related to uniquely human abilities such as planning, delay of gratification, and goal attainment. Although prospection develops rapidly during early childhood, little is known about the mechanisms that support its development. Here we explored whether encouraging children to talk about their extended selves (self outside the present context) boosts their prospective abilities. Preschoolers (N …
A brief parent-focused intervention to improve preschoolers’ conversational skills and school readiness
Preschool children's use of decontextualized language, or talk about abstract topics beyond the here-and-now, is predictive of their kindergarten readiness and is associated with the frequency of parents' own use of decontextualized language. Does a brief, parent-focused intervention conveying the importance of decontextualized language cause parents to increase their use of these conversations, and as a result, their children's? We examined this…
An intervention to increase conversational turns between parents and young children
Behavioral and neural evidence indicates that young children who engage in more conversations with their parents have better later language skills such as vocabulary and academic language abilities. Previous studies find that the extent to which parents engage in conversational turn-taking with children varies considerably. How, then, can we promote extended conversations between parents and their children? Instead of asking parents to engage in …
Unique effects of book-reading at 9-months on vocabulary development at 36-months
Questions and explanations in the classroom
Missing persons
Little is known about young children's ability to talk about absent members of their social network. We analyzed the speech of four children from 2 to 5 years. References to absent caregivers were relatively frequent, even when children were 2 years old. Such references were often generated spontaneously rather than being repetitions of a name produced by the child's interlocutor. Children's comments about absent family members occasionally expre…
Positive impacts of a strengths-based family program on Latino kindergarteners’ narrative language abilities
Narrative language abilities are foundational to literacy development and are a culturally grounded measure of early literacy for Latino children. This study evaluates the impacts on narrative language abilities and the costs of a 4-week, strengths-based program that leverages two valued sociocultural practices with built-in benefits, personal narratives, and family food routines (e.g., grocery shopping), for improving Latino kindergarteners' lea…
Contextual Modulation of Adult–Child Language Interaction
Word learning encompasses the understanding of interconnected clusters of words, where the comprehension of one word aids in the learning of another. Semantic networks, which have a long history in cognitive science, are commonly employed to explore these semantic relationships. However, limited research has been conducted on adults’ use of semantically relevant conversations in the field of early childhood education, and there is insufficient in…
Literacy Measures That Leverage the Strengths of Spanish-Speaking Latino Kindergarteners
Researchers largely rely on child language and literacy measures to determine the effectiveness of interventions for Latino dual language learners. However, some of these measures may miss certain strengths of these students. This study identified two unstandardized language and literacy tasks (IDELA food and animal vocabulary and personal narratives) that might leverage some eco-cultural assets of Latino children; it also examined concurrent ass…
Literacy is everywhere!”
Parent–child engagement in constrained (e.g., learning alphabet letters or sounds) and unconstrained (e.g., storytelling, defining words) literacy activities are central components of the home literacy environment. Unconstrained activities are particularly important for children’s oral language and support school readiness. Yet, many parents do not recognize that unconstrained activities can promote learning. This study examines whether an immers…
How does caregiver–child conversation during a scientific storybook reading impact children's mindset beliefs and persistence
This study explores how caregiver–child scientific conversation during storybook reading focusing on the challenges or achievements of famous female scientists impacts preschoolers' mindset, beliefs about success, and persistence. Caregiver–child dyads (N = 202, 100 female, 35% non-White, aged 4–5, ƒ = .15) were assigned to one of three storybook conditions, highlighting the female scientist's achievements, effort, or, in a baseline condition, ne…
Integrating digital technologies in shared reading
As digital technologies increasingly shape children's early learning experiences, their role in supporting foundational literacy practices, such as shared reading, warrants investigation. The current article examined whether conversational agents (CAs) powered by artificial intelligence can enhance parent-child conversations that extend beyond the text (i.e., extratextual talk) and foster early literacy development. Forty parents and their 4- to …
Children recognize conflicting intent in testimony
Most previous research on social learning has focused on informants' epistemic states (e.g., knowledge, expertise), but less is known about informants' motivations for sharing information. For instance, an informant can be knowledgeable but might yield personal benefits from sharing this information. Gossip is a special kind of testimony in which the relationship between the gossiper and the target of gossip is critical when determining the trust…
Psychology (16 works) · Developmental psychology (15 works) · Linguistics (9 works) · Mathematics education (9 works) · Reading and Literacy Development (9 works) · Language Development and Disorders (8 works) · Child Development and Digital Technology (7 works) · Language development (7 works) · Language acquisition (6 works) · Pedagogy (6 works)