معرفی
Drew Abney is an Associate Professor and Graduate Program Coordinator in the Behavioral and Brain Sciences Program at the University of Georgia's Department of Psychology. His work focuses on understanding how social interactions and sensorimotor behaviors shape developmental trajectories in infants and toddlers. He employs methods like head-mounted eye tracking, fNIRS hyper-scanning, and computational techniques to analyze behavioral and physiological dynamics. Abney leads the Developmental Dynamics Lab, which explores topics such as infant vocalization patterns, parent-child coordination, and neural synchrony. He has held postdoctoral training at Indiana University and earned his Ph.D. in Cognitive and Information Sciences from UC Merced.
Abney’s research integrates dynamical systems theory with applied computational methods, emphasizing multimodal data collection (e.g., vocalizations, body movements). Recent studies include investigating maternal facilitation of joint attention, the role of physiological synchrony in infant emotion regulation, and methodological advancements in measuring respiratory sinus arrhythmia in infants. He has secured grants like the OIBR Seed Grant for developing fNIRS hyper-scanning systems to study neural dynamics in dyadic interactions.
His lab currently supports graduate students Christopher Bell, Christian Jerry, and Grace Steffen in projects spanning developmental psychobiology and behavioral science. Abney emphasizes translational research, bridging fundamental developmental science with applied questions in education and clinical contexts. Though not recruiting graduate students for the 2024-25 cycle, his work continues to advance understanding of early childhood social and cognitive foundations.
