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Infant Language and Perceptual Learning Lab

Welcome to the Infant Language and Perceptual Learning Lab in the Department of Psychology at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville!
The Director of the lab is Dr. Jessica Hay, PhD.

​Your baby’s senses are bombarded with perceptual information (like sights and sounds) that she must learn to interpret in order to make sense of the world around her. So, babies have a big job ahead of them, especially when it comes to learning language. Not only do they need to discover which sounds are important in their native language, but they also need to figure out how these sounds are combined to form words (e.g., ba + by = baby), and how these sound combinations are linked to meaning. This amazing process is well underway even before your baby utters her first words!

Do you want to find out more about this amazing process? Feel free to learn more about our research by browsing our publication page or by checking out our current studies!


mother with child on lap

The Infant Language Lab is always recruiting participants! It only takes a few minutes to sign up. Once we receive your information, we will contact you to schedule an appointment.


We are part of the Child Development Research Group (CDRG), a group of five labs that look at different aspects of development from birth to 5 years. For more information, check out CDRG’s website: cdrg.utk.edu

CDRG