International experts to present latest child development research at SRCD's Biennial Meeting

The Society for Research in Child Development (SRCD) will hold its Biennial Meeting in Philadelphia at the Pennsylvania Convention Center March 19 - 21, 2015. This meeting brings together thousands of child development experts from around the world to present about the latest interdisciplinary research. Attendance is free to all members of the media with registration.

Selected sessions of interest:

Deborah Vandell, University of California, Irvine, will speak about the long-term impact of after-school programs on child development at a session entitled "Afterschool Programs: Expanding Learning Opportunities, Reducing Achievement Gaps."

The session "Digital Games, Learning and the Brain: Is Playing Video Games a Waste of Time?" will feature Daphne Bavelier, University of Rochester & University of Geneva, and Jan L. Plass, New York University, discussing the impact of video games on learning and cognitive brain development.

Catherine Lord, Weill Cornell Medical College, one of the world's leading experts on Autism Spectrum Disorder, will speak alongside colleagues about recent developments in the field. The session is titled "Current Views on Autism."

International experts on the development of immigrant children, Maykel Verkuyten, Utrecht University, and Andrew J Fuligni, University of California, Los Angeles, will present during a session titled "What Immigrants Can Teach Us about Child Development in the 21st Century."

Feature writers and reporters interested in pursuing these or other topics presented at the meeting can search the online meeting program by topic, expert researcher, and date. All presentations given at the Biennial are embargoed for release on the first day of the meeting, Thursday March 19, 2015, 6:00 a.m. Eastern.