Alessandra Sansavini
Full Professor in Developmental Psychology and Education- School of Psychology and Education- Department of Psychology- University of Bologna
Academic iter
- University degree (1989) at Bologna University. PhD in
Psychology (1994) at Bologna University; PhD thesis awarded by AIP
(Italian Society of Psychology) in 1994 (prize for the best PhD
Thesis in Italy). Post-doc fellowship (1995-97) at the Psychology
Department of Bologna University.
- Researcher (1997-2005) in Developmental Psychology at the
Faculty of Psychology of Bologna University, then, since 2000, at
the Faculty of Education where she has been teaching Developmental
Psychology as well as at School of Health and Clinical
Psychology. Associate Professor (2005-2016) in Developmental Psychology at the Faculty of Psychology of Bologna University.
- Period of study abroad: Georgetown University, Washington,
D.C., (a semester in 1985), during the University studies
(Fulbright scholarship).
- Research periods abroad: a) Universities of Amsterdam and
Groningen (1991) for a research collaboration with prof. B.
Hopkins, A. Kalverboer and Y. Van Beek, on the effects of preterm
birth on development; b) Laboratoire de Psycho-Biologie du
Développement (CNRS, Paris, prof. H. Bloch) (1992) and Laboratoire
de Sciences Cognitives et Psycholinguistique (CNRS-EHESS, Paris,
prof. J. Mehler and dott. J. Bertoncini) (1992, 1993, 1994), for a
research collaboration on newborns' linguistic perception.
Research and teaching assignments abroad
- Research assignment (May-July 1995) at the Laboratoire de
Sciences Cognitives et Psycholinguistique (CNRS-EHESS, Paris, prof.
J. Mehler and dr. J. Bertoncini).
- Cycle of lectures (October 1996) held at the University of
Sussex, coordinator prof. G. Butterworth, within the Erasmus
Teaching Exchange Program (1994-97).
- 2015 Visiting scholar (un mese) presso Department of Psychology, University of Pittsburgh, collaborazione con prof. Jana Iverson.
Scientific activities
- Research fields: development of communication, language and
cognition, newborns' speech perception, mother-infant interaction,
oral and written language development, influence of biological and
social factors on development, in typical and at risk populations.
Experimental works done on preterm and at term newborns, infants
and children, in collaboration with the Institute of Neonatology of
Bologna University and with other Italian and European Research
Labs and Universities. Further research fields: development of
social, narrative, cognitive, and temporal competences in preschool
children.
- Leadership of granted national project Ministry of University
and Research PRIN (2008, biennial grant, duration of the project
2010-12) "Gestures and language in children with atypical and at
risk developmental profiles: relationships among competences,
mother-child interaction modalities and proposals of intervention".
National collaboration with prof. M. C. Caselli and O. Capirci
(CNR, Roma), prof. M. Lavelli (University of Verona), dr. A. Bello
and S. Stefanini (University of Parma). International collaboration
with prof. L. Justice (University of Ohio) and prof. J. Iverson
(University of Pittsburgh).
- Leadership of a strategic project (2007, biennial grant,
duration of the project 2007-11) at Bologna University entitled
“Early communicative-linguistic and cognitive abilities: risks
linked to preterm birth” and grants from Bologna University since
1991.
- Member of a FARB research project (2013, biennal grant,
duration of the project 2013-15) at Bologna University entitled
“Reading processes in preterm children, children with dyslexia and
typically developing children”, coordinated by dr. A. Guarini. This
project has an interdisciplinar character, based on the
collaboration among psychologists and neonathologists.
- Member of granted national projects of: National Research
Council (1992-98); Ministry of University and Research (1997-99);
Ministry of University and Research PRIN (2004-06)“Development of
expressive communication in the first months of life: normal and at
risk paths” coordinated by prof. M.L. Genta.
- Member of granted European projects: Erasmus project for
teaching exchange in Developmental Psychology and Psychobiology
(1994-97) coordinated by prof. G. Butterworth; Socrates project
(2004- biennial grant, duration of the project 2004-06) “Relational
approaches in early education: enhancing social inclusion, personal
growth and learning” coordinated by prof. P. Kutnick (King's
College, London).
- Responsible for the Italian unit in the European Network on
Communicative Development Inventories (since 2009)- Project: CDI
Narratives: cross-linguistic data, coordinated by J. Reilly (San
Diego State University).
The results of her research have been published in international
and national scientific peer-reviewed journals, in international
and national book chapters, and in monographic books (as author and
editor), and presented in many international and national
conferences, several times also as invited speaker.
Reviewer and member of editorial boards
- Reviewer for international journals: Archives of Disease in
Childhood;British Journal of Developmental Psychology; Child: Care, Health and Development; Child Development
Research; Child Language Teaching and Therapy; Clinical Linguistics
& Phonetics; Developmental Neurorehabilitation; Developmental Science; Early Human Development;
Family Science; First Language; Frontiers in Psychology; Infancy; Infant and Child Development; Infant
Behavior & Development; International Journal of Language and
Communication Disorders; Journal of Applied Oral Science; Journal of Child Health Care; Journal of
Child Language; Journal of Neuropsychology; Journal of Pediatrics; Journal of
Rehabilitation Science and Research Journal of Speech, Language and
Hearing Research; Learning and Individual Differences; Neuropsychologia; Parenting: Science and
Practice; Pediatrics; Research in Developmental Disabilities; World Journal of
Pediatrics; for Italian journals: Bollettino di Psicologia ApplicataEtà Evolutiva; Psicologia clinica
dello sviluppo; Ricerche di Psicologia; Rivista di Psicolinguistica
Applicata; for the University of Padova; for the Early Language
Acquisition Conference (Lyon, 2012).
- Member of the Editorial Board of the journal "Child Language
Teaching and Therapy", Sage, London, and of the Italian Publisher
Franco Angeli for a series of publications on Developmental
Disabilities Psychology.
