Dr Brenda Todd

Information:
Specialism:	Infancy, Lateral biases in behaviour
Teaching:	Undergraduate BSc Programme; Developmental Psychology, Social and Emotional Development: the early years
Location:	Social Sciences Building, Room D412
Tel:	020 7040 8351
Fax:	020 7040 8580
Email:	brenda.todd.1@city.ac.uk
Office Hours:	Mon 5-6 term time only or by appointment
Administration:	Student Affairs committee member, organiser of peer evaluation of teaching psychology

I studied Psychology at the University of Sussex, gaining a first class honours degree in Applied Psychology and a PhD in Psychology. My PhD supervisor was Professor George Butterworth and my thesis explored the origins, functions and development of the left-side cradling bias in human females.

I am currently working as a University lecturer at City University, specialising in Developmental Psychology. Previously, I was a researcher in the Infant Study Unit at Sussex University. I have also taught psychology at undergraduate and postgraduate level at the University of Sussex and I currently teach Developmental Psychology with the Open University.

In 1995, I was awarded the RSA Certificate in Counselling Skills in the Development of Learning.

Research Interests:

Lateral biases in behaviour, particularly the left-cradling bias
Pre-verbal communication and gesture in infancy; parent-infant communication
Childrens play

The left cradling bias: Approximately 70-85% of women cradle their babies on the left side of the body and this bias appears to be independent of handedness, at least in the first few months of the infants life. A number of explanations of the bias have been proposed, each with some supporting evidence; two main contenders are the emotional processing and the handedness hypotheses. Alternative explanations relate to maternal heartbeat, tactile sensitivity, and infant head position though further explanations are still being explored.

The emotional processing hypothesis relates to the proposal that left side holding position is preferred because it facilitates processing of information on infant state via the mothers left visual and auditory fields and right hemisphere. There is some evidence that the bias to cradle on the left is reduced when mothers experience anxiety and depression. My recent research has focused on the relationship of the bias to infant age, handedness, sex of holder, and the experience of stressors.

Pre-verbal communication: Infants become proficient at communicating before they are able to speak their first words. For example, they use a variety of gestures including index finger pointing to orient the attention of a social partner to objects of reference. My interest lies in the visual behaviour of infants as they gesture and the transition to intentional communication and more complex social awareness. I am also interested in lateral biases in gestural communication.

Children's play: Play is fundamental to childhood and different types of play have been associated with a variety of benefits for social, cognitive and emotional development. I am interested in disseminating research findings in this area from academia to parents and others who spend time with children. I am currently involved in researching the origins of gender differences in toy choice and the relationship bewteen childrens preferences and parental expectations.

Selected Publications

Yuill, N., Strieth, S., Roake, C., Aspden, R., Todd, B.K. (2007) Designing a playground for children with autistic spectrum disorders: Effects on playful peer interactions. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. 37 (60 , 1192-1196

Bard, K. A., Todd, B.K., Bernier, C., Love, J., Leavens, D. (2006) Self-awareness in human and chimpanzee infants: What is measured and what is meant by the mirror-and-the-mark-test? Infancy, 9, (2), 191-219.

Bourne, V. A. & Todd, B.K. (2004). Where left means right: An explanation of the left cradling bias in terms of right hemisphere specialisation. Developmental Science.7:1, 19-24.

Butterworth, G., Franco, F., McKenzie, B. Graupner, L. & Todd, B.K (2002). Dynamic aspects of visual event perception and the production of pointing by human infants, British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 20 (1).

Todd, B.K. (2002). The Sensitivity of the left cradling bias to infant age.
Proceedings of the British Psychological Society, 10, (1), 31.

Todd, B.K. & Horney, D. (2002). Report of the George Butterworth Memorial Symposium. Developmental Psychology Forum, No. 59. Biennial Publication of the British Psychological Society, Developmental Psychology Section.

Todd, B.K. & Butterworth, G. E. (1998). “Her heart is in the right place: an investigation of the ‘Heartbeat Hypothesis’ as an explanation of the left side cradling preference in a mother with dextrocardia”, Early Development and Parenting. 7, 229-233,

Thornton, S., Todd, B.K., Thornton, D. (1996). Empathy and the recognition of abuse”, Journal of Legal and Criminological Psychology, 1, 147-153.