Andreea Geambasu
Guest researcher
- Name
- Dr. A. Geambasu
- Telephone
- +31 71 527 2727
- a.geambasu@hum.leidenuniv.nl
Andreea Geambasu is Lab Manager of the experimental linguistics labs at LUCL. She facilitates a streamlined and orderly use of all lab space, provides support for researchers of all levels, and trains incoming researchers from the undergraduate (BA) level onwards. She also coordinate the LABS meetings at which all lab users are welcome.
Fields of interest
- Cognitive development
- Language acquisition
- Language evolution
- Multilingualism
- (Infant) research methodology
- Replication studies
Research
In 2018, I completed my PhD thesis in language acquisition as part of an NWO-funded, interdisciplinary project studying the cognitive mechanisms underpinning the ability to form abstract rules from a given input. This ability is fundamental for the learning of grammar. With colleagues from the Institute for Biology Leiden (IBL) and from the Institute for Logic Language and Computation (ILLC) at the University of Amsterdam, we studied the evolution of linguistic capacities across species (songbirds and humans) and at how these capacities relate to cognitive constraints. For my thesis, I investigated the abstract rule learning abilities of adults and of infants between 6 and 14 months old under the supervision of prof. dr. Claartje Levelt. I focused on whether infants are able to extract abstract rules from patterns in auditory and visual input, and how different aspects of the presentation and testing method may influence this ability. I used behavioral methods to study how domain-general (e.g., perception, memory) or domain-specific (e.g., phonological or visual similarity) constraints may help or hinder rule learning. In addition to theoretical issues, my thesis also focuses on a number of methodological considerations, particularly related to replication studies and their importance in scientific research.
Teaching
2013 – 2017 – Methods in Child Language Research (MA course)
2019-present – Experimental Methods I – Design & Techniques (BA course)
2019-present – Experimental Methods II – Practicals & Projects (BA course)
2019-present – Methods in Experimental Linguistics (MA course)
Education
2012-2018 – PhD Linguistics, Leiden University
2009-2011 – MSc Brain and Cognitive Science, University of Amsterdam
2004-2007 – BA Linguistics, University of California, San Diego
Other affiliations and activities
Certified Bedrijfshulpverlening (BHV; emergency response officer)
LUCL Dataverse administrator & data management steward
LIBC (Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition)
Baby Circle (Dutch network of infant researchers)
Guest researcher
- Faculty of Humanities
- Leiden Univ Centre for Linguistics
- LUCL stafbureau
- Geambașu A., Spit S.B., Renswoude D.R. van, Blom E., Fikkert J.P.M., Hunnius S., Junge C.M.M., Verhagen J., Visser I., Wijnen F. & Levelt C.C. (2023), Robustness of the rule‐learning effect in 7‐month‐old infants: a close, multicenter replication of Marcus et al. (1999), Developmental Science 26(1): .
- Geambaşu A., Toron L., Ravignani A. & Levelt C.C. (2020), Rhythmic recursion? Human sensitivity to a Lindenmayer grammar with self-similar structure in a musical task, Music & Science 3: .
- Lipkind D., Geambasu A. & Levelt C.C. (2019), The development of structured vocalizations in songbirds and humans: a comparative analysis, Topics in Cognitive Science 2019: 1-16.
- Geambasu A. (11 December 2018), Simple rule learning is not simple : studies on infant and adult pattern perception and production (Dissertatie. Leiden University Centre for Linguistics (LUCL), Faculty of Humanities, Leiden University) LOT dissertation series no. 525. Utrecht: LOT. Supervisor(s): Levelt C.C. & Cate C. ten.
- Geambasu A., Scheel M. & Levelt C.C. (2016), Cross-linguistic Patterns in Infant Babbling. Scott J. & Waughtal D. (Eds.), Proceedings of the 40th annual Boston University Conference on Language Development. 40th annual Boston University Conference on Language Development 13 November 2015 - 15 November 2015: Cascadilla Press. 155-168.
- Geambașu A., Ravigniani A. & Levelt C.C. (2016), Preliminary Experiments on Human Sensitivity to Rhythmic Structure in a Grammar with Recursive Self-Similarity, Frontiers in Neuroscience 10: 281.