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Research Interests

Daniel Weiss is a comparative psychologist, investigating the cognitive abilities of infant and adult humans, as well as non-human primates. One of his primary lines of research explores the cognitive mechanisms underlying language acquisition. This work focuses on statistical learning mechanisms that have been implicated in the learning of phonetic categories, word segmentation and other aspects of language. Some of his recent work has focused on how learners are able to cope with multiple input streams and what triggers learners to combine across streams.  Another line of research focuses on animal cognition. This work has recently focused on topics such as motor planning and in-group/out-group formation. A planned line of research with children and nonhuman primates will focus on the cognitive abilities underlying hiding.

Recent Publications

Chapman, K.M., Weiss, D.J., & Rosenbaum, D.A. (in press). Evolutionary roots of motor planning: The end-state comfort effect in lemurs. Journal of Comparative Psychology

Mitchel, A. & Weiss, D.J. (in press) What's in a face?  Visual contributions to speech segmentation. Language and Cognitive Processes

Weiss, D.J. & Chapman, K. (in press) Animal Learning and Behavior.  To appear in the Corsini Encyclopedia of Psychology

Weiss, D.J., Gerfen, C., & Mitchel, A.(in press) Colliding cues in word segmentation: The role of cue strength and general cognitive processes. Language and Cognitive Processes

Mitchel, A. D. & Weiss, D.J. (2009) Faces in segmentation: The role of audio-visual integration. Proceedings of the 33rd Annual Boston University Conference on Language Development,667-678.

Weiss, D.J., Gerfen, C. & Mitchel, A.D. (2009) Speech segmentation in a simulated bilingual environment: A challenge for statistical learning? Language Learning and Development 5, 30-49.

Weiss, D.J. & Wark, J. (2009) Hysteresis effect in a motor task in cotton-top tamarins (Saguinus oedipus) Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavior Processes, 35 (3), 135-141.

Maye J., Weiss, D.J. & Aslin R.N. (2008) Statistical phonetic learning in infants:
Facilitation and feature generalization. Developmental Science, 11(1), 122-134.

Weiss, D.J., Gerfen, C., & Mitchell, A. (2008) Colliding cues in word segmentation: The role of cue strength and individual differences. Proceedings of the 32nd Annual Boston University Conference on Language Development, 537-549.

Weiss, D.J. & Maye, J. (2008) The role of contrast in the acquisition of phonetic systems. Avery, P., Rice, K., and Dresher, B.E. (Eds.) Contrast in Phonology: Theory, Perception, Acquisition. Mouton de Gruyter (Berlin/ New York), 219-230.

Rosenbaum, D.A., Cohen, R.G., Jax, S.A., Weiss, D.J. & van der Wel, R. (2007) The problem of serial order in behavior: Lashley's Legacy.  Human Movement Science, 26, 525-554.

Weiss, D.J., Wark, J. & Rosenbaum, D.A. (2007) Monkey see, monkey plan, monkey do: The end-state comfort effect in cotton-top tamarins (Saguinus oedipus).  Psychological Science, 18(12), 1063-1068.

Weiss, D.J. & Newport E. (2006) Mechanisms Underlying Language Acquisition: Benefits From a Comparative Approach.  Infancy 9(2), 241-257.

Weiss, D.J. & Santos, L. (2006) Introduction to Thematic Collection:  Why Primates?: The Importance of Non-Human Primates for Understanding Human Infancy. Infancy 9(2), 133-146.

Weiss, D.J. & Gerfen, C. (2006) Language segmentation in a bilingual environment.  Proceedings of the 30th Annual Boston University Conference on Language Development