colwyn trevarthen
c.trevarthen@ed.ac.uk

psychology
school of philosophy, psychology and language sciences
the university of edinburgh
edinburgh, uk

interests:
COLWYN TREVARTHEN, a New Zealander, is Professor (Emeritus) of Child Psychology and Psychobiology in the Department of Psychology of The University of Edinburgh, where he has taught since 1971. Other posts he holds include Honorary Research Professor, Department of Primary Education, University of Strathclyde; Visiting Professor, National Centre for Autism Studies, Scottish Executive Autism Reference Group and University of Strathclyde; Vice-President, British Association for Early Child Education; Member Advisory Board, Research Base, Pen Green Centre for Under Fives & Families, Corby; Member, Advisory Board, Sutherland Trust for the Study of Human Relations in Education, Social Services and Health Care.

A biologist and psychologist, Trevarthen has published on neuropsychology, brain development and, in the last 30 years, on communication in infancy. He is focusing on the role of motives and emotions in psychological growth and education from birth. He is interested in how the rhythms and emotions of children's play and fantasy, musical games and songs, stories and acts of discovery, with real or imaginary companions, support cultural learning in infancy and preschool years. This leads to work on the interpersonal foundations of language and meaning.

At present he is working on a theory of the innate foundations of 'communicative musicality' with musician and acoustic expert Stephen Malloch. Observations on infants' expressive skills has led to research on nonverbal therapies, including music therapy. Analysis of adults' speech to young children has revealed the importance of the rhythms and tone of a teacher's expression to 'collaborative learning', and to children's confidence in knowledge.

Professor Trevarthen has an Honorary Doctorate in Psychology from the University of Crete, and he has been elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh and Member of the Norwegian Academy of Sciences and Letters.