People | Istituto di Scienze e Tecnologie della Cognizione

Laura Sparaci

Email:

laura.sparaci@istc.cnr.it

Telephone:

+ 39 06 44161541

Fax:

+ 39 06 44161513

Address:

Via Nomentana 56 - 00161 Rome - Italy

Resume:

cv-lsparaci-04_2017_eng.pdf

Group membership:

Language and Communication Across Modalities Laboratory

Additional details

Profile

Position:

Researcher

Laura Sparaci is currently Associate Researcher at CNR’s Institute of Cognitive Sciences and Technologies within the LaCAM Lab. After graduating in Philosophy cum laude at the University of Rome ‘La Sapienza’ she completed a MA in Philosophy of Cognitive Science with distinction at the University of Sussex and a PhD in Cognitive Sciences at the University of Siena. She has also obtained a Graduate Certificate in Cognitive Sciences at the University of Central Florida where she spent one year on a Fulbright Scholarship. She then worked for three years as Post-doc at the Department of Neuroscience of the University of Parma, one year as Research Assistant at the Children’s Hospital ‘Bambino Gesù’ in Rome and four years as Researcher fixed term within the LaCAM Lab acting as PI in the MIUR FIRB TOUM Project and as Experienced Researcher in the EC FP7 GEST_LAN_D Project coordinated by Dr Olga Capirci. She has recently completed a second Fulbright Scholarship to act as PI in the FRATER Project and has recently obtained a Marie Curie Individual Fellowship to conducte the FORGE Project at University College London (UCL).

Tags:

Publications

2019

More Than Words: Gestures in Typically Developing Children and in Children with Autism

Sparaci Laura, Lasorsa Francesca Romana, Capirci Olga

Source: Manual Sign Acquisition in Children with Developmental Disabilities, edited by Nicola Grove, Kaisa Launonen, pp. 37–58. New York: Nova Scientific Publishing, 2019, info:cnr-pdr/source/autori:Sparaci Laura, Lasorsa Francesca Romana, Capirci Olga/titolo:More Than Words: Gestures in Typically Developing Children and in Children with Autism/titolo_volume:Manual Sign Acquisition in Children with Developmental Disabilitie

2018

From action to spoken and signed language through gesture some basic developmental issues for a discussion on the evolution of the human language-ready brain

Volterra V., Capirci O., Rinaldi P., Sparaci L.

Source: Interaction studies (Print) 19 (2018): 216–238. doi:10.1075/is.17027.vol, info:cnr-pdr/source/autori:Volterra V.; Capirci O.; Rinaldi P.; Sparaci L./titolo:From action to spoken and signed language through gesture some basic developmental issues for a discussion on the evolution of the human language-ready brain/doi:10.1075/is.

From Using Tools to Using Language in Infant Siblings of Children with Autism

Sparaci L., Northrup J.B., Capirci O., Iverson J.M.

Source: Journal of autism and developmental disorders 48 (2018): 2319–2334. doi:10.1007/s10803-018-3477-1, info:cnr-pdr/source/autori:Sparaci L.; Northrup J.B.; Capirci O.; Iverson J.M./titolo:From Using Tools to Using Language in Infant Siblings of Children with Autism/doi:10.1007/s10803-018-3477-1/rivista:Journal of autism and developmental disorders/anno:20

The makers of hybrid universes. Reflections on the role of cognitive science in the age of artificial intelligence|Fabbricanti di universi ibridi. Riflessioni sul ruolo delle scienze cognitive nell'epoca dell'intelligenza arti ficiale

Sparaci L.

Source: Giornale italiano di psicologia 45 (2018): 153–158., info:cnr-pdr/source/autori:Sparaci L./titolo:The makers of hybrid universes. Reflections on the role of cognitive science in the age of artificial intelligence|Fabbricanti di universi ibridi. Riflessioni sul ruolo delle scienze cognitive nell'epoca dell'i

2017

Developmental evidence for continuity from action to gesture to sign/word

Volterra, Virginia, Capirci, Olga, Caselli, Maria Cristina, Rinaldi, Pasquale, Sparaci, Laura

Source: LIA (Amsterdam. Print) 8 (2017): 13–41. doi:10.1075/lia.8.1.02vol, info:cnr-pdr/source/autori:Volterra, Virginia; Capirci, Olga; Caselli, Maria Cristina; Rinaldi, Pasquale; Sparaci, Laura/titolo:Developmental evidence for continuity from action to gesture to sign/word/doi:10.1075/lia.8.1.02vol/rivista:LIA (Amsterdam. Pri

Differences in action style recognition in children with autism spectrum disorders

Di Cesare G., Sparaci L., Pelosi A., Mazzone L., Giovagnoli G., Menghini D., Ruffaldi E., Vicari S.

Source: Frontiers in Psychology 8 (2017). doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01456, info:cnr-pdr/source/autori:Di Cesare G.; Sparaci L.; Pelosi A.; Mazzone L.; Giovagnoli G.; Menghini D.; Ruffaldi E.; Vicari S./titolo:Differences in action style recognition in children with autism spectrum disorders/doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01456/rivista:F

Hands shaping communication: From gestures to signs

Sparaci L., Volterra V.

Source: The Hand., edited by Bertolaso M. & Di Stefano Nicola, pp. 29–54. Cham, Heidelberg, New York, Dordrecht, London: Springer, 2017

2015

Untrivial Pursuit: Measuring Motor Procedures Learning in Children with Autism

Sparaci, Laura, Formica, Domenico, Lasorsa, Francesca Romana, Mazzone, Luigi, Valeri, Giovanni, Vicari, Stefano

Source: Autism research (2015). doi:10.1002/aur.1455, info:cnr-pdr/source/autori:Sparaci, Laura; Formica, Domenico; Lasorsa, Francesca Romana; Mazzone, Luigi; Valeri, Giovanni; Vicari, Stefano/titolo:Untrivial Pursuit: Measuring Motor Procedures Learning in Children with Autism/doi:10.1002/aur.1455/rivista:A

2014

A developmental study on children's capacity to ascribe goals and intentions to others

Bello, Arianna R., Sparaci, Laura, Stefanini, Silvia, Boria, Sonia, Volterra, Virginia, Rizzolatti, Giacomo

Source: Developmental psychology 50 (2014): 504–513. doi:10.1037/a0033375, info:cnr-pdr/source/autori:Bello, Arianna R.; Sparaci, Laura; Stefanini, Silvia; Boria, Sonia; Volterra, Virginia; Rizzolatti, Giacomo/titolo:A developmental study on children's capacity to ascribe goals and intentions to others/doi:10.1037/a0033375/rivis

A new calibration methodology for thorax and upper limbs motion capture in children using magneto and inertial sensors

Ricci, Luca, Formica, Domenico, Sparaci, Laura, Romana Lasorsa, Francesca, Taffoni, Fabrizio, Tamilia, Eleonora, Guglielmelli, Eugenio

Source: Sensors (Basel) 14 (2014): 1057–1072. doi:10.3390/s140101057, info:cnr-pdr/source/autori:Ricci, Luca; Formica, Domenico; Sparaci, Laura; Romana Lasorsa, Francesca; Taffoni, Fabrizio; Tamilia, Eleonora; Guglielmelli, Eugenio/titolo:A new calibration methodology for thorax and upper limbs motion capture in children us

Research

Laura’s research is mainly focused on embodied enactive approaches to human communication and aims at disentangling how motor repertoires and interactions with objects contribute to gesture and language development in both typical and atypical populations. She has had more than eight years of international and interdisciplinary postgraduate research experience working in academic, laboratory and clinical environments, recently obtaining her second Fulbright scholarship and a Marie Curie Individual Fellowship at University College London (UCL) to carry out a project entitled FORGE. The FORGE project is dedicated to investigating the role of motor skills and functional tool use towards emergence of representational gestures and vocabulary acquisition in children. The project will rely on both behavioral observations and use of motion sensors to measure motoric characteristics of tool use and gestural skills exploited by children’s during word learning.

Projects