Child psychologist and neuroscientist Professor Sam Wass presents his research on co-regulation

Professor Sam Wass, Director of the Institute for the Science of Early Years, shares a presentation titled ‘There, the dance is – at the still point of the turning world’–dynamic systems perspectives on coregulation and dysregulation during early development.’ with Norland staff and students. 

On 3 October, staff and students will welcome Professor Wass, child psychologist and neuroscientist, for a presentation as part of Norland’s research webinar series, which brings early years experts to Norland to share and discuss their research with staff and students.  

Professor Wass, in his role as Director of the Institute for the Science of Early Years focuses research on exploring how early living environments influence early attention, learning and stress. He studies both typical, and atypical development including ADHD, Autism, and anxiety, and has frequently published academic articles as well as a book – Take Action on Distraction. Acting as an expert in child development, Professor Wass  has advised the UK Departments of Education and Health, charities and brands, as well as appearing as an on-screen scientist in five series of Channel 4’s award-winning show, The Secret Life of 4- and 5-year-Olds.  

In this session, Professor Wass will present work and evidence on how co-regulation develops and transitions into self-regulation taken from a group that uses wearable microphones, cameras and arousal sensors worn by babies and young children and their carers to collect long form recordings in home settings. The session will engage with both fine-grained interactions; moment-by-moment state responses and adaption by caregivers to help a child maintain optimal arousal, as well as coarse-grained interactions such as how caregivers create rhythms across multiple time scales that a child tunes in to. Using dynamic systems theory, the session will explore how fine-grained interaction dynamics gradually influence coarse-grained interaction dynamics over time.