Dr. Margaret Friend Named to the Advisory Board of the MacArthur Communicative Development Inventories

Dr. Margaret Friend has been named to the Advisory Board of the MacArthur Communicative Development Inventories.  The MacArthur Inventories were originally developed in 1993 through a grant from the MacArthur Foundation following many years of preliminary work.  Professor Emeritus Larry Fenson spearheaded the project in collaboration with the late Dr. Elizabeth Bates, and with Drs. Philip Dale, J. Steven Reznick, Donna Thal, and Judy Reilly.  Dr. Fenson and these seminal members of the research team comprise the Board along with several additional members who have made substantive contributions:  Dr. Virginia Marchman of Stanford University, Dr. Donna Jackson-Maldonado of UAQ in Mexico, and Dr. Dorthe Bleses of Syddansk University in Denmark.  The inventories have been translated into over 60 languages and represent perhaps the most universal measure of early language acquisition.  The board oversees new developments including norming, data sharing, and foreign adaptations among other responsibilities.  Dr. Friend and Dr. Michael Frank of Stanford University were named to the Advisory Board at its recent annual meeting.