Nameera Akhtar's research interests are in early cognitive and language development; in particular, how social and cognitive developments play a role in young children's understanding and use of language. Infants' and toddlers' social-cognitive understanding , and their motivation to connect with others, are assumed to be fundamental to language development.

One way in which the importance of social-cognitive factors is investigated is by examining how young children use their social understanding in early word learning, most recently in situations in which they are not even being addressed. Using experimental techniques in semi-natural interaction contexts, we study what and how children learn from third-party interactions. These studies show that young toddlers are very motivated to understand what others are saying and doing and that they attend strategically to others' interactions.

Cognitive and social cognitive processes in early language development, infants' social understanding.

Akhtar, N., & Martinez-Sussmann, C. Intentional communication. In C.A. Brownell & C.B. Kopp (Eds.), Transitions in early socioemotional development: The toddler years. New York: Guilford. In Press.

The robustness of learning through overhearing. Developmental Science, 2005, 8, 199-209.

Is joint attention necessary for early word learning? In B.D. Homer and C.S. Tamis-LeMonda (Eds.), The development of social cognition and communication, 2005 (pp. 165-179). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.

Contexts of early word learning. In D. G. Hall & S.R. Waxman (Eds.), Weaving a lexicon, 2004 (pp. 485-507). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

Akhtar, N.; Jipson, J.; and Callanan, M. Learning words through overhearing, Child Development, 2001,72, 416-430.

Acquiring basic word order: Evidence for data-driven learning of syntactic structure, Journal of Child Language, 1999, 26, 339-356.

Akhtar, N., and Montague, L. Early lexical acquisition: The role of cross-situational learning, First Language, 1999, 19, 347-358.