Biography

Education

• PhD Psychology (Developmental), Stanford University, 2010
• MA Psychology, Stanford University, 2007
• MSc Statistics, Stanford University, 2007
• MBA Strategic Development, Nanyang Technological University, 2002
• BSocSc Honors in Psychology, National University of Singapore, 1996
• BA (Merit) Psychology & Economics, National University of Singapore, 1995

Research Opportunities

Selected Key Publications

• Li, X, Ng, K.K., Wong, J.J.Y., Zhou, J.H., &Yow, W.Q.(2024). Bilingualism and Social Cognitive Aging: Relationship Between Gray Matter Morphometry, Onset Age of Bilingualism, and Theory-of-Mind.Scientific Reportshttps://rdcu.be/dx6ux
• Johari, K., Chen, H.C.,Yow, W. Q., & Tan, U. (2024). Insights into Student Attention during Online Lectures: A Classification Approach using Eye DataIEEE Frontiers in Education Conference (FIE). 1-5.doi: 10.1109/FIE58773.2023.10343526
• Li, X., &Yow, W.Q.(2023). Younger, Not Older, Children Trust an Inaccurate Human Informant More Than an Inaccurate Robot Informant.Child Development10.1111/cdev.14048pdf
• Chen, H.C., &Yow, W.Q.(2023). Understanding Different Approaches of Bilingualism on Task Switching Performance: Data from Cognitively Healthy Older Adults and Cognitively Impaired Older Adults.Frontiers in Psychologyhttps://doi.org/10.3389/flang.2023.1165388
• Yow, W. Q.& Li, X. (2023). Role of bilingual experience in children’s context-sensitive selective trust strategies.Bilingualism, Language and Cognition, 1-12,https://doi.org/10.1017/S1366728923000433
• Durak, M. Karakose, S., &Yow. W. Q.(2023). Late-Life Psychopathology.Frontiers in Psychology, 14,doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1204202
• Ng, Z.Z., Li, G., Flynn, S., &Yow, W.Q.(2023). How COVID-19 News Affect Older Adults’ Mental Health. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public health, 20(5), 3950.https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20053950
• Tan, Y.N., Lokanathan, T., &Yow, W.Q.(2022). Effectiveness of mobile assistive technology on improving the self-perceptions of students with dyslexia in Singapore.Asia Pacific Journal of Developmental Differences, 9(2), 248-278.
• Koh, V.T.J., Ong, R.H.S., Chow, W.L., Tiah, L., Oh, H.C.,Yow, W.Q., Sharma, S., & Yap, J.C.H. (2022). Understanding patients’ health seeking behavior for non-emergency conditions: A qualitative study.Singapore Medical Journal.
• Asaba, M., Li, X.,Yow, W.Q., & Gwen, H. (2022). Children selectively demonstrate their competence to a puppet when others depict it as an agent.Cognitive Development. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S088520142200034X?dgcid=coauthor
• Yow, W.Q., & Li, X. (2021). Children consider a speaker’s information privilege and engage in adaptive selective trust in referential cues.Cognitive Development, 60, 1-13.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cogdev.2021.101118pdf
• Li, X., Ng, K.K., Wong, J.J.Y., Lee, J.W., Zhou, J.H., &Yow, W.Q.(2021). Bilingual language entropy influences executive functions through functional connectivity and signal variability.Brain and Language.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bandl.2021.105026pdf
• Marakkalage, S.H., Lau., B.P.L., Zhou, Y., Liu, R., Yuen, C.,Yow, W.Q., Chong, K.H. (2021). WiFi fingerprint clustering for urban mobility analysis.IEEE Access, 9, 69527-69538.10.1109/ACCESS.2021.3077583
• Marakkalage, S.H., Chen, Q., Zhou, Y., Yuen, C.,Yow, W.Q.and Chong, K.H. (2021). A Multi-Perspective Approach to Resident Segmentation Analysis for HDB Towns in Singapore.Proceedings of the 6th International Conference on Big Data and Computing, 192-199. DOI:10.1145/3469968.3470000https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/A-Multi-Perspective-Approach-to-Resident-Analysis-Hasala-Zhou/b876fa479cf5694c00add720f71d18aec3500ae4
• *Chan, C., *Yow, W.Q., Oei, A. (2020). Active bilingualism in aging: Balanced bilingualism usage and less frequent language switching relates to better conflict monitoring and goal maintenance ability.Journal of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences, gbaa058, https://doi.org/10.1093/geronb/gbaa058. *Both authors contribute equally.
• Yow, W.Q., & Priyashri, S. (2019). Computerized electronic features direct children’s attention to print in single and dual language e-books. AERA Open, 5(3), 1-15. doi:https://doi.org/10.1177/2332858419878126
• Yow, W.Q., Chen, H.C., & Lokanathan, T. (2019). Improvement in fine motor control in dementia elderly from a computerized touchscreen training program. Innovation in Aging,3(Suppl 1), S910,https://doi.org/10.1093/geroni/igz038.3320
• Yow, W.Q., Lee, J.W., & Li, X. (2019). Age-related Declines in Social Cognitive Processes of Older Adults. Innovation in Aging, 3(Suppl 1), S882–S883.https://doi.org/10.1093/geroni/igz038.3232
• Asaba, M., Li, X.,Yow, W.Q., & Gweon, H. (2019). A friend, or a toy? Four-year-olds strategically demonstrate their competence to a puppet but only when others treat it as an agent.Proceedings of the 40^th Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society.
• Yow, W.Q., Tan, Y.N., & Lokanathan, T. (2019). Understanding, Designing and Developing Assistive Technology for Students with Dyslexia in a Singapore Classroom. Proceedings of the 11^thAsian Conference on Education.
• Yow, W.Q., & Lim, Z.M.T. (2019). Sharing the Same Languages Helps Us Work Better Together. Nature Palgrave Communications, 5, 154. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-019-0365-z
• Priyashri, S., Chan, S. W. T., Chua, Y., Yow, W.Q., & Nanayakkara, S. (2019). Going Beyond Performance Scores: Understanding Cognitive Affective States in Kindergarteners and Applications of Framework in Classrooms.International Journal of Child Computer Interactions, 21, 37-53. doi https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijcci.2019.04.002
• Li, X. &Yow, W.Q.(2018). Willingness to revise own testimony: 3- and 4-year-olds’ selective trust in unexpected testimony from accurate and inaccurate informants.Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 173, 1-15. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2018.03.008of .
• Yow, W.Q., & Li, X. (2018). The influence of language behavior in social preferences and selective trust of monolingual and bilingual children. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 166, 635-651. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2017.09.019
  Setiawan, V., Chor, T., Lai, V., Wang, G., Yap, W.L., & Yow, W.Q. (2018). Transfer learning of cognitive control using mobile applications. Proceedings of the 15th International Conference on Cognition and Exploratory Learning (CELDA 2018).
• Tamasi, K., &Yow, W.Q.(2018). Early onset of bilingualism and frequent language switching confers advantage in executive functioning: A study of two bilingual populations.Proceedings of the 40^th Annual Boston University Conference on Language Development.
• Tamasi, K., Zhang, L., &Yow, W.Q.(2018). Early onset of bilingualism and frequent language switching confers executive control advantage: A Principal Component Analysis of two bilingual populations.Proceedings of the7^th Annual International Conference on Cognitive and Behavioral Psychology, Singapore.
• Yow, W.Q., Sia, S., Lokanathan, T., & Achenbach, A.V. (2018). Gerontechnology enhances attitudes towards and interest in technology use of older adults with dementia. Innovation in Aging, 2(Suppl 1), 937.https://doi.org/10.1093/geroni/igy031.3481
• Manivannan, A.,Yow, W.Q., Bouffanais, R., & Barrat A. (2018). Are the different layers of a social network conveying the same information?EPJ Data Science. doihttps://link.springer.com/article/10.1140/epjds/s13688-018-0161-9.
• Yow, W. Q., Li, X., Lam, S., Gliga, T., Chong, Y. S., Kwek, K. and Broekman, B. F.P. (2017), A bilingual advantage in 54-month-olds’ use of referential cues in fast mapping.Dev Sci, 20: n/a, e12482. doi:10.1111/desc.12482
• Yow, W.Q.,Tan, S.H., & Flynn, S. (2017). Code-switching and its impact on linguistic competency in bilingual preschoolers.Bilingualism: Language and Cognition,  1-16. doi:10.1017/S1366728917000335
• Yow, W.Q., A. Oei, & Li, X. (2017). Novel evidence for the bilingual advantage: Effects of language control on executive function in balanced and unbalanced dual-language users.Proceedings of the 39^th Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society.
• Li, X., &Yow, W.Q.(2017). “I’m better than you at labeling!”: Preschoolers use past reliability when accepting unexpected labels.Proceedings of the 39^th Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society.
• Yow, W.Q., Li, X., Lam, S., Gliga, T., Tan, K.H., Shek, L., Yap, F., Chong, Y.S., & Broekman, B.F.P. (2017). Effects of bilingualism on children’s use of social cues in word learning.Proceedings of the 40th Annual Boston University Conference on Language Development.
• Yow, W.Q., & Oei, A. (2017). Cognitive mixing costs advantage in balanced bilingual elderly.Proceedings of the6^th Annual International Conference on Cognitive and Behavioral Psychology, Singapore.
• Lim, Z., &Yow, W. Q.(2016). ‘The Relations between Language Diversity and Similarity and Adults’ Collaborative Creative Problem Solving’. World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology, International Science Index,Psychological and Behavioral Sciences, 2(5),577.
• Yow, W.Q., & Markman, E.M. (2016). Children increase their sensitivity to a speaker’s nonlinguistic cues following a communicative breakdown. Child Development. DOI: 10.1111/cdev.12479
• Yow, W. Q., Patrycia, F., & Flynn, S. (2016). Code-switching in Childhood. In S. Montarnari & E. Nicoladis (eds). Lifespan Perspectives on Bilingualism(pp. 81-100). Washington, DC, US: American Psychological Association..
• Yow, W. Q.(2015). Monolingual and bilingual preschoolers’ use of gestures to interpret ambiguous pronouns. Journal of Child Language, 42, 1394-1407. doi:10.1017/S0305000914000737.
• Hung, W., Patrycia, F., &Yow, W.Q.(2015). Bilingual children weigh speaker’s referential cues and word-learning heuristics differently in different language contexts when interpreting a speaker’s referential intent.Frontiers in Psychology, 6:796. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00796.
• Yow, W.Q., & Markman, E.M. (2015). A bilingual advantage in how children integrate multiple cues to understand a speaker’s referential intent.Bilingualism: Language and Cognition,18(03), 391-399.
• Yow, W.Q., & Li, X. (2015). Balanced bilingualism and early age of second language acquisition as the underlying mechanisms of a bilingual executive control advantage: Why variations in bilingual experiences matter.Frontiers in Psychology, 6:164. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00164.
• Chong, K. H.,Yow, W. Q., Loo, D., & Patrycia, F. (2015). Senior activity center or coffeeshop? Perception of matured estate and socio-psychological wellbeing of the elderly.Journal of Housing For The Elderly, 29 (3), 259-297.
• Yow, W. Q., & Patrycia, F. (2015). Challenging the “linguistic incompetency hypothesis” – Code-switching positively impacts on lexical development in bilingual preschoolers. SupplementProceedings of the 39th Annual Boston University Conference on Language Development.
• Yow, W. Q., Li, X., Hung, W., Goldring, M., Cheng, L., Gu, Y. (2014). Predicting Social Networks and Psychological Outcomes from Mobile Phone Sensing. Proceedings of IEEE ICC 2014.
• Yow, W. Q.(2013). Monolingual and bilingual children’s use of gestures and grammatical agreement in pronoun interpretation. In S. Baiz, N. Goldman, & R. Hawkes (Eds.),Proceedings of the 37th Annual Boston University Conference on Language Development(Vol. 2, pp. 482-494).
• Yow, W.Q.(2012). Experience of communication breakdown increases preschoolers’ sensitivity to communicative cues.International Journal of Psychology, 47 (Special issue), 272-272.
• Yow, W.Q., & Markman, E.M. (2011). Young bilingual children’s heightened sensitivity to referential cues. Journal of Cognition and Development, 12 (1), 12-31
• Yow, W.Q., & Markman, E.M. (2011). Bilingualism and children’s use of paralinguistic cues to interpret emotion in speech.Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 14(4), 562-569.
• Yow, W.Q.& Markman, E. M. (2010). Bilingual children’s integration of multiple cues to understand a speaker’s referential intent. In K. Franich, K.M. Iserman, & L.L. Keil (Eds.),Proceedings of the 34th Annual Boston University Conference on Language Development(Vol. 2, pp. 480-490)
• Yow, W.Q.& Markman, E. M. (2009). Understanding a speaker’s communicative intent: Bilingual children’s heightened sensitivity to referential gestures. In J. Chandlee, M. Franchini, S. Lord & G. Rheiner (Eds.), Proceedings of the 33rd Annual Boston University Conference on Language Development(Vol. 2, pp. 646-657)
• Lepper, M.R., Master, A., &Yow, W.Q.(2008). Intrinsic motivation in education. In M.L. Maehr, S. Karabinick, & T. Urdan (Eds.),Advances in Motivation and Achievement(Vol 15, pp. 521-555). Bingley, UK: Emerald

Awards & Achievements

• Academic Research Fund (AcRF) Tier 2, An Adaptive Compensatory Framework – How Social Cognition Changes with Aging, Feb 2020 Call, PI, S$693,228.
• AME Programmatic Fund, NOURISH: Next-Generation Brain-Computer-Brain Platform – A Holistic Solution for the Restoration & Enhancement of Brain Functions, Oct 2020-Sep 2024, Team PI/co-PI, S$868,320 (one of 6 institutions involved totaled S$9,950,280).
• TL@SUTD Research Project Grant, Multimodal Interaction Research and Simulator Development, 2020-2022, Task PI, S$790,000.
• Land & Liveability National Innovation Challenge (L2 NIC) Grant, The New Urban Kampong – Project Geo-sociographics to Redefine Segments of Residents, 2017-2020, PI, S$1,376,120 (one of four projects totaled S$5,383,519.66).
• Ministry of Health-National Innovative Challenge on Active and Confident Ageing Cognition Grant: A novel touch-based bilingual intervention to stave off cognitive decline in the elderly: The Dual-language Intervention in Semantic memory – Computerized (DISC), 2017-2021, PI, S$773,558.40.
• Singapore Millennium Foundation (SMF) Research Grant, Design and Develop a Tool to Support In-Situ Language Learning for Children with Dyslexia, 2017-2021, PI, $670,300.
• SUTD-MIT International Design Centre Research Grant, Improve Cognition in the Elderly by Design, 2017-2020, PI, S$138,000
• Academic Research Fund (AcRF) Tier 1, Language, Cognitive Load, Stress Appraisal and Engineering Design Applications, 2016-2018, PI, S$174,742. Completed.
• Defence Innovative Research Program, Improved Cognitive Performance by Design, 2015-2019, Task-PI, S$1,137,480. Completed.
• SUTD-MIT International Design Centre Research Grant, Incentive Mechanisms for Patient Routing to Control Crowding in Emergency Departments, 2015-2018, co-PI, S$549,960. Completed.
• SUTD-MIT International Design Centre Research Grant, Pervasive sensing-based social network study, 2012-2015, PI, S$794,700. Completed.
• SUTD-MIT International Design Centre Research Grant, Cognitive and social development in monolinguals and bilinguals, 2012-2015, PI, S$49,800. Completed.
• SUTD-ZJU Research Collaboration Grant, Cognitive Effects and Executive Control in Monolingual and Bilingual Adults and the Elderly, 2012-2013, PI, S$50,000. Completed.
• SUTD Start-up Grant, Cognitive and social development in monolinguals and bilinguals, 2011-2015, PI, S$25,200. Completed.
• SUTD-MIT International Design Centre Equipment Grant, Optical Motion Tracking and Capture System, 2013-2014, Co-PI, $400,000. Completed.
• SUTD-ZJU Joint Collaboration Grant, Living in an aging world: In search of new elderly housing and neighbourhood design typology, 2012-2013, co-PI, $50,000. Completed.
• SUTD-MIT International Design Centre Research Grant, Audio aid design for the disabled people, 2012-2015, co-PI, $418,900. Completed.
• SUTD Outstanding Education Award – Excellence in University Service, 2016
• SPSP Teacher/Scholar Award 2016
• Tan Kah Kee Postgraduate Scholarship Award 2009/2010
• Stanford Humanities & Sciences Graduate Research Opportunity Award 2009/2010
• Society of Research in Child Development Travel Award 2009
• Paula Menyuk Award 2008
• Stanford Humanities & Sciences Fellowship 2005-2010
• Stanford RA/TA Award 2005-2010