Rick O. Gilmore, assistant professor of psychology in Penn State's College of the Liberal Arts, is the recipient of a National Science Foundation (NSF) Faculty Early Career Development Award.

The career program was designed to help scientists and engineers develop their research and teaching.

Gilmore is the principal investigator on a five-year project, which was awarded $349,070.

Gilmore will study how spatial perception and action planning develop in early infancy and determine the factors that influence their development.

This information about how infants develop the ability to perceive where their bodies are located or moving in space is crucial for maintaining balance, crawling and walking.