[5] Her empirical studies employed experimental methodologies[12][13][14] and cross-linguistic[13] investigation to explore ideas such as the impact of social interaction on the development of children's communicative skills,[14] as well as the effect of language on the understanding of mind.
[12] Shatz's observations of her grandson Ricky between the ages of one and three years old led to the publication of her book A toddler's life: Becoming a person.
[15] Shatz and her former doctoral advisee Erika Hoff[7] edited and published the Blackwell handbook of language development in 2007.
In this work, Shatz and Hoff include a broad discussion of language development across time for both typical and atypical learners and considering monolingual and bilingual contexts.
The editors' organization of this volume implicitly argue for the richness and complexity of cognitive development in members of multilingual communities.