Selected Honours and Awards
Beakerhead Science Communication Scholarship, NSERC
Tri-council Research Communications Summit delegate award, NSERC
Young Woman of Distinction award, runner-up, YWCA Hamilton
Teaching Merit Award for New Faculty, McMaster Students Union
Dean’s Award for Excellence in Knowledge Mobilization and Innovation
Herb Jenkins Discovery Scholar Award, McMaster Alumni Association [watch the video]
Dean’s Award for Excellence in Communicating Graduate Research
People’s Choice Award winner, McMaster Three-Minute Thesis (3MT) [watch the video]
William H. Yates Scholarship, McMaster School of Graduate Studies
Joseph-Armand Bombardier CGS-Masters Award, SSHRC
Press & Media
Here are the YWCA Hamilton 2015 Women of Distinction nominees
Hamilton Spectator (March 3, 2015)
There are 43 nominees in 11 categories for the YWCA Hamilton Women of Distinction Awards. The nominees were praised at a breakfast Tuesday at the Hamilton Club for paving the way for women by showing vision, creativity and initiative.
Bouncing to music can help babies bond, become more cooperative
TODAY Parents, NBC (November 9, 2014)
Babies enjoying a little “Twist and Shout” have some important lessons to share about bonding and the power of music.
Graduate Student Recognition Awards 2014
McMaster School of Graduate Studies (September 5, 2014)
Join us to celebrate excellence in the Graduate Student Community at McMaster! Kathleen Einarson (Psychology) receives the Dean’s Award for Knowledge Mobilization and Innovation.
How to bounce your way into a baby’s heart
Pacific Standard (June 30, 2014)
Babies provide more help to adults who bounce in-sync with them along to music.
**curious? Watch the video below, or click here!**
How music may make babies team players
The New York Times (June 30, 2014)
Moving with a partner to the musical beat may make people more cooperative — even babies as young as 14 months.
**curious? Watch the video here!**
The low end theory: Mac researchers study our love for deep bass
McMaster Daily News (June 30, 2014)
Have you ever wondered why bass-range instruments tend to lay down musical rhythms, while instruments with a higher pitch often handle the melody? According to new research, this is no accident, but rather a result of the physiology of hearing.
Study shows moving together builds bonds from the time we learn to walk
McMaster Daily News (June 24, 2014)
Whether they march in unison, row in the same boat or dance to the same song, people who move in time with one another are more likely to bond and work together afterward. It’s a principle established by previous studies, but now researchers at McMaster have shown that moving in time with others even affects the social behaviour of babies who have barely learned to walk.
**curious? Watch the video here!**
The Right to Play
Lauren Brotman (May 12, 2014)
According to Einarson, studying music provides a unique window into human development. When it comes to exposure to music, the earlier the better…there is no reason that sophisticated music should be withheld from a young baby. While some argue that what a child craves is predictability, it doesn’t mean that the art has to therefore be simple. It just has to be, or become, familiar.
At the Wee Festival, performance art is child’s play
Toronto Star (May 12, 2014)
“Infants are doing very sophisticated learning before they can walk and talk, so there is no reason that you should only show them simple things…Sometimes people say save art or music till they are older when they can appreciate it, but when they are very young, they are learning very rapidly and benefiting from exposure,” says Einarson. “We should give children these experiences.”
McMaster educators lauded at MSU Teaching Awards ceremony
McMaster Daily News (March 24, 2014)
Kate Einarson (McMaster Institute for Music and the Mind) earned the Merit Award — recognizing a talented instructor in his or her first two years at the University.
TEDxMcMasterU 2014: Luck is When Preparation Meets Opportunity
McMaster TEDx (Feb 2, 2014)
‘The how and why of making music together’
**curious? Watch the video here!**
Graduate students ‘an important bridge to the broader Hamilton community’
McMaster Daily News (September 12, 2013)
“Graduate students…are also an important bridge to the broader Hamilton community, as they make an impact well beyond the walls of our campus.“…The winners of the 2013 Dean’s Award for Excellence in Communicating Graduate Research: Kathleen Einarson (Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour)
**curious? Watch a video here!**
Kate Einarson winner of the People’s Choice Award for her three-minute thesis
Lögberg-Heimskringla Newspaper (Aug 1, 2013)
The people have spoken! The winner of the first-ever People’s Choice Award for 3MT [the “3-Minute Thesis”] is Kate Einarson, whose three-minute thesis, Finding the Beat in Music: The Role of Culture, Cognitive Abilities and Motor Skills, struck a note with online viewers.” – McMaster University bulletin.
**curious? Watch the video here!**
Music and Your Mood
New Parachute Program (June 2, 2013)
Kate Einarson, PhD Student at McMaster University will make a special presentation on Music and Your Mood on June 5, 2013 during the Parachute Program. All are welcome.
McMaster psych grad student wins 3-minute thesis People’s Choice
CBC News (May 6, 2013)
Have 180 seconds to learn something about how to find the beat? You should make the time, because McMaster student Kate Einarson is onto something. Einarson was the People’s Choice winner for the 3 Minute Thesis online competition.
**curious? Watch the video here!**
The International Research Symposium on Talent Education: A Collaborative Space for Teachers and Researchers
American Suzuki Journal (September 1, 2012)
Kathleen M. Einarson of McMaster University shared details of a research project…suggesting that musically untrained children are significantly better at detecting beat alignment errors in music with simple meter. Einarson suggested that early childhood may be an optimal time to introduce students to a wide variety of musical cultures and traditions.
Poison and Pedagogy – revisiting the purpose of movement in music education
Jonathan Govias (January 23, 2012)
There’s yet more research to suggest that the mere act of a group synchronizing its movements effects some degree of social bonding…Special thanks to Kate Einarson of the McMaster Institute for Music and the Mind for launching me on this track with the Kirschner & Tomasello study.