Drew studies the mechanisms of early word learning and recognition. Using behavioural and neuro-imaging techniques, she uses social contextual information like race to explore infants’ flexibility during word processing. Particularly, focusing on what circumstances monolingual and bilingual infants’ are willing to accept accented pronunciations, or entirely new labels, as referring to known objects; and under which circumstances they will not. She is also interested in the relation between accent and culture, and children’s developing beliefs about cultural identity.