Research and graduate training in developmental psychology is a major focus of the faculty in the Department of Psychology and Social Behavior. Research on cognitive development is also conducted in the Department of Cognitive Sciences. Faculty research focuses on the development of individuals across the life course as well as on the effects of the social, physical, and cultural contexts in which development takes place. Current research interests include child care and its effects on child development, transitions across the life course, the effects of divorce and custody arrangements, work and family, adaptive aging, culture and adolescent psychosocial development, relations between cognitive and emotional development, emotion regulation, and the development of health behavior during childhood and adolescence. The Developmental faculty and doctoral students share strong interests in problem-oriented research relevant to the improvement of individual and societal functioning.


Faculty

Burchinal,Margaret R., Ph.D., University of North Carolina
Statistics, childcare and pre-kindergarten, evaluation.

Cauffman, Elizabeth E., Ph.D., Temple University
Adolescent development, mental health, psychopathy, juvenile justice, female delinquency, legal and social policy.

Charles, Susan T., Ph.D., University of Southern California
Adult life-span development; age-related changes in emotional experience and cognitive appraisal of affective events; how emotional experience relates to physical health and behavior; and how this relation varies as a function of age.

Chen, Chuansheng, Ph.D., University of Michigan
The effect of cultural beliefs and practices on children's cognitive and social development; the influence of family environment on motivation and academic achievement; acculturation and Asian-American adolescents' psycho-social development; and methodological issues in cross-cultural research.

Clarke-Stewart, Alison, Ph.D., Yale University
How young children's skills and psychological well-being are affected by their social environments and the people in these environments; outcomes of children in different custodial arrangements following parental divorce; effects of infant daycare on development; parental knowledge and behavior, and children's eyewitness testimony.

Goldberg, Wendy A., Ph.D., University of Michigan
The family context of infant and child development; parental work, family relations, and child development; parental school involvement; marital quality, gender roles, and parent-child relations; role of the father in child development, and adults' transition to parenthood. A recent collaborative venture focuses on the early development of children who later are diagnosed with autism.

Greenberger, Ellen, Ph.D., Harvard University
Culture, community, family and the peer group as contexts for adolescent and young adult development; cross cultural research involving U.S., European, and Asian adolescents. Of special interest are the effects of family and peer relationships on adolescents' psychological well-being and involvement in problem behavior; adolescents' key non-parental figures (e.g., older siblings, grandparents, teachers) as sources of positive adolescent and young adult outcomes; development of inter-ethnic attitudes and stereotypes; creativity.

Heckhausen, Jutta, Ph.D., University of Strathclyde, Glasgow
Lifespan developmental psychology; psychology of motivation; control behavior across the life span; evolution of regulatory processes in motivation and control.

Levine, Linda J., Ph.D., The University of Chicago
Cognitive appraisals associated with emotions; effects of emotions on attention, memory, and problem-solving; sources of bias in memory for past emotions; emotion regulation; relations between children's cognitive and emotional development.

Mann, Virginia, Ph.D. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Speech perception and its development, the development of reading ability, development dyslexia.

Novaco, Raymond W., Ph.D., Indiana University
Anger and violent behavior, including their therapeutic regulation and community interventions; domestic violence and its consequences for parents and children; psychological approaches to the study of human stress.

Odgers, Candice L., Ph.D., University of Virginia
Developmental psychopathology, longitudinal analysis of growth and change, effects of externalizing disorders on health.

Quas, Jodi, Ph.D., University of California, Davis
Memory development in early childhood and children's involvement in the legal system. Specific interests include the effects of stress on children's memory; emotional regulation as a predictor of children's memory and suggestibility; interview strategies that facilitate and impede children's eyewitness abilities; the effectiveness of techniques designed to help children involved in legal proceedings; jurors' perceptions of child witnesses; short- and long-term consequences of legal involvement on child victims.

Richland, Lindsey, Ph.D., University of California, Los Angeles
Cognitive development, memory & reasoning, technology, classroom discourse.

Rook, Karen, Ph.D., University of California, Los Angeles
Effects of family relationships and friendships on psychological and physical health, particularly in later life; the processes of substitution and compensation following the loss of a major close relationship; the role of close relationships in fostering or hindering older adults' self-care practices and health behaviors; the antecedents and consequences of loneliness in young adults and older adults.

Sarnecka, Barbara W., Ph.D. University of Michigan
Cognitive development, language development, number concepts, conceptual change, parallels between individual cognitive development and the historical development of science & mathematics.

Thompson, William, C., J.D., University of California, Berkeley, Ph.D. , Stanford University
Psychology and the law; human judgment and decision making; the use of mathematical and scientific evidence in jury trials, focusing on the introduction of forensic DNA tests; the use in trials of hearsay and character evidence; testimony of children.

Vandell, Deborah L., Ed.M, Harvard University, Ph.D. Boston University
Developmental process & education, longitudinal methods, early child development, after-school programs.

Wadhwa, Pathik, Ph.D. University of California, Irvine, M.D. University of Poona
Influence of psychosocial factors on early development and health, and the biological mechanisms (neuroendocrine, immune, vascular) that mediate these associations; the role of stress in premature birth, maternal health, neurodevelopmental disorders, and the long-term risk of chronic degenerative disease.

Whalen, Carol K., Ph.D., University of California, Los Angeles
Stress and health in children and adolescents, including the development of health-promoting versus health-risking behavior patterns; parent-child health communications; and how young people think, worry, and make decisions about their own health; contextual, dispositional, and behavioral contributions to tobacco use and dependence in adolescents and young adults; psychopathology and pharmacotherapies, with a focus on attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorders (ADHD) in children, adolescents, and adults.