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We focus on cognitive, neuroscientific, and contextual aspects of human development. Our laboratories concentrate on motor and perceptual development, cognitive development in children, attentional development, media and television use by young children, and educational psychology. Our training program has core courses in cognitive and neural development and offers a broad range of possible seminars. We have collaborative relationships with the Neuroscience and Behavior Program and with the Center for Research on Families.
Faculty
Daniel Anderson, Professor Anderson studies children and television including children's interactions during TV viewing and the impact on cognitive development and education. His current research concerns television and very young children, brain activation during media use, and television viewing and children's diet. He actively advises television producers on the creation of curriculum-based shows for children. He has worked on Sesame Street, Blue's Clues, Dora the Explorer, and Bear in the Big Blue House, among others.
(E-mail)
Neil Berthier, Our group is primarily interested in how reaching changes as infants grow, in how vision and touch aid in that development, and how older infants plan and coordinate their reaches to solve hidden object problems. (E-mail)
Erik Cheries, Dr. Cheries runs the Infant Cognition Laboratory at UMass, which conducts studies to examine what our concepts are like in the first year of life, prior to the influence of language, culture, and formal education. (E-mail)
Marvin Daehler, Dr. Daehler (Professor Emeritus) continues to be interested in research on cognitive development, especially in the areas of emerging early representational abilities and analogical problem solving. In addition he is interested in examining how musicians and their artistic undertakings and perspectives have influenced our conceptions of children and their development. (E-mail)
Matt Davidson, My research program targets a better understanding of the development of executive functions, including attention, working memory and cognitive control. Current studies are exploring the effects of physical activity on cognitive abilities and emotional stability in children and young adults, including gender related differences before, during, and after puberty. The influence of individual differences in genetic makeup are being tested in a gene x environment investigation of neurogrowth factors and physical activity. Finally, neuroimaging techniques are being used to address questions about the neural networks and transmitter/hormonal systems underlying these differences. This interdisciplinary approach allows us to test interactions between different factors at several levels of analysis and will eventually provide a more holistic understanding of the benefits of physical activity.
(E-mail)
Jennifer McDermott, My program of research bridges developmental, cognitive, and affective neuroscience. I use this combined perspective to explore the role of early experience in relation to cognitive and social development with a particular emphasis on the role of response monitoring in children's learning and behavioral outcomes.
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Lisa S Scott, Lisa's research involves the study of the neural mechanisms of perceptual category learning and perceptual experience in primarily developmental, but also adult, populations. Using both behavioral and electrophysiological methods (high-density event-related potentials), Lisa's work focuses on how specific visual experiences influence the how infants and adults learn to recognize and categorize various types of objects (including faces, cars, birds, etc).
(E-mail)
Susan K Whitbourne, Changes in personality and cognitive processes throughout adulthood, with a focus on psychosocial development in midlife. Current research projects include a longitudinal study of personality from college through retirement and the use of videogaming as a cognitive training tool for older adults. (E-mail)
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