Developmental Psychology is the scientific study of how and why human beings change over the course of their life. Originally concerned with infants and children, the field has expanded to include adolescence, adult development, aging, and the entire lifespan. Developmental Psychology research in the Department of Psychology offers opportunities to train scientists to address questions of both basic and applied research from a developmental perspective, with enough flexibility to allow for specialized research concentrations (in areas ranging from infant attention to health to vision science to neuroscience to family relationships to aging). Faculty and students often engage in interdisciplinary research. We are fortunate to have colleagues in other departments and research centers on campus who offer collaborative research opportunities that may intersect with our students’ interests and training goals. Many of our Developmental students have conducted research collaborations with faculty in the Departments of Educational Psychology, School Psychology, Kinesiology, Human Development and Family Science, Foods and Nutrition, or faculty affiliated with the Center for Family Research. Faculty Click to expand each of the below faculty members' research focus, program affiliation, and lab information in the Developmental Psychology research area. Drew Abney Drew Abney Drew Abney focuses on how behaviors and social interactions early in development impact developmental trajectories throughout infancy and into toddlerhood. Studies conducted in the lab use various techniques: from conducting controlled laboratory experiments to free-flowing toy play sessions to collecting daylong multimodal (e.g., vocalizations, body movements, etc.) behavioral data. In the lab, we are motivated to apply existing techniques from applied computational social science and dynamical systems theory and also develop new computational and analytic methods to understand the dynamics of development during infancy and early childhood. Program affiliation: Behavioral and Brain Sciences Laboratory: Developmental Dynamics Lab Katie Ehrlich Katie Ehrlich studies how children’s social experiences shape their mental and physical health. Her laboratory utilizes a variety of research methods to evaluate social and emotional functioning, including structured behavioral observations, clinical interviews, self-reports, and performance-based tasks. In addition, she incorporates clinical health measures and indices of cellular function and adaptive immunity. Current projects examine (a) the links between social experiences and children’s antibody production following vaccination, (b) intergenerational transmission of health disparities among African American families, and (c) skin deep resilience, depression risk, and cognitive development in adolescence. Program affiliation: Behavioral and Brain Sciences Laboratory: Health and Development Laboratory Janet Frick Janet Frick studies individual and developmental differences in infant visual attention, with a primary focus on the cognitive and social influences of early attention, learning, and memory. She utilizes both laboratory and community-based observational studies of infant and toddler behavior. Some of her recent collaborative work has included examination of nutritional influences on the early development and function of the visual system, with a focus on how such individual differences impact early learning and memory. Program affiliation: Behavioral and Brain Sciences Laboratory: Infant Research Laboratory Anne Shaffer Anne Shaffer studies social and emotional processes in families and close relationships. Her research primarily focuses on the emotional context of parenting, including emotion socialization and communication, and emotional maltreatment, as well as emotion regulation as a predictor of parenting behavior. This research extends to clinical applications in treatment and prevention settings. Program affiliation: Clinical Psychology, Behavioral and Brain Sciences Laboratory: FRESH (Family Relationships, Emotions, Stress and Health) Laboratory Allison Skinner-Dorkenoo Allison Skinner-Dorkenoo studies how stereotypes, attitudes, biases, and prejudices are established, maintained, and facilitated through subtle nonverbal signals and contextual cues present in everyday life—and how these factors contribute to and reinforce systemic inequalities. To better understand these issues, the GABBA Lab examines these issues across the lifespan, among both children and adults. Program affiliation: Behavioral and Brain Sciences Laboratory: GABBA Lab Cindy Suveg Cindy Suveg directs the Development and Psychopathology Lab, with the goal to conduct research that can help foster healthy development in children and families from diverse sociodemographic backgrounds. To that end, our research examines risk and protective processes in typically- and atypically-developing youth and their families using a multi-level, multi-method assessment strategy (behavioral observations, physiological assessment, ecological momentary assessment). Program affiliation: Clinical Psychology Lab: Development and Psychopathology Lab Lawrence Sweet Lawrence Sweet integrates multimodal neuroimaging and neuropsychological assessments to examine brain-behavior relationships in clinical and at-risk populations (e.g., addictions, cardiovascular disease, early life adversity, aging). The Clinical Neuroscience Laboratory (CNS Lab) specializes in experimental design, and data acquisition, analyses, and interpretation for studies that employ functional magnetic resonance imaging, structural morphometry, and white matter lesion quantification. The CNS Lab is responsible for data analyses and consultation for several local and multi-site NIH-funded research studies. Program affiliation: Clinical Psychology, Behavioral and Brain Sciences, Neuroscience Laboratory: Clinical Neuroscience Laboratory Affiliated Research Faculty Gene Brody Gene Brody‘s research focuses on those family and school processes that are linked with academic and psychosocial competence among children and adolescents. The contributions of parent-child relationships, sibling relationships, and classroom experiences during elementary and junior high school are of particular interest. Courtesy Appointment; home department: Human Development and Family Science Laboratory: Center for Family Research L. Stephen Miller L. Stephen Miller works to understand central nervous system mechanisms related to cognition seen in aging, aging pathology, and traumatic brain injury. This is accomplished through the use of traditional neuropsychological paradigms, structural and functional magnetic resonance brain imaging (MRI/fMRI), and cognitive intervention. Special foci of this work include geriatric aging and functional independence, aging psychopathology, concussive injury, and evaluation of data validity. Program affiliation: Clinical Psychology, Neuroscience Laboratory: Neuropsychology and Memory Assessment Laboratory Assaf Oshri Assaf Oshri is interested in youth positive well-being and resilience. In my program of research I focus on understanding the development of youth well-being and risk using multi-level research (e.g., parenting, neuroeconomics, behavioral and neurobiological processes). Specifically, my laboratory team and I aim to conduct research that elucidates the mechanisms that underlie the link between early life stress in childhood (e.g., child maltreatment, poverty, cultural stress) and adolescent behavioral risk (e.g. substance use and sexual risk behaviors) and resilience. I hope that knowledge generated by my research would inform intervention and prevention programs, as well as promote resilience among children and adolescents at risk. Courtesy Appointment; home department: Human Development and Family Science Laboratory: Youth Development Institute Lisa Renzi-Hammond Lisa Renzi-Hammond studies the ways in which visual function can serve as a biomarker for central nervous system health and function across the lifespan. She is faculty in the College of Public Health and retains strong ties to the UGA Psychology Department through both teaching activities and research collaboration. Courtesy Appointment; home department: College of Public Health Laboratory: Vision Sciences Laboratory
