Graduate Student Interests

 

Laura Armstrong, Child Clinical

  Advisor: Pamela Cole
  Project: D.O.T.S. (Development of Toddlers Study)
  Interests: Role of parent-child emotion communication in the development of emotion regulation and dysregulation.

Anneliese Bass, Child Clinical

  Advisor: Ginger Moore
  Project: Interventions in Early Childhood
  Interests: Early parent-child relationships in typical and at-risk populations; intervention and prevention; the effects of parent psychopathology on child development.

Rebecca Brooker, Developmental
  Advisor: Kristin Buss
  Project: T.I.K.E.S. (Toddlers into Kindergarteners Emotions Study)
  Interests: Individual differences in socioemotional development; the development and use of emotion regulation, gender differences in the development and use of affective behaviors, genetic bases for affective components of temperament, psychophysiological correlates of distress and regulation. Master's Title: Individual Differences in Toddler's Regulatory Abilities: Evidence for Links between Systems.

Adam Christensen, Developmental

  Advisor: Rick Gilmore & Lynn Liben
  Project: Development Across Domains
  Interests: Cognitive and perceptual development in infancy and early childhood.

Carmen Culotta, Developmental
  Advisor: Alysia Blandon
  Project: Family & Child Development Lab
  Interests: Research interests include the contextual factors, such as culture and ethnicity, that influence children’s self-regulation and social development.  

Amy Dribin, Child Clinical

  Advisor: Kristin Buss
  Project: T.I.K.E.S. (Toddlers into Kindergarteners Emotions Study)
  Interests: Individual differences in young children's biobehavioral reactivity, social and emotional development, temperament and the development of psychopathology, physiological contributions to the development of emotion regulation. Master's Thesis Title: Dynamic Patterns of Behavioral Reactivity and Cardiovascular Reactivity: Associations with Problem Behaviors in Middle Childhood.

Megan Goslin, Child Clinical

  Advisor: Karen Bierman and Mark Feinberg
  Project: Family Foundations Project (HDFS)
  Interests: Family processes and child adjustment with a focus on family conflict (e.g., child exposure to inter-parental conflict; child maltreatment, parent-child conflict, divorce). Master's Thesis: The Role of Social Support and Co-runimation in Child Adjustment to Divorce during Middle Childhood.

Lacey Hilliard, Developmental
  Advisor: Lynn Liben
  Project: Gender Development
  Interests: Development of gender and stereotypes, parental preparation for bias and unfair treatment. Master's Title: Organizing and Labeling Preschool Classrooms by Gender: Effects on Children’s Gender Attitudes and In-Group Bias.

Rachel Hutt, Child Clinical

  Advisor: Ginger Moore
  Project: T.I.K.E.S. (Toddlers into Kindergarteners Emotions Study)
  Interests: Early parent-child relationships and interactions; the influence of different types of parent-child interactions on child emotion regulation and development.  Master’s Title: Dyadic Synchrony and Infant Regulation of Positive and Negative Affect with Mothers and Fathers.

Sarah Karalunas, Child Clinical

  Advisor: Cynthia Huang-Pollock
  Project: Child Attention & Learning Lab
  Interests: Motivational and neuropsychological correlates of ADHD. Master's Title: Testing the Dual-Pathway Hypothesis: Relationships between Delay Aversion, Working Memory, and Response Inhibition in ADHD.

Lauren Killeen, Child Clinical

  Advisor: Douglas Teti (HDFS) and Pamela Cole
  Project: Minds of Mothers (MOM) Study
  Interests: Neurophysiological correlates of emotional, cognitive, and behavioral aspects of parenting; At risk parenting; Parental emotion regulation. Master’s Title: The Association Between Parent-Child Interactions and Marital Quality in Families of Young Children.  Dissertation Title: Understanding Parenting as a Process: Frontal EEG Alpha Asymmetry as a Measure of "Online" Maternal Responsiveness to Infant Cues.

Emily LeDonne, Child Clinical
  Advisor: Pamela Cole
  Project: DOTS (Development of Toddlers Study) & Maternal Emotion Regulation
  Interests: Normal and abnormal development of emotion regulation. Role of maternal affect on the development of emotion regulation.

Caroline Pemberton, Child Clinical

  Advisor: Pamela Cole
  Project: DOTS (Development of Toddlers Study) & Maternal Emotion Regulation
  Interests: Child and environmental factors influencing the development of emotion regulation and risk for psychopathology. Specific factors include child language development, parental language input, child-parent discourse, and parents’ emotion regulation in the context of raising young children. Master's Title: Toddler Verbal Skill and Mother-Toddler Discourse as Predictors of the Later Understanding of Emotion Regulation Strategies in 3-Year-Olds.

CJ Powers, Child Clinical

  Advisor: Karen Bierman
  Project: FAST Track, Head Start REDI
  Interests: The effects of peer relationships and classroom context on the development of social competence and aggression.
Master’s Title: Peer Influences on Aggression within an Aggressive Classroom Context. http://www.personal.psu.edu/cjp212/

Kristin Read, Child Clinical

  Advisor: Sandra Azar
  Project: IQ and Risk in Parenting; Child Attention, and Learning Lab, SIP
  Interests: Understanding the role of maternal social cognition in parenting behavior and child acquisition of social cognitive abilities. Creating safe, supportive environments that nuture the cognitive and emotional development of parents and children with intellectual disabilities.

Julie Scott, Child Clinical
  Advisor: Cynthia Huang-Pollock
  Project: Child Attention and Learning Lab
  Interests: Development of inhibitory control as informed by theories of temperament, cognition, motivation and behavior.  Dysfunction of inhibition systems as an explanatory factor in child psychopathology, specifically ADHD.

Patricia Tan, Child Clinical

  Advisor: Pamela Cole
  Project: D.O.T.S. (Development of Toddlers Study)
  Interests: Family process contributions to the development of anxiety and anxious symptoms during childhood.

Harmony Thibodeaux-Lyles, Child Clinical
  Advisor: Karen Bierman
  Project: Head Start REDI
  Interests: Research interests include the progression and development of aggressive behavior at the transition from preschool to kindergarten.

Marcela Torres, Child Clinical

  Advisor: Karen Bierman
  Project: Head Start REDI
  Interests: Social-emotional development in early childhood, early prevention of aggressive behavior problems, and promotion of school readiness.
Master's Title: Relational versus Overt Aggression in Preschool Children: Gender Differences, Social Adjustment and Implications for Peer Relations.

Daisy Ta-Chuan Tsao, Child Clinical
  Advisor: Sandra Azar
  Project:
  Interests: Cultural differences in emotion regulation and socialization, particularly affect valuation and anxiety. The psychological and neurophysiological effects of mindfulness and executive functioning on parenting and child outcomes. Evidence-based treatments for parents at risk for child maltreatment.

Andres Viana, Child Clinical

  Advisor: Brian Rabian
  Project: Childhood Anxiety Project
  Interests: Etiology, course, treatment, and prevention of anxiety disorders in children. The role of families in either protecting or contributing to the development of anxiety disorders in children.