Category: Developmental Psychology

  • No Brain Gets Left Behind

    No Brain Gets Left Behind

    This article is authored by Dominic Tran with the mentorship of Sarah M. Tashjian and is a part of the 2018 pre-graduate spotlight week. For most kids in the United States, formal schooling begins at the age of 5 as they enter elementary school and learn the essential skills of reading, writing, and mathematics. Although…

  • Language Development in Deaf Children: What You Should Know

    Language Development in Deaf Children: What You Should Know

    This article is authored by Rachel Storer with the mentorship of Sarah M. Tashjian and is a part of the 2018 pre-graduate spotlight week. It wasn’t until 1960 that linguists began to consider sign language a language separate from spoken language (Stokoe, 1960). Many linguists believed that sign language was a signed version of the…

  • MythBusters: Autism is social aversion

    MythBusters: Autism is social aversion

    Myth: Autism is characterized by social aversion or social avoidance

  • Hi Baby, What are you Looking at?

    Hi Baby, What are you Looking at?

    Babies are so much more capable than we give them credit for. The analogy that young children’s minds are like sponges overlooks the active role infants play in their development. But what tools are at their disposal that facilitates this active participation? Long before infants can walk or talk, they use vision as a key…

  • How can we learn about infant learning?

    How can we learn about infant learning?

    Infants learn an incredible amount in the first two years of life.  But how can we investigate how and when infants learn about various aspects of the world around them?

  • Let’s fight (the bad guys): Do superheroes teach kids good or evil?

    Let’s fight (the bad guys): Do superheroes teach kids good or evil?

    Everyone loves a good superhero story. Superheroes have been a fixture in American pop culture for decades, but in the past 10-15 years we’ve witnessed a resurgence of superhero mania. Between movies, TV shows, toys, and even national conventions, the superhero fever is real. Given that superhero stories are characterized by themes of fighting against…

  • The Teen Sleep Epidemic: Biology and School Start Times

    The Teen Sleep Epidemic: Biology and School Start Times

     “It’s too expensive to start the school day later.” “Extracurriculars will suffer if we start school later.” “We shouldn’t coddle teens by pushing school start times.” These are just some of the arguments against later school start times for teens. Although the public has become increasingly aware of the sleep deprivation epidemic among teens in…

  • The benefits of multilingual education

    The benefits of multilingual education

    How would multilingual education benefit English-language learning (ELL) students?

  • Early Emotion Understanding: When do Babies Learn about Emotions?

    Early Emotion Understanding: When do Babies Learn about Emotions?

    As human beings, we are particularly adept at discerning the emotions of others. Whether it’s our angry boss, saddened family members, or happy friends, we usually succeed at identifying emotional expressions in other people. These judgments let us adjust our behavior accordingly in complex social situations. It has allowed our species to avoid people who…

  • Parenting in the Digital Age: Q&A with Yalda Uhls

    Parenting in the Digital Age: Q&A with Yalda Uhls

    About this Q&A Interview We are proud to secure an exclusive interview with Yalda T. Uhls, MBA, PhD — a child psychologist researcher and leading expert in how media affects children. She is a former Psychology in Action president and our most prolific blogger. Yalda continues to research with UCLA while serving as as director of Creative Community Partnerships at Common Sense Media, a national non-profit.…