The School of Psychology has two internationally recognised research groups in Developmental Psychology.

The Cognition and Development Group is headed by Associate Professor Brett Hayes and focuses on developmental change in complex cognitive processes such as concept formation, categorization, reasoning and memory. We are also interested in the implications of fundamental research on human cognitive development for pre-school and primary education. Current projects include examining the development of inductive reasoning in young children and identifying factors that promote change in children’s scientific concepts. The group has an outstanding track record of success in securing research funding and has state-of-the are facilities for measuring perceptual and cognitive responses in young children. We also have a mobile testing laboratory for field research.

Group Members

Associate Professor Brett Hayes
Dr. Belinda Goodenough
Dr. Susan Thompson (now at Hobart and William Smith College, NY, USA)
Ms. Naomi Sweller (PhD student)
Ms. Tiina Jaaniste (PhD student)
Ms. Lauren Kearney PhD student)

Affiliates

Associate Professor John Coley, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, USA
Professor Evan Heit, University of California, Merced, CA, USA
Professor Gregory Murphy, New York University, NY, USA

The Developmental Psychopathology group is headed by Professor Mark Dadds.

Developmental Psychology is taught at every stage of the undergraduate program Courses with a heavy emphasis on human development are also taught in the Masters of Psychology (Clinical) and Master of Psychology (Forensic) program.

PSYC2061: Social and Developmental Psychology
PSYC3341: Developmental Psychology