Our research
Healthy child and adolescent development is the foundation of a healthy and successful future. Our research aims to understand and advance the science of human development across the lifespan to inform policies and practices that address our society’s most critical issues, including building healthy relationships and healthy communities, closing the opportunity gap, combating adolescent substance abuse, charting brain growth and health, and globalization.
Developmental psychology underpins most of our research activities. Our researchers study both typical and atypical development using techniques including:
- neuroimaging;
- electrophysiological recording;
- genetics and epigenetics;
- neuropsychological assessment; and
- observations of behavior.
Research labs
Bioecology, Self-Regulation and Learning Lab
Faculty: Daniel Berry
Our research focuses on clarifying the processes—mind, brain and environment—through which children’s experiences with their parents, teachers, and peers shape their abilities to control their impulses, purposely maintain and shift their attention, and hold and manipulate information in mind. Broadly, this set of inter-related skills is referred to as "self-regulation."
Topics
- Cognitive development
- Developmental neuroscience
- Early childhood
- Executive function
- Families and parenting
- Hormones and behavior
- Infancy
- Social and emotional development
- Stress and maltreatment
- Vulnerable populations
Center for Early Education and Development
We help early educators, caregivers, practitioners, and programs achieve the best outcomes for the infants and young children they serve.
Topics
- Assessment and evaluation
- Child care
- Early childhood
- Infant and early childhood mental health
- Reflective practice
- Relationships
- Social and emotional development
- Special education
- Vulnerable populations
Early Childhood Development and Well-Being in a Changing World
Faculty: Arthur Reynolds
We study how early life experiences affect child development and well-being over the life course with a particular focus on early childhood programs, family and school experiences, and broader social context influences and resources. All domains of well-being are considered including school success, socio-emotional development, mental health, physical health, and economic stability. Extensive longitudinal studies provide many opportunities for training and investigation, and they have direct implications for social policy and program improvement.
Studies include: Chicago Longitudinal Study, Midwest Longitudinal Study
Topics
- Achievement gap
- Adolescence
- Adulthood
- Early childhood
- Executive function
- Families and parenting
- Learning
- Lifespan
- Maltreatment
- Prevention and intervention
- Resilience
- Social and emotional development
- Stress and maltreatment
Child Brain and Perception Lab
Faculty: Charisse Pickron
Our work focuses on further understanding how experiences with our social world shape our perception, representation, and responses to people, places, and objects in our environment. We are interested in better understanding how infants, young children, and adults learn about the ways different people are grouped together, what these groups mean to us, and potential consequences of forming different social groups.
Topics
- Cognitive development
- Developmental neuroscience
- Early childhood
- Early childhood
- Infancy
- Perceptual and motor development
- Social and emotional development
Child Wellbeing Research Group
Faculty: Canan Karatekin
The goal of our research group is to help alleviate the impact of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), which include moderately to severely stressful experiences such as abuse, neglect, exposure to domestic violence and neighborhood violence, peer victimization, and parental mental illness.
We examine the correlates and consequences of these experiences, and the factors that underlie and exacerbate their effects. We also seek to bridge the gap between academic research on interventions related to ACEs and actual practices on the ground.
Topics
- Adolescents and youth
- Adulthood
- Early childhood
- Families and parenting
- Infant and early childhood mental health
- Lifespan
- Prevention and intervention
- Resilience
- Social and emotional development
- Stress and maltreatment
- Vulnerable populations
The Cognition and Neurodevelopmental Studies Lab
Faculty: Jed Elison
Here in the CNS Lab, our team studies brain and behavioral development of infants and young children. More specifically, our research examines the critical period of brain development in the first two years of life, which represents a time interval of dynamic development, plasticity, and potential vulnerability. During this time the brain is not only increasing in size, but the connections within the brain are quickly organizing into efficient networks. By studying typical brain and behavioral development, we hope to eventually predict whether some children may need extra support during the preschool years. A major effort in the CNS Lab includes identifying infants and toddlers who may have a higher likelihood for developing autism spectrum disorders, in the hope that we could one day intervene to provide infants and toddlers with the skills they need to navigate complex social interactions.
Topics
- Autism Spectrum Disorder
- Cognitive development
- Developmental neuroscience
- Early childhood
- Executive function
- Infancy
- Infant and early childhood mental health
- Perceptual and motor development
- Social and emotional development
- Vulnerable populations
Cognitive Development and Neuroimaging Lab
Faculty: Kathleen Thomas
Our laboratory seeks to examine stimulus and response factors that constrain learning at different ages and relate these cognitive changes to ongoing brain development.
Topics
- Adolescence
- Cognitive development
- Developmental neuroscience
- Early childhood
- Learning
Culture and Family Life Lab
Faculty: Gail Ferguson
Our lab is studying the impact of 21st Century globalization on cultural, developmental, and family processes such as acculturation, enculturation, and family health. We are working to better understand and promote the resilience of youth and parents who are engaging with cultures from afar using globalization avenues, whether those be new cultures or heritage cultures in which they do not reside.
Topics
- Adolescents and youth
- Culture, cross-culture
- Families and parenting
- Prevention and intervention
- Resilience
Developmental Affective Neuroscience, Culture, and Environment (D.A.N.C.E.) Lab
Faculty: Ka I Ip
In the D.A.N.C.E. (Developmental Affective Neuroscience, Culture, and Environment) Lab, we utilize a range of methods, including longitudinal design, big data, cross-cultural and behavioral experiments, ambulatory assessment (e.g., daily dairy and ecological momentary assessment), neuroendocrine assays (e.g., cortisol), and neuroimaging techniques (e.g., fNIRS, EEG/ERP, and MRI). Our lab is dedicated to studying diverse populations, including children from the majority world as well as racial-ethnic minoritized and immigrant families. As a first-generation college graduate, immigrant, and queer faculty of color, Dr. Ip's career goal is to leverage the knowledge generated through his research to promote cultural diversity and inclusion, inform social policies aimed at reducing inequalities, advance health equity, and optimize the 'sensitive window' for preventive interventions.
Topics
- Adolescents and youth
- Alcohol and brain development
- Cognitive development
- Culture, cross-culture
- Developmental neuroscience
- Early childhood
- Executive function
- Infant and early childhood mental health
- Resilience
- Social and emotional development
- Stress and maltreatment
- Vulnerable populations
Developmental Cognition and Neuroimaging Lab
Faculty: Damien Fair
Our work focuses on advancing the understanding of brain development in health and disease. We are an interdisciplinary team of researchers trying to understand basic principles of brain functioning across development (i.e. figure out how the brain works); learn about how neuropsychiatric and other brain-based disorders develop and progress over time; contribute to the prevention and treatment of brain-based disorders; and engage unrepresented communities in all aspects of academic medicine and research.
Topics
- Achievement gap
- Adolescents and youth
- Autism Spectrum Disorder
- Cognitive development
- Developmental neuroscience
- Executive function
- Infancy
- Infant and early childhood mental health
- Prenatal
- Neuroimaging
Developmental Social Cognitive Neuroscience Lab
Faculty: Stephanie Carlson and Phil Zelazo
In our research, we examine the development and interaction of executive function and self-regulation, social understanding, and pretend play and symbolism in young children.
Topics
- Achievement gap
- Assessment and evaluation
- Cognitive development
- Culture, cross-culture
- Developmental neuroscience
- Early childhood
- Executive function
- Families and parenting
- Learning
- Reflective practice
- Resilience
- Social and emotional development
- Theory of mind
- Vulnerable populations
Early Language and Experience Lab
Faculty: Melissa Koenig
Our research seeks to understand the linguistic, cognitive, and cultural factors that support children’s learning from others. We study children’s testimonial learning in order to understand the range of ways in which people serve as a sources of knowledge, and how people’s actions and statements both support and inhibit children’s access to knowledge. Our work is highly collaborative and interdisciplinary. We currently employ experimental, bio-behavioral and eye-tracking methods, and we work with diverse child populations, both within and outside of the United States.
Topics
- Cognitive development
- Early childhood
- Language development
- Learning
- Theory of mind
The Family Cognitive Affective Neurodevelopment (Fam CAN) Lab
Faculty: Sylia Wilson
The Fam CAN lab is interested in understanding the different processes that lead to the development of psychopathology. We focus in particular on major depression and substance abuse, two frequently co-morbid internalizing/externalizing disorders. Taking a lifetime developmental perspective, we hope to discover the underlying neural and behavioral processes that cause psychopathology.
Topics
- Adolescents and youth
- Adulthood
- Alcohol and brain development
- Assessment and evaluation
- Developmental neuroscience
- Early childhood, executive function
- Families and parenting
- Genetics and epigenetics
- High-risk populations
- Infancy
- Infant and early childhood mental health
- Lifespan
- Prenatal
- Relationships
- Social and emotional development
- Stress and maltreatment
- Vulnerable populations
Georgieff Laboratory In Development Nutritional Neuroscience
Faculty: Michael Georgieff
Our lab focuses on neonatal iron nutrition and metabolism and the developing brain, and specifically the hippocampus, which underlies recognition memory processing.
Topics
- Fetal/neonatal nutrition
- Brain development
- Neurocognitive function
The Gunnar Laboratory for Developmental Psychobiology Research
Faculty: Megan Gunnar
My research group studies the impact of early adverse care on children's neurobehavioral development. We are particularly interested in how the activity of stress-responsive systems, including hormonal systems, help explain how experience "gets under the skin" to impact physical and mental health across the lifespan.
Topics
- Adolescence
- Developmental neuroscience
- Early childhood
- Hormones and behavior
- Infancy
- Lifespan
- Social and emotional development
- Stress and maltreatment
Harris Research and Policy Lab
Director: Elizabeth Carlson
The Harris Research and Policy Lab, in accordance with the Irving Harris Foundation Professional Development Network, aims to reduce inequities to improve the health, education, and wellbeing of young children and their families by focusing on supporting the early development of children and families at risk in Minnesota.
Topics
- Achievement gap
- Early childhood
- Early childhood education
- Families and parenting
- Infant and early childhood mental health
- Lifespan
- Prevention and intervention
- Relationships
- Resilience
- Social and emotional development
- Stress and maltreatment
- Vulnerable populations
The Math and Numeracy Lab
Faculty: Michele Mazzocco
We focus on the role of cognitive development and function on problem solving behaviors. Our current projects involve identifying individual differences in the cognitive skills underlying mathematical thinking and math achievement.
Topics
- Achievement gap
- Assessment and evaluation
- Cognitive development
- Early childhood
- Early childhood education
- Executive function
- Language development
- Learning
- Special education
Minnesota Longitudinal Study of Risk and Adaptation
Faculty: Glenn Roisman
The Minnesota Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children began in 1975 and we recently completed an age 37 and age 39 year assessment of the sample examining physical health at midlife. We primarily focus on social relationship experiences: how people think about their experiences, risk and protective factors, and issues of continuity and change.
Project Competence Research on Risk and Resilience
Faculty: Ann Masten
We study the processes that may contribute to the development of competence in risky environments. We have a particular focus on the protective processes that help children overcome adversity in ordinary life or in extraordinary situations like war and trauma.
Topics
- Achievement gap
- Adolescence
- Adulthood
- Culture, cross-culture
- Early childhood
- Prevention and intervention
- Resilience
- Social and emotional development
- Stress and maltreatment
- Vulnerable populations
Relationships Research Lab
Faculty: Glenn Roisman
Our research focuses on the legacy of early relationship experiences as an organizing force in social, cognitive, and biological development across the lifespan. Our goal is to provide insight into the childhood experiences and resources that support healthy adjustment later in life.
Topics
- Achievement gap
- Adolescence
- Adulthood
- Assessment and evaluation
- Developmental neuroscience
- Early childhood
- Families and parenting
- Genetics and epigenetics
- Infancy
- Lifespan
- Relationships
- Resilience
- Stress and maltreatment
- Vulnerable populations
Child Development Laboratory School
Our Child Development Laboratory School is an active center for research for our faculty and students, who conduct studies there throughout the school year.
Affiliated centers
We work with many research centers across the University of Minnesota. Through our partnerships, our students can collaborate with experts in different fields and conduct interdisciplinary research.
Are you a parent? Participate in research
We’re always looking for families and children to participate in our research studies. Help us make the next big discovery.