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Department of Psychology

Department of Psychology

Developmental Psychology Header Image

Developmental Psychology

Developmental Psychology is the study of human development throughout life. The program in Developmental Psychology at UCR takes a lifespan approach to understand the development of biological, cognitive, emotional, motoric, and social processes across a variety of contexts, including:

  • Culture
  • Families
  • Peers
  • School

Ongoing work in the Developmental Area represents the breadth of the discipline, covering from infancy to older adulthood. Research topics include attention, learning, memory, perceptual-motor development, gene-environment interplay, emotion regulation, motivation and academic achievement, puberty, social and cultural contributions to cognitive development, and risk and resilience.

To uncover patterns and mechanisms of development in both typically and atypically developing individuals, we use various developmental research designs, including cross-sectional, longitudinal, cross-cultural, and quasi/experimental paradigms. We apply a wide range of research methods, such as genetic, physiological, neural, and behavioral assessments, and naturalistic observation.

Faculty and students have access to advanced research technology such as MRI, EEG, and eye-tracking devices. Given the interdisciplinary nature of the research, our faculty and students engage in collaborative projects with faculty within our area and department, researchers from other departments, and scientists around the world.

Dr. Rebekah Richert received $10 million from the John Templeton Foundation for a collaborative global research project investigating how children learn about and are influenced by religious beliefs and practices.

Dr. Kalina Michalska received a CAREER award from the National Science Foundation titled "Ethnic-racial discrimination influences on neural representation of threat learning in Latina girls: A multivariate modeling approach."

Dr. John Franchak received an Opportunity Award from the James S. McDonnell Foundation’s “Understanding Human Cognition” program to use videos captured by parents to characterize their infants’ everyday behaviors (https://padlab.ucr.edu/posts/2022-08-11-jsmf.html).

  • In collaboration with the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, Dr. Aerika Loyd’s Youth Health and Development Lab is examining the effects of a high-tech, interactive educational exhibit (MedLab) on diverse urban youth. Of particular interest is the exhibit’s ability to shape young people’s science and health career interests and perceptions of belonging in those fields. 
  • Dr. Kalina Michalska’s KIND lab engages in community-based participatory research to examine changes in Latina girls' anxiety, supported by a research grant from the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities and the School of Medicine Center for Health Disparities Research. https://www.clinicalresearchnewsonline.com/news/2023/06/01/diversity-and-science-could-benefit-from-90-year-old-research-approach 
  • Compared with younger and middle-aged adults, older adults are less likely to adopt new computer technology, potentially limiting access to healthcare and many other important resources available online. A pilot community collaboration from Dr. Rachel Wu’s CALLA Lab provided a two-month tablet training intervention to increase access to resources and reduce fraud for low-income older adults. They found that higher tech capabilities related to higher well-being, providing important information for the impact of technology access and training for low-income older adults.
  • The Early Growth and Development Study, a longitudinal adoption study with which Dr. Misaki Natsuaki collaborates, identifies modifiable environmental factors that can be targeted through preventive and promotive intervention for healthy child development. Research has shown that parenting and parents’ marital relationship quality are important “niches” for interventions in childhood.
  • Under the direction of Principal Investigator Dr. Diamond Bravo, the Culture, Resilience, and Motivation (CRM) lab has partnered with The Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art & Culture. This community partnership represents a thoughtful endeavor to explore the cultural and identity experiences of youth and families. Moreover, it fosters an avenue for researchers to engage directly with the community and provides a platform for visiting scholars. 
  • The Emotion Regulation Lab (Dr. Elizabeth Davis) is working on a project that examines sociocultural contexts and emotion regulation processes in families in Riverside. Family histories contain essential context—relational, cultural, historical, and emotional—that informs why family members may respond to their life circumstances and emotions in a particular way, and whether they transmit that emotional responding across generations. This study will be the first of its kind to investigate family histories of predominantly Latine/x families as they relate to their cultural and emotional experiences.
  • Dr. Rachel Wu was awarded the UCR Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Research and Creative Achievement Faculty Award in 2023.
  • Dr. Aerika Loyd was awarded the UCR Community Engaged Teaching Award in 2023
  • Doctoral Student Jordan Mullins (UCR KIND Lab) received a Ruth L. Kirschstein Predoctoral Research Service Award from the National Institute of Health.
  • Dr. Jessie Bridgewater (2023 PhD from the Adversity and Adaptation Lab) was named a SRCD Executive Branch Policy Fellow (https://www.srcd.org/news/introducing-2023-2024-srcd-us-policy-fellows).
  • Dr. Chuan Luo (2023 PhD from the Perception, Action, and Development Lab) joined the faculty of St. Bonaventure University as an Assistant Professor.
  • Dr. Pamela Sheffler (2022 PhD from the Culture and Child Development Lab) joined the faculty of Landmark College as an Assistant Professor.