Human Development Faculty Research

Robert Enright, Professor

Professor Enright, a licensed psychologist, has pioneered the scientific study of forgiveness, which now claims over 1,000 researchers worldwide. He holds the Aristotelian Professorship in Forgiveness Science as part of the WARF Named Professorship awards, has been honored with a Vilas Associateship Award, the Dean’s Club Faculty Achievement Award, and the campus-wide Hilldale Award in the Social Studies Division for his research on forgiveness. His National Conference on Forgiveness was the first of its kind on any university campus. His various research grants have centered on moral development. One of the most gifted teachers on campus, Dr. Enright is a recipient of the Chancellor’s Distinguished Teaching Award and five other teaching-related awards on campus. He teaches courses in moral development with an emphasis on the psychology of forgiveness. He is a popular speaker on the moral development of forgiveness, with his work appearing in such outlets as Time magazine, the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, and ABC’s 20/20. He is a former member of the editorial board of Child Development. Because of his discovery of the association between forgiveness therapy and the healing from trauma, he received in 2022 what the American Psychological Association calls “psychology’s highest awards,” the APF Gold Medal Award for Impact in Psychology.

Edward Hubbard, Associate Professor

My research examines the neural underpinnings of cognitive processes that are relevant for education, and the role of educational experiences and enculturation in creating the neural circuits that underlie human specific abilities. To do this, I combine the latest technological advances in understanding the human brain as a “learning organ” with insights from cognitive psychology and education. To do so, I carry out behavioral and brain imaging studies in school-aged children and college students to identify the brain systems involved in basic learning related process, and to assess how individual differences in brain systems relate to individual differences in behavior and educational outcomes. My work examines these questions in three key domains:

1) the acquisition of mathematics in typical and atypically developing populations
2) the role of multi-sensory integration in learning and
3) the role of learning in synesthesia, and the consequences of synesthesia for education

Visit Dr. Hubbard’s research lab: Educational Neuroscience Lab

Percival Matthews, Associate Professor, Interim Associate Dean for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion

My research program is organized around two primary goals:
1) investigating the basic underpinnings of human mathematical cognition, and
2) finding ways to leverage this understanding to create effective pedagogical techniques that can be used to impact the life chances of everyday people.

In my work, I attempt to integrate insights and methods from psychology with those from math education research to capitalize on the strengths of each. I look forward to expanding my work in the near future to investigating ways to support broader engagement among classroom teachers and researchers to help bridge the research-practice divide.

Visit Dr. Matthews’ research lab: Math, Education, Learning and Development (MELD) Lab

Sarah Short, Assistant Professor

The overarching mission of my research is to relieve suffering and promote resilience in typically developing and at-risk children. Inspired by a long-standing interest in the prevention of neurodevelopmental disorders and psychiatric illness, I have conducted multidisciplinary research that unites the fields of psychology, biology, human development, and neuroscience. The ultimate goal of this effort is to create targeted cognitive and behavioral interventions that leverage the inherent plasticity of the developing brain to promote resilience and well-being.

My current research focuses on the impact of poverty on early child brain development. This study examines the link between poverty, brain development, and cognitive processes that facilitate learning, self-monitoring and decision-making in children. Other recent research projects have included an investigation of neural plasticity associated with cognitive training in young children and the development of a Parent-Child Mindfulness Based Training program.

Visit Dr. Short’s research lab: Brain and Early Experience Lab

Christy Starr, Assistant Professor

How do adolescents and young adults decide on what career they want, what courses to enroll in, and what majors to declare? Why do some majors and careers have high equity across gender, race/ethnicity, and other demographic categories, while others are unbalanced? And what can we do to improve equity, as practitioners, parents, teachers, and as a larger society? These are some of the big questions I explore in my research. My special focus is on STEM fields (science, technology, engineering, and math). I examine how both barriers (such as stereotypes) and sources of support (such as parents) relate to young peoples’ confidence, interest, and persistence in STEM.

Haley Vlach, Associate Professor, Human Development Area Chair

My research examines the mechanisms underlying children’s learning in order to:
1) understand cognition and how cognition develops, and
2) build an empirical base for the design of successful educational and health interventions.

My work spans the following cognitive and developmental processes: memory, memory development, word and category learning, concept learning, conceptual development, inductive learning, and generalization/transfer of learning. A central focus is connecting more traditional psychological research to applied settings, such as the design of cognitive interventions and concept learning in the classroom.

Visit Dr. Vlach’s research lab: Learning, Cognition, and Development Lab