Developmental Research

Developmental researchers work closely with the Psychology Department preschool playgroup (3-4yr olds) and parent-toddler group (newborn-3yr olds). Access to these groups is invaluable for both researchers and students of developmental psychology. The playgroup offers excellent facilities, with video-monitored testing rooms and a one-way viewing cubicle.

All our developmental researchers have strong links with local schools for working with pupils of both primary and secondary school age. This includes both mainstream and special needs schooling.

Stirling University provides excellent resources in the area of developmental psychology, both in terms of reading materials and research tools for participant assessment.

Research Interests

Tracy Packiam Alloway: The role of working memory in learning in typical development, as well as individuals with learning difficulties, ADHD, autism and motor dyspraxia.

Elena Hoicka: How young children come to understand that people can do the wrong thing on purpose. Specifically, I look at how young children come to understand and use humour, since humour involves doing the wrong thing on purpose in order to get a laugh.

Martin Doherty: Preschool theory of mind and related developments, including metalinguistic awareness, word learning biases, and understanding of gaze direction (see Doherty, M.J. (forthcoming). Theory of Mind: How Children Understand Others' Thoughts and Feelings. Hove, UK: Psychology Press).

Peter Hancock: is collaborating with Debbie Riby on face processing in children with autism and with Williams syndrome

Steve Langton: Eye gaze in children with autistic spectrum disorders (the use of luminance and geometric information).

Honorary Staff

Robin Campbell: My core interest is the development of intentionality - how children come to refer to different sorts of things in thought, talk or drawing. In my first 20 years of work I investigated talk; in the last 20 years Ive studied drawing. I also have an active interest in the history of developmental psychology (see 'Language Development: Pre-Scientific Studies', in Encyclopedia of Language & Linguistics, Elsevier, 2006).

Bill Phillips: Cognitive Neuroscience; Neural Computation; Neuropsychology

Collaborations

Gwyneth Doherty-Sneddon: Now at Northumbria University as Associate Dean. Nonverbal communication (and gaze aversion) as a function of children's communication in typical and atypical (Williams syndrome) development (see Doherty-Sneddon, G. (2003). Children's Unspoken Language. Jessica Kingsley Publishers, London).

Debbie Riby: Is now a lecturer at Newcastle, with interests in atypical cognition (face perception and social functioning) in neurodevelopmental disorders (predominantly Williams syndrome and autism). She continues to collaborate with Peter Hancock.

Marina Wimmer: is now based at Lancaster University exploring children's false belief with Dr. Mark Howe. Her PhD thesis explored children’s perception and understanding of ambiguous figures and related developments such as meta-representation, executive functions, mental imagery abilities and eye-movements under the supervision of Dr. Martin Doherty & Dr. Robin Campbell.