Developmental Psychology

Girl playing with blocks

Students in the Developmental Psychology program are exposed to a variety of methods for studying the minds and behaviours of infants and children. They conduct hands-on research in collaboration with other students and faculty members, and have the opportunity to present this research through various outlets.

We offer two programs in the Developmental Area:

PhD program in Developmental Psychology,
Master of Applied Science (MASc) Program in Developmental & Communication Science (DCS).

Developmental Psychology is the study of systematic psychological change across the lifespan. It is the study of how we become the people we are – how we learn about our physical and social worlds, how we develop our personalities and sense of self, and how we acquire language and the ability to communicate with those around us.

The Developmental Psychology graduate program has a strong focus on cognitive, social-cognitive, and language development in infancy and childhood, periods of rapid developmental change. We use a range of experimental methods to produce cutting edge research that creatively explores the minds of some of the most fascinating humans.

Developmental Core Faculty

Stephanie Denison*
Ori Friedman*
Heather Henderson*
Daniela O’Neill*
Katherine White*

*May be accepting new graduate students for Fall 2023

Other faculty doing developmental research

The following Psychology faculty from other research areas can act as co-supervisors for Developmental graduate students, but the primary supervisor would have to be one of the Developmental core faculty.

Tara McAuley (Clinical)*
Elizabeth Nilsen (Clinical)*
Roxane Itier (Cognitive Neuroscience)*

*May be accepting new graduate students for Fall 2023