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Psychology > Graduate Programs > Developmental

Developmental

Graduate training in developmental psychology at the University of Hawaii is based on a mentorship model in which students develop research skills through close collaboration with faculty on research of mutual interest. Prospective applicants should carefully evaluate the match between their interests and those of the faculty.

Students are expected to engage in faculty-supervised research from their first year at UH, and to take increasing responsibility for charting the direction of that research as they progress through the program. Although each student will have one primary advisor, students are encouraged to gain additional research experience with other faculty in the concentration to gain familiarity with a variety of research methods and lines of inquiry.

Core Faculty

Teaching Faculty

Cooperating Graduate Faculty

Research Facilities

The Developmental concentration relies primarily on Departmental research facilities. These include, among others, access to the usual ensemble of personal computers (including access to the University mainframe facilities), printers, copiers, scanners, faculty laboratory space, and extensive library facilities.

Research Interests of Core Faculty

Dr. Maynard’s research program is concerned with the interrelationships of culture, the contexts of child development, and the healthy cognitive and social development of children. She is interested in cultural settings at nested levels of development: from cultural values and economics in the macrosystem down to children’s microsystem interactions. Dr. Maynard has conducted studies in Hawaii and at her international field site, Nabenchauk, a Zinacantec Maya hamlet located in the highlands of Chiapas, Mexico. The domains of her research cover: (1) the developmental trajectory of children's teaching abilities; (2) the interacting roles of culture and cognitive tools (e.g., books, media, weaving tools) in the development of thinking; (3) the impact of historical change and changing cultural models on child socialization; and the (4) the role of siblings in cognitive and social development. Students in Dr. Maynard’s lab have the opportunity to learn research skills including research design, data collection, transcribing and coding video using a digital media system (vPrism), writing manuscripts, and giving research presentations. Current graduate student projects include: the experiences of students in Hawaiian language immersion programs; the development of moral decision making; the daily routines of at-risk youth in an afterschool program; and the cultural niche of child street vendors in San Cristóbal, Chiapas, Mexico. The major aims of the lab group are to extend theoretical and methodological underpinnings of psychology as a field and to extend the results of various research programs across cultural groups. Undergraduate students work together with me and the graduate students to produce research that meets these aims.

Dr. Sophian's research interests focus on early cognitive development, particularly on understanding the developmental relations between earlier and later forms of knowledge. She is particularly interested in how children's understanding of mathematical concepts develops, both through informal (i.e., outside of school) activities and interactions and through school instruction.  Current research projects address children's and adults' understanding of fraction magnitudes, and the processes by which children and adults compare large numerical quantities. Dr. Sophian’s research has been funded by grants from the National Institute for Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) and from the Spencer Foundation. Most of the research she and her students conduct involves working one-on-one with children at various schools around Oahu. Other studies use computer software (Superlab Pro) to precisely control stimulus presentations and/or to collect response-time measures.

Dr. Xu's research interests include shyness and social withdrawal, violence in school peer groups (aggression and peer victimization), acculturation, ethnic identity, and adjustment of immigrant children, and children’s peer relationships in varying cultural contexts. Currently, students in Dr. Xu’s lab are working on three projects, (1) Early schooling of immigrant children. This project examines how home environment contributes to Asian immigrant children’s transition to kindergarten in Hawaii. The data is collected using parents’ report, teachers’ rating, and one-on-one assessment with immigrant children at public schools. (2) Shyness and self-esteem among Asian, Asian American, and European American late adolescents. Collaborating with colleague from University of Tokyo, Japan, and Sun Yat-sen University, China, this project examines how the relation between shyness and explicit and implicit self-esteem is mediated by culture. The data is collected using both surveys and computerized tests in the laboratory (Inquisit 2.0). (3) Social Functioning and Adjustment of Asian and Asian American Children. Collaborating with colleague from East China Normal University, China, and The Catholic University of Korea, Korea, this project examines how temperament, family environment, and school context contribute to adjustment of Asian and Asian American children. The data is collected using a multi-informant approach (parents’ report, teachers’ rating, peer nomination, children’s self-report, laboratory observation, and psycho-physiological assessment).

Concentration Specifics

In addition to their research endeavors, students are expected to pursue an individualized program of study, through course work, directed readings, and other professional avenues that provide a broad foundation for the developmental inquiry reflected in their research. These individualized programs of study, to be planned in consultation with the faculty advisor and concentration faculty, should combine course work within developmental psychology with courses in other sub-disciplines (e.g., cognitive or social psychology) and disciplines (e.g., linguistics or education) that are related to the student's principal research interests.

Courses Required of the Developmental Degree Candidate

In addition to the departmental course requirements, masters level students concentrating in developmental psychology are expected to complete the following courses:

Candidates for the Ph.D. degree with a developmental concentration are also expected to take at least one course from each core faculty member.

Candidates for the Ph.D. degree with a developmental concentration will normally conduct their dissertation under the supervision of one of the developmental faculty, who will chair their dissertation committee. They are expected to complete at least one additional course or seminar in developmental psychology, at least one course in another area of psychology that relates to their developmental interests, and to enroll in research hours throughout their graduate studies.