Primary (Core) Faculty
Dr. Frances A. Conners, Ph.D. received her Ph.D. from Case Western Reserve University with an emphasis in mental retardation. Currently an Associate Professor in the Psychology Department, she studies developmental cognition in typical and atypical popluations, especially intellectual disability. Her work focuses on implicit processes, reading, and working memory. Current projects include the relation of implicit learning and phonological memory to language impairment in Down syndrome; developmental trends in implicit learning; reading skills of students with intellectual disabilities, and prosodic sensitivity and reading in typical children. Dr. Conners' graduate teaching includes Developmental Disabilities, Seminar in the Psychology of Reading, and Seminar in Working Memory. Dr. Conners is the Director of Graduate Studies in the Department of Psychology. She recently served as Associate Editor for American Journal on Mental Retardation.
Dr. Mary Elizabeth Curtner-Smith, Ph.D., CFLE received her PhD from the University of North Carolina-Greensboro in Child Development and Family Relations with a doctoral minor in Psychology. She is an Associate Professor in the Department of Human Development and Family Studies. Her primary research focuses on how parent-child relationships influence children's development, especially children's peer aggression and social competence. A second but related area of research interest is in parents' disciplinary practices. Current projects in Dr. Curtner-Smith's Parent Education and Research Laboratory include a study of maternal influences on young children's bullying and victimization; an observational study of father-child interactional synchrony and children's social competence; and a study of young adults' recollections of the lessons they learned from receiving corporal punishment. Dr. Curtner-Smith is on the editorial board of Fathering: A Journal of Theory, Research, and Practice About Men as Fathers, and she serves as an ad hoc reviewer for several other research journals. Dr. Curtner-Smith teaches graduate courses in Parent-Child Interactions and Children of Divorce. She is certified as a Family Life Educator by the National Council on Family Relations.
Dr. Maria Hernandez-Reif, PhD, received her Ph.D. in Psychology from Florida International University and completed a 2-year post doctoral research fellowship at the University of Miami School of Medicine. She is a Professor in the Department of Human Development and Family Studies. She has primary research interests in the field of child development, particularly in the study of maternal depression effects on infant perception and cognition, and more recently in preschool children’s temperament, play and cortisol levels. Additional research interests include massage therapy effects for enhancing growth and development in preterm infants and for reducing stress (cortisol levels) and stress-associated symptoms in children with varying conditions. Dr. Hernandez-Reif directs the University of Alabama Pediatric Development Research Laboratory. She is on the editorial board of Infant Behavior and Development and the Journal of Bodywork and Movement Therapy. She teaches a graduate course in Advanced Infant Development (HD 602) in the Spring.
Dr. Hyun-Joo Jeon, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Human Development and Family Studies. She completed her Ph. D. in Human Development and Family Studies with an emphasis in Early Childhood Special Education at Iowa State University. She was a research scientist at the University of California Los Angeles and managed several evaluation studies of child care, family literacy, school readiness, and teacher training programs. She has been involved in research projects: the National Early Head Start Research and Evaluation Project, the Midwest Child Care Research Consortium Project, and Quality Intervention for Early Care and Education. Her research interests are in examining effects of children’s task-approach behavior and maternal interaction on cognitive and language development of children with developmental risks. She is also interested in studying effects of quality of teacher-child interaction, teacher education and qualification, and quality of early care and education settings on children’s outcomes.
Dr. John E. Lochman, Ph.D. Dr. Lochman is the Doddridge Saxon Chair of Clinical Psychology in the Psychology Department at The University of Alabama. He received his PhD from the University of Connecticut. He has primary research interests in examining the short- and long-term effects of prevention programs provided to high-risk aggressive children, and treatment programs for youth with externalizing disorders. These school- and community-based programs (Anger Coping Program; Coping Power Program; Fast Track Program) use cognitive-behavioral, social problem solving and social-skill training approaches with children, and behavioral parent training with parents. Ongoing grant-funded multi-site prevention research projects are examining the components of interventions, the additive effects of universal and indicated (targeted) interventions, and comprehensive interventions designed to prevent Conduct Disorder, substance use, and delinquency. Dr. Lochman’s graduate teaching responsibilities include Child Psychotherapy and Basic Practicum supervision. Dr. Lochman serves on grant review committees at NIMH and at several private foundations. He is the editor of the Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, is an associate editor for Behavior Therapy, and is on the editorial board for the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology.
Dr. Edward Merrill, Ph.D,, is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology. He studies cognitive development, intelligence and intellectual disability.
Dr. Jeffrey G. Parker, Ph,D., is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology and in the Instititute for Social Science Research. He studies child and adolescent peer relationships.
Dr. Jason Scofield, PhD, is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Human Development and Family Studies. Dr. Scofield arrived at the University of Alabama in 2003 after receiving a Ph.D. in Experimental Psychology from the University of Arkansas. Dr. Scofield's lab (Bama Cognitive Development Lab) studies cognitive development, focusing mainly on children's language development. The lab's main line of research examines the conditions in which children learn, or fail to learn, new words. This research has varied the accuracy of a speaker, the presence/absence of a speaker, the source that delivers the new words, the presence of supporting contextual cues, the presence of previously learned words, the presence of cues from multiple sense modalities, and the intentions of a speaker.
Secondary (Affiliated) Faculty
Dr. Joan Barth, early childhood social and emotional development
Dr. David Boles, lateralization of cognitive function
Dr. Melissa Jackson, at-risk children and child/adolescent assessment
Dr. Laura Grofer Klinger, developmental psychopathology, autism spectrum disorders
Dr. Mark Klinger, cognitive aspects of autism, unconscious and implicit processing
Dr. Beverly Roskos-Ewoldsen, spatial cognition and creativity in developmental groups
Dr. Karen Salekin, intellectual disability and legal competence, malingering
Dr. Randall Salekin, juvenile psychopathy
Dr. Forrest Scogin, geropsychology, intervention
Dr. Stephen Thoma, moral development
Dr. Thomas Ward, creative cognition, categories, and concepts in children and adults
Adjunct Faculty
Dr. Susan Bagby
Dr. Linda Enders
Dr. Nick Stinnett
Dr. Carroll Tingle
