Primary Faculty (Psychology Department):
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; and reading skills of students with intellectual disabilities. Dr. Conners' graduate teaching includes Research Methods, Developmental Disabilities, Seminar in the Psychology of Reading, and Seminar in Working Memory. Dr. Conners is the Director of the Experimental Psychology Ph.D. Program. She is Principal Investigator of a 5-year NIH-funded study and recently served as Associate Editor for American Journal on Mental Retardation.
Ansley Tullos Gilpin, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Alabama. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Texas in 2009. Dr. Gilpin's lab, the KID lab (Knowledge in Development), explores how children distinguish fantasy from reality. The KID lab interviews children ages 3 to 8 about their beliefs in fantastical entities, and investigates how children develop the ability to use scientific reasoning skills, testimony from other people, their existing world knowledge and social interactions to distinguish real from not real. Current research projects involve examining limitations children put on the testimony they receive, and whether general cognitive skills, such as executive functions, play a key role in the development of the fantasy/reality distinction. Currently, Dr. Gilpin teaches courses in Developmental Psychology and Honors Introduction to Psychology.
Giyeon Kim, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, joined the Department of Psychology and the Center for Mental Health and Aging (CMHA) at The University of Alabama in 2009. Dr. Kim received her doctoral degree in Aging Studies from the University of South Florida in 2007 and finished her postdoctoral training at Temple University and the University of South Florida. Her area of research interest in aging covers a range of topics within the health disparities theme. Dr. Kim conducts research on racial/ethnic disparities in mental health and mental health service utilization among older adults. Dr. Kim has special interest in cultural influences on depressive symptoms and measurement equivalence of mental health screening tools across diverse racial/ethnic groups. In addition, Dr. Kim's research has focused on specialized statistical techniques for assessing measurement equivalence. She is also courtesy faculty in the Department of Aging and Mental Health Disparities at the University of South Florida.
John E. Lochman, Ph.D., 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.
Kristina McDonald, Ph.D. will be an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology starting in fall 2012!
Edward Merrill, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology. He studies cognitive development, intelligence and intellectual disability.
Jeffrey G. Parker, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology and in the Instititute for Social Science Research. His research explores children's and adolescents' experiences and adjustment with friends and other peers. His most recent research focuses on the origins and consequences of children's jealousy and envy surrounding their friendships and the roles that these feelings plays in children's self-esteem, aggressive behavior, gossip, and efforts to exclude others. Dr. Parker also has been extensively involved in bullying prevention and reduction
efforts in middle schools and regularly conducts workshops on these topics for students, teachers, and other professionals.
Primary Faculty (Human Development and Family Studies)
John M. Bolland, Ph.D., is a professor and research chairholder in the College of Human Environmental Sciences. Dr. Bolland received his Ph.D. in political science, and his research has consistently addressed urban issues; during the past fifteen years, this has focused on urban poverty and how it affects the lives of those living in impoverished neighborhoods. Since 1998, Dr. Bolland has directed the Mobile Youth Survey (MYS), a multiple cohort longitudinal study of adolescents growing up in the poorest neighborhoods in the Mobile, Alabama metropolitan statistical area. This year, Dr. Bolland and his collaborators completed the11th wave of MYS data collection. Over 9,000 youths, contributing over 27,000 data points, have participated in the MYS, making it one of the largest studies of its type ever conducted. Based on the MYS, this research team has obtained grants from the National Institute for Drug Abuse (NIDA) to study cognitive processing in young adolescents and how it interacts with social and environmental factors to affect substance use and abuse among adolescents; from NIDA to study how genes interact with environmental factors to affect HIV-related behaviors; from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to evaluate a violence prevention program instituted by the Mobile Police Department; and from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and NIDA to implement and evaluate a substance abuse treatment program for adolescents. Dr. Bolland has become increasingly interested in how neighborhoods affect adolescent development and behavior, and he teaches a graduate course on this topic.
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.
Jason Scofield, Ph.D,, 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. Beverly Roskos, 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
