Development makes us who we are and developmental science has uncovered the processes at work in the emergence of a wide range of systems, including cognition, perception, action, motivation, language, social competence, emotion, self regulation, interpersonal relationships, social cognition and morality. Developmentalists recruit a diverse set of empirical tools, including experimental psychological methods, neuroscientific techniques, quantitative analysis of observational data, quantitative use of interview and survey data, cross cultural and cross population comparison, and computational and statistical modeling. This research has yielded central insights into both the general paths by which these systems unfold and the ways in which outcomes can vary across individuals leading to a better understanding of the origins, emergence, maintenance, sequence, and change of phenomena over time.
The University of Maryland is ideally constituted to provide state of the art, cross-disciplinary doctoral training in developmental science. Across campus there is impressive strength in developmental science in faculty, graduate programs and training opportunities. In 2006, the Graduate School approved the formation of the Field Committee in Developmental Science. The central goal of the field committee is to enhance cross-disciplinary graduate student training within the participating programs by promoting integration between them. The committee does not replace or subsume existing graduate programs. Rather, it provides a common set of training activities that diverse programs can draw on to maximize the interdisciplinary breadth of doctoral training.
Contact
Melanie Killen, Professor of Human Development & Quantitative Methodology
Co-Spokesperson, Field Committee in Developmental Science
(301) 405-3176
mkillen@umd.edu
Jude Cassidy, Professor of Psychology
Co-Spokesperson, Field Committee in Developmental Science
(301) 405-4973
jcassidy@umd.edu
Alexander D’Esterre, Graduate Student Coordinator
desterre@umd.edu