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How do we develop skills in regulating our thoughts and actions rather than acting on impulses and habits? How much do these skills depend on experiences, including knowledge, skills and values that can vary within and across families and cultures? Can executive function skills be improved? The Developing Minds Lab addresses these questions and more, conducting in-person and online research with children aged 3 to 7 years, and also by conducting meta-analyses. The lab is always looking for highly motivated volunteers and graduate students who are eager to understand and study the developing human mind.


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Prospective students

If you are interested in being an undergraduate research assistant, graduate student, or post-doctoral researcher in the Developing Minds Lab, you can learn more about us here.

Volunteer in the lab

We welcome applications from undergraduate research assistants to make meaningful contributions to ongoing projects.

About our projects

We study a range of topics in cognitive development, with a focus on developing executive function and self-control. Learn more about our projects here.


 Developing Minds Lab in the News

Sabine quoted in Washington post article on possible cultural bias in the measurement of executive function in childhood.

Sabine wins $5000 award from the APS teaching fund to support a conference event on teaching developmental science inclusively.

PhD student Nicole Stucke and Sabine publish meta-analysis in Psychological Bulletin examining associations between early childhood executive function and social, behavioral and health outcomes. Download preprint here!

PhD student Nicole Stucke successfully defends her dissertation titled, “Will it Sink or Float? Examining Gender Differences in Science-task Persistence in Childhood and the Role of Gender-Related Stereotypes and Beliefs.”

Undergraduate research assistant, Armita Davdar, wins ‘Best Research Poster’ at the 2024 OSCAR Celebration!

Armita Davdar wins summer OSCAR URSP award to conduct a meta-analysis with Sabine!

Sabine publishes paper ‘Broadening convenience samples to advance theory and reduce bias in developmental science’ (co-authored with Mike Frank). Read the preprint here.

Armita Davdar wins OSCAR URSP award to conduct research with PhD candidate, Nicole Stucke!

New Paper! Do masks disrupt perception of and responses to ‘kindchenschema’? Check out our latest publication in Nature’s Scientific Reports!

Undergraduate research assistant, Isabela Alfaro, is awarded the Mason’s ‘Outstanding Senior Award’ in psychology!

Sabine and undergraduate research assistant, Jordan Hassani, win the ‘Excellence in Research’ award at Mason’s College of Humanities and Social Sciences Annual Celebration of Scholarship.

Undergraduate research assistant Scarlett Bird-Guerra wins funding through GMU’s Undergraduate Research Scholars Program to support her research in the Developing Minds Lab.

Undergraduate research assistant, Sydney Foss, is awarded the 2022 Office of Scholarship, Creative Activities, and Research (OSCAR) Student Excellence Award, recognizing exemplar students who participate in research and creative activities at Mason.

New paper! Check out our latest work on links between less-structured time and executive function, published in Developmental Science. Watch the video abstract on our YouTube page!

The lab shares preprint of paper reconsidering the role of play in executive function.

Sabine contributes to a collection published in Science entitled, Active learning: "Hands-on" meets "minds-on."

Undergraduate research assistant Jordan Hassani wins the Dean's Challenge Scholarship to acknowledge exceptional students who have excelled while making academically-challenging choices.

Ph.D. student, Nicole Stucke, places 3rd in the international Three-Minute Thesis Competition at the Association for Psychological Science 2021 Virtual Convention (click video at 22:55 to see Nicole's talk).

Undergraduate research assistants Jordan Hassani and Sydney Foss each secure funding through GMU’s Undergraduate Research Scholars Program to support their research in the Developing Minds Lab.

Sabine appears as expert guest on the Full PreFrontal Podcast, Episode 155.

Sabine wins 4VA grant to collaborate with UVA on study exploring self-awareness and executive function in preschoolers.

Undergraduate research assistant, Fielder Wise, describes her summer project on social understanding and executive function.

New paper! ‘Rethinking Executive Function Development’, published in Perspectives on Psychological Science.

Ph.D. student Nicole Stucke presents poster exploring socioeconomic differences on a widely used executive function task.

Sabine chairs preconference on open developmental science at the Cognitive Development Society meeting in Louisville, KY.

Sabine participates in TED Radio Hour podcast on how can we make better decisions to help us live better lives? 

Sabine writes a response to address claims that the Marshmallow test was “debunked.”

Sabine gives TEDx talk on executive function development!


Contact us

email:
devminds@gmu.edu

phone: (703) 993-4753

Mailing address:
David King Hall, Room 1034
4400 University Drive, MSN 3F5
Fairfax, VA 22030-4422

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