Title:	Associate Professor, Ph.D.
	Office:	Coffey Hall 245
	Phone:	773.508.3008
	E-mail:	ddavids@luc.edu

 

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Personal Information

Ph.D., State University of NY/ Albany 
Specialty: Cognitive and Developmental Psychology

Research Interests:

My research interests are in the areas of cognitive and social development, with a primary research interest in the development of young children's memory. Using both script-based stories and actual script re-enactments, I have examined how atypical or unusual actions are remembered by children and adults. I am also interested in how the emotional content of information affects children's memory for information. My recent research has also examined how children's stereotypes (e.g., about the elderly) affect children's memory and impressions of individuals.

A second research interest is in bilingual language development in young children. Current projects have included bilingual children's use of word-learning constraints, the development of metalinguistic awareness in bilingual children, and an examination of the parents'' role in children's acquisition of a second language. This research, along with other projects, has been funded by the Spencer Foundation, the National Science Foundation, and the U.S. Department of Education.

Classes:

Graduate Courses:
Cognitive Development
Developmental Psychology

Undergraduate Courses:
Developmental Psychology
Adolescence

Recent Publications:

Davidson, D., Luo, Z., Fulton, B. R., Mehta, M. U., & Burden, M. J. (in press). The effects of stereotypes and descriptive information on children's impression and memory of the elderly. Basic & Applied Social Psychology.

Davidson, D., Larson, S. L., Luo, Z., & Burden, M. J. (2001). Interruption and bizarreness effects in the recall of script-based text. Memory, 8, 217-234.

Davidson, D., Malmstrom, T., Burden, M. J., & Luo, Z. (2000). Younger and older adults' recall of typical and atypical actions from script-based text: Evidence for interruption and bizarre-imagery effects. Experimental Aging Research, 26, 409-430.

Davidson, D., Jergovic, D., Imani, Z., & Theodos, V. (1997). Monolingual and bilingual children's use of the mutual exclusivity constraint. Journal of Child Language, 24, 3-24.

Professional Society Membership:
Society for Research in Child Development
Psychonomic Society
Society for Text and Discourse Processing
Society for Judgment and Decision Making