Developmental and Educational Psychology Unit - Home Page

Focus and method

We focus on the development of emotion and cognition, their interrelatedness, and their relation to the developing brain. We design and test intervention strategies to stimulate development and redress developmental problems.

Chair

Professor Dr. P. Michiel Westenberg, (PhD obtained from Washington University, St. Louis, USA)

Our team uses a multi-method approach to address the complex and dynamic nature of child and adolescent development.

Two main research areas

I: Adolescent development: Risks and opportunities
Adolescence is a crucial but poorly understood period of human development. We conduct basic research of adolescent maturation and brain development and use the insights gained to develop intervention strategies. We study typically as well as atypically developing children and adolescents, e.g. youths with social anxiety, deafness, autism, somatic complaints, and school refusal.

II: Cognitive development and intelligence
The unfolding of cognitive-intellectual abilities is a core topic in human development. We conduct basic research of learning potential, inductive reasoning and other cognitive strategies, and the role of metacognition in child and adolescent development, and construct intervention strategies to guide this development.

Research team and research opportunities for students

Our research team consists of psychologists and PhD students from around the world; all trained at internationally acclaimed universities. Our research program provides ample opportunities for ambitious master and doctoral students to participate in cutting-edge research and be supervised by top-notch researchers.

Research labs

The unit’s research program is structured in five thematic research labs. Extensive collaborations have been set up both between the labs and with external parties. The five labs are: 

• Social Anxiety and Normal Development
  
  This lab studies the possible increase of social anxiety during adolescence.

 

• Brain & Development Lab
  
  This lab explores the relations between brain development and cognitive development.

• Emotional Development
  
  This lab focuses on the development of emotion regulation.

• Intellectual Development and Dynamic Testing
  
  This lab studies cognitive-intellectual abilities and processes in children and adolescents.

• School Attendance Problems
  
  This lab concentrates upon the effectiveness of interventions for young people who find it hard to attend school regularly.