Development of these social cognitive abilities contributes to the development of social competence and social relationships. Our faculty study children's understanding of themselves, children's understanding of other people, and parents' understanding of children. Thus, we investigate how children learn to make inferences about another person's thoughts and feelings and how children reason about the causes of another person's actions. We also investigate children's understanding their peers' personality traits, children's ability to think about their own thought processes, and parents' understanding of their children's behavior. Our research involves children from preschool through adolescence and includes both normal children and children with behavior problems.
Many factors influence how students learn and function academically in the classroom.
Students' achievement is affected by the classroom environment, instructional practices, assessment practices, and peer or social contexts. In addition, students bring with them a set of individual differences in abilities and learning styles. Our faculty are interested in studying several factors related to learning and social context. We are also studying the broader social context to determine how social skills and social interactions can impact academic achievement, and vice versa. Another research goal is to determine the role that social support from teachers, parents, and peers can play in academic achievement.