The growth of a person from a tiny clump of cells involves changes at many levels of description. Development comprises biological growth, the organizing of neurons within the brain, the increasing complexity of mental representation, the emergence and assembly of novel behaviors, and the important role played by social and cultural goals and contexts. Developmental science seeks to understand this process at all of these levels. Our central focus is on the core mechanisms that underlie this change. What physical, biological, psychological and social processes are responsible for the dramatic changes we call development? This emphasis on developmental process unifies our research whether we are exploring the physiological processes that promote change during prenatal development, examining changes in basic perception, attention, and language abilities, or pushing the boundaries of developmental theory using mathematical models.

• Development happens step-by-step as each change in the organism sets the stage for future changes in a continual dialogue between stability and change.
• Development is a product of processes sensitive to influences from neurons to neighborhoods. Brain, body, environment, social relationships, and large-scale social systems are all intertwined.
• Processes happen in real time, yet their effects accumulate over longer time scales. Thus, developmental scientists must integrate different temporal ìviewsî of how development happens.
• Neither the course nor the outcome of development is prescribed ahead of time. Rather, development emerges as each individual follows a unique pathway characterized by adaptive and maladaptive outcomes.

• Research that cuts across domains such as perception, cognition, action, temperament, social processes, and basic biological mechanism.
• A cross-disciplinary approach as we seek understanding at multiple levels of analysis. Thus, we draw on many disciplines and methodologies including cognitive and affective neuroscience, computational modeling, computer science, movement science, psychoneuroimmunology, engineering, speech pathology, and linguistics.
• The use of sound experimental methods and a rigorous approach to behavioral observation, analysis, and description.

• We seek to train students in a broad array of theories and methodologies both within and outside the traditional boundaries of developmental psychology.
• We focus our training around fundamental questions of process.
• We seek to hire new faculty who share our vision, who can contribute to our training mission, and who bridge disciplinary boundaries.
• We encourage dialogue and research collaborations that support our interdisciplinary focus and further our understanding of developmental process.

• Size and breadth: With six top researchers in developmental science (and other affiliated faculty throughout the department and the university), the University of Iowa Developmental Science program is unique in its size. Our research interests cover perception, cognition, language, biology, and social behavior, and we study development from infancy to late childhood (and in animal models) giving us broad coverage of development. Finally, our faculty represents a range of theoretical viewpoints: dynamical systems approaches, connectionism, ecological views, developmental systems theory and applied psychology are well represented.

Resources: Our students have access to the latest methodological innovations and including advanced developmental psychobiology techniques, a variety of infant looking and listening procedures, automated eye-tracking technologies for adults and infants, virtual reality simulations, innovative methods for recording and analyzing real behavior, and cutting edge computational techniques.

• Unique course work: Our innovative seminar organizes developmental science by core-mechanism (learning, endogenous activity, caregiver-mediated-learning) rather than by domain to stress core mechanisms across neurological, physical, social, perceptual and cognitive development. In addition our students are encouraged to explore interdiscplinary courses in other departments and areas.

• Proven success: Our graduates have a track record of success. Each year our students present at many national each year and author a number of first-authored papers. This success translates to tenure-track jobs at excellent universitys, and first-rate post-doctoral training sites.

• An active research community: Researchers in the Developmental Science area have a proven track record of success, garnering $2.2 million in grant funding this year alone, and over 200 publications since 2000. In addition, all faculty in the area are core faculty in the Iowa Center for Developmental and Learning Sciences (ICDLS), an interdisciplinary research center that brings together diverse faculty from the University of Iowa community to study the processes that underlie developmental change in both typical and atypical populations.

Interaction: There are many developmental colloquia and research presentations during the year; developmental faculty and students regularly present at the departmental brown bag; developmental scientists from other universities are invited to give departmental colloquia; and each year one of the top developmental scientists in the country is invited to give the Spiker Memorial Lecture. In addition, we recently hosted an international conference on connectionist and dynamic systems approaches to development.

If you are thinking about applying to our Ph.D. program in Developmental Science and want to learn more about the program and the affiliated faculty, please contact our training area coordinator, John Spencer at:

E-Mail: john-spencer@uiowa.edu Office Phone: 319.335.2482 Postal Mail: Dept. of Psychology E11 Seashore Hall The University of Iowa Iowa City, IA 52242