Phd In Developmental Psychology

Mission & Aims

Graduate students trained in Cognitive, Developmental, Social, or Quantitative Psychology follow a single curriculum with a uniform set of requirements, but their research programs and seminar courses focus on their unique areas of interest.

Our philosophy can be summed up as cooperative, and the small size of our program ensures individualized attention for all students. Although students work directly with a faculty advisor, following a mentor-apprentice model, they also have considerable freedom to collaborate with other faculty and students within and beyond the Department. Indeed, we encourage students to publish with several faculty members before they graduate. Greensboro’s central location in NC has resulted in close ties to other top departments, creating opportunities for our students to take courses, collaborate, and network.

Application Deadline:

  • December 1
  • A note on the GRE: This program does not require GRE scores as part of the admissions process. GRE scores will not be considered as part of our admissions decisions rubric.
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Degree Requirements

Recent graduates have secured postdoctoral and visiting positions (e.g., Wake Forest University, UNC Greensboro, University of Virginia) and faculty positions (e.g., Wake Forest University, University of Mississippi, Wingate University, Vanderbilt University)

Program Highlights

  • Students’ research program is tailored to their interests with one-on-one guidance from their faculty advisor
  • Students have a primary faculty advisor but are also encouraged to conduct research projects with other faculty and graduate students if it fits with their goals
  • Students will receive training suitable for academic or non-academic positions 
  • We have special strengths in community connections that may be beneficial for students with applied interests (e.g., partnerships with the Greensboro Science Center, the Miriam P. Brenner Children’s Museum, Kaleideum, and the North Carolina Zoo; community program with Greensboro Downtown Parks)
  • Broad coverage of topics (e.g., young children’s cognitive and social development; understanding of food cognition and behavior; trait understanding; body image development; impact of religiosity on higher order cognition) and methodologies (e.g., experimental, longitudinal)
  • Recent graduate seminars in Developmental Psychology in Practice, Advanced Methods in Developmental Psychology, and Replication and Representation in Developmental Science

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SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
BY CURRENT/RECENT STUDENTS

DeJesus, J. M., Venkatesh, S., Elmore-Li, C. R., & Nancekivell, S. E. (in press). Children’s thinking about asymptomatic carriers of disease. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology.

Dollar, J. M., Behler, M. H., Postlethwait, E. M., Villarreal, A., Murray, E., & Maher, J. (2026). Associations between daily intentions and physical activity among adolescent girls: The moderating role of multi-level factors. Frontiers in Developmental Psychology, 4, 1838897.

Perry, N. B., Tang, Y., Akinmola-Milone, T., Dollar, J. M., & Bryan, A. E. (2026). Context matters: Multi-informant assessment of preschoolers’ emotion regulation strategies across home, school, and the laboratory.

Yuly-Youngblood, A. C., Wood, T. D., & Boseovski, J. J.. (2026). What shapes children’s social evaluations? Integrating status and gender in middle childhood? Social Development, 35(3), e70074.

Dollar, J. M., Leerkes, E. M., Shriver, L. M., Eagleton, S. G., & Wideman, L. (2025). Protocol for the Infant Growth and Development Study (iGrowUp): The role of food and non-food self-regulation in children’s obesity risk. BMC Public Health, 25, 4070.

Marble, K.E., Boseovski, J. J., Guan, S., & Ma, F. (2025). “Why did she do that?”: Chinese children’s preference for trait-based explanations of behavior. Social Development, 34(1), e12773.

Khan, I. F., Dollar, J. M., & Maher, J. P. (2025) Differential associations between physical activity and affect in the context of daily life: Insights from a daily diary study of adolescent girls. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 38, 103039.

Maher, J. P., Villarreal, A., Behler, M., Hudgins, B. L., Murray, E., Postlethwait, E., & Dollar, J. M. (2025). A daily analysis of adolescent girls’ physical activity using a social ecological model lens. Women in Sport and Physical Activity Journal, 33(1), wspaj.2024-0124.

Caporaso, J. S., & Marcovitch, S. (2024). Executive function as a mechanism for the emergence and expression of moral knowledge. Advances in Child Development and Behavior, 67, 70–103.

Price, K., DeJesus, J. M., & Nancekivell, S. E. (2024). She made it with her friend: How social object history influences children’s thinking about the value of digital objects. Child Development.

Venkatesh, S., & DeJesus, J. M. (2024). Children’s evaluations of culturally diverse lunchbox foods. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 95(5), 1603–1615.

Request more information

Please address all graduate application questions to:
Malcolm Moon

Malcolm Moon

Administrative Assistant
a_mohan@uncg.edu | 336.256.8538

Please address all additional graduate questions to:
Paul Silvia headshot with bowtie

Paul Silvia

Professor & Graduate Program Director
p_silvia@uncg.edu | Eberhart 281

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