Developmental Science
The mission of the Research Cluster in Developmental Science (RCDS) is to create, apply, and promote new knowledge in human development that could ultimately lead to evidence-based interventions. Historically, the University of Toronto Mississauga (UTM) has had a strong emphasis on developmental science; its first developmental laboratories were established in 1973. Every year since then, hundreds of families from the surrounding communities have visited campus laboratories in developmental science to participate in research. Members of the cluster enjoy good relationships with local kindergartens, schools, hospitals, public health services, child care providers as well as government and private agencies.
The primary goals of the RCDS are to enhance training opportunities for students interested in developmental science, to encourage collaborations among researchers within and outside of the University of Toronto, and to disseminate knowledge to the scholarly community, to service providers, and to the general public.
RCDS consists of faculty members who study language, cognition, social/emotional functioning, neuropsychology, behavioural development, and health from the prenatal period to adolescence. Additional faculty affiliated with RCDS examine developmental trajectories and outcomes throughout life (e.g., later adulthood). The phenomena of development are viewed at multiple levels, from the sub-systems of genetics, neurobiology, physiology, and hormones, to those of families, schools, communities, and cultures. RCDS researchers also study questions about the development, implementation, and evaluation of interventions in diverse populations of children and families in school and community settings with the goal of optimizing child development, academic outcomes, and health.
Members of the Cluster plan to establish strong ties with the Fraser Mustard Institute for Human Development at the University of Toronto and the Medical Academy at the University of Toronto Mississauga.
Faculty Members with Core Affiliation to RCDS
Fleming, Alison
neurobiology of maternal behavior in rat and human mothers. We study the role of hormones, sensory factors, experience, brain, neurotransmitters, and genetics in parenting
Johnson, Elizabeth
infant perception and cognition; language acquisition; speech perception; developmental psycholinguistics; early word recognition and comprehension
Kamenetsky, Stuart
social development; exceptionality in human learning, disability and giftedness; cross-cultural psychology.
Malti, Tina
social-emotional development, children's and adolescents' mental health, developmental and clinical child psychology, evidence-based interventions in school and out-of-school time settings
Schellenberg, Glenn
music and cognition; music and emotion; music and development; intelligence; developmental/cognitive psychology
Smith, Mary Lou
disorders of central nervous system in children; epilepsy; behavior and neuropsychology; long-term effects of epilepsy surgery; neurodevelopment and human Immunodeficiency virus (HIV); spatial memory.
Trehub, Sandra (emeritus)
Affiliated Faculty Members
Andersen, Judith
biopsychosocial health psychology; severe stress, mental and physical health; trauma, psychophysiology, LGBT health, posttraumatic stress disorder and chronic illness
Chambers, Craig
cognitive science; psycholinguistics; language acquisition; spoken language comprehension
Daneman, Meredyth
cognitive psychology; reading and language comprehension skills; working memory capacity and its role in accounting for individual differences in verbal intelligence; sensory and cognitive aging
Holmes, Melissa
behavioural neuroscience; neuroendorinology; neuroplasticity; social behaviour; social status
Monks, Ashley
sex differences, sexual development, hormones, testosterone, neuroanatomy, sexual behaviour, neuromuscular dystems, kennedy disease/SBMA
News
- The RCDS will be officially launched in the fall. More information about the event will be posted soon.
- A Developmental Science Interest Group for graduate students and faculty members (DSI) will be launched in the fall. The group will regularly meet to discuss research, give presentations, participate in webinars, and attend presentations of invited speakers. More information about the group will be posted soon.