Dear Colleagues and Students,
You are cordially invited to a seminar titled ‘The Development of Executive Function in Preschoolers` by Professor Ulrich Müller from the University of Victoria, Psychology Department.
Date: 18 February 2020, Tuesday
Time: 12:40-13:40
Place: FEASS; C-Amphi
Abstract
Over the past two decades, there has been an increasing interest in the development of executive function (EF; Garon, Bryson, & Smith, 2008; Müller & Kerns, 2015). EF is an umbrella term for the complex set of prefrontally based cognitive processes that are required for the conscious, top-down control of action, thought, and emotions. The growing popularity of the construct of EF can largely be attributed to findings that measures of EF are associated with, and often also predictive of, a host of aspects of psychological functioning such as social understanding (Devine & Hughes, 2014), academic readiness and achievement (Müller & Kerns, 2015) and psychological adjustment (Shoemaker, et al. 2012). Furthermore, EF deficits are implicated in a variety of developmental and acquired disorders such as autism and fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (e.g., Fuglestad et al., 2014; Pellicano, 2010).
In my talk, I will chart age-related changes in EF development in preschoolers and present research on predictors of inter-individual differences in early EF development. I will also discuss the ecological validity of measures of EF and advocate for a more process-oriented approach in conceptualzing and measuring EF.
Bio: Ulrich Müller is professor of psychology at the University of Victoria. His research focuses on the development of self-regulation, social understanding, nature-based education, and parent-child interaction. Dr. Müller was awarded the Early Scientific Achievement Award from the Society of Research in Child Development in 2005. He currently serves as the Chair of the Department of Psychology. Dr. Müller has published widely in journals such as Child Development, Developmental Psychology, and Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, and his research is supported by SSHRC and NSERC. He is editor of several books, including the Cambridge Companion to Piaget (2009), and the Handbook of Child Psychology and Developmental Science (2015).