Faculty

Dr. Donna F. Thompson

Professor
College of Arts & Sciences – Psychology

Email:  dfthompson@niagara.edu
Website:  http://purple.niagara.edu/dfthompson/Home.html
Phone:  (716) 286-8522
Office Location:  DePaul Hall, Room 134

Bio

Dr. Donna Thompson joined the Niagara University faculty in September of 1984.

Focus of Teaching

Dr. Thompson teaches Introductory Psychology each fall semester and Animal Behavior each spring. She also teaches either Child Psychology or Life-Span Developmental Psychology each semester. Dr. Thompson uses Comparative Psychology as a theme for student paper topics and discussion materials when teaching Senior Seminar, the department’s capstone course.

Current Research

My research focuses on how young infants learn about the world. My students and I study behavioral changes occurring during goal-directed tasks, such as by observing what happens when infants discover that they can make a mobile move. We are also interested in how infants pay attention to and remember unusual or novel visual displays. More information about these research projects can be found by using the website link listed above to visit Niagara's Infant Learning Lab.

Educational Background

BA from Kansas University in 1978 with a double major in Psychology and in Human Development and Family Life; PhD in Experimental Psychology in 1984 from the University of Missouri-Columbia with emphasis in developmental psychology and animal behavior