My research interests are in the area of developmental psychology.
I am presently conducting research on perceptual development
during infancy. I am interested in how infants behave when they
are shown two interesting patterns simultaneously. We are currently
monitoring looking direction and emotional state during a paired-comparison
task using novel and familiar stimuli (sample stimuli are in
the links below). I have also done research on the stability
of sleep-wake behavior. I am interested in factors that may influence
the establishment of stability, and have measured several prenatal
factors such as maternal exercise and the mother's psychological
adjustment prior to birth. I am also interested in identifying
the ramifications of being alert for long periods of time. Another
area of research that I am interested in is early gender-typing.
I have conducted studies on the type of toys adults select for
children and how adults' personality traits and attitudes influence
the types of toys they purchase. Finally, I have conducted studies
examining the influence of practice and exercise on the newborns'
stepping reflex.
I teach courses in the area of developmental psychology. The
courses I routinely teach include Introductory Psychology, Life-span
Developmental Psychology, and Child Psychology. I have also taught
Theories of Personality and sections of Advanced Topics on Infancy
and Animal Behavior.
Fisher-Thompson, D., & Burke, T. A. (1998). Experimenter
influences and children's cross-gender behavior. Sex Roles,
39, 669-684.
Fisher-Thompson, D., Peterson, J., & Coleman,
K. (1999, April). Infant looking during a continuous
paired-comparison task. Poster presented at the Biennial
Meetings of the Society for Research in Child Development,
Albuquerque NM.
Fisher-Thompson, D., Such, K., & Doerflinger,
A. (1999, April). Infant temperament and performance
during a mobile task. Poster presented at the Biennial
Meetings of the Society for Research in Child Development,
Albuquerque NM.
