Welcome to the Mayeux Research website!

When I originally began the process of building this site with my husband, Peter, I had three audiences in mind. First, I wanted to reach students who are interested in the field of Developmental Psychology. Whether you’re an undergraduate who took a Developmental course and want to know more, someone considering applying to graduate school to study in the field, or a current grad student who wants to squeeze in a few more minutes of reading each week (HA!), this site is for you.

Second, this site is for parents and educators who are interested in child development. As a new parent, I find myself more motivated than ever to read current research that will help my husband and I make informed decisions about parenting our infant daughter. Because I’m a developmental psychologist, people often say things to me like “Oh, you already know everything about kids! You must be prepared for everything.” The truth is, it’s one thing to be familiar with the research on child development, and it’s another thing to try and apply it to your own child (especially at 2 o’clock in the morning, when she’s fussy and I’m exhausted). I hope that this site will integrate scientific findings with real-world applications of them, and be a true help to parents and educators who want to know more about the inner workings of their children or students.

Finally, this site is for other scientists. My goal is to bring together developmental psychologists from a variety of research areas, via the blog, through guest columns, and through links to books, articles, or websites of interest. While my particular research focus is social development, I hope to represent the field of Developmental Psychology more broadly. After all, no single developmental process occurs in a vacuum. For example, peer relationships may fall primarily in the domain of social development, but they are surely influenced by cognitive development, physical changes, moral development, and personalilty, among other factors. We know it’s all connected, and the better we understand all of those smaller pieces of the puzzle, the better we can understand how they work together. If you’re a developmental scientist and you’re interested in writing a guest column for the site, I encourage you to contact me.

In closing, I invite your comments, feedback, and collaboration in this ongoing discussion of child development. I hope to add new features to the site soon and look forward to getting it off the ground. Cheers!