Developmental Psychology Research Group

Welcome to the Developmental Psychology page.

This site provides information on the wide range of developmental work with infants, children and young people currently undertaken at City University London.

The research interests of staff who work in the Autism Research Group, the Counselling Psychology Group, and the BSc Psychology team are outlined below.

Professor Dermot Bowler

Director of the Autism Research Centre

The work of the Autism Research Group has been mainly focused on understanding how memory works in higher-functioning individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) including those with Asperger's Syndrome. In recent years, the group's work has diversified into areas such as self-understanding in ASD as well as the neural substrates of episodic binding. Members of this group hope to develop this work in the coming years in the context of lower functioning individuals in the hope of achieving a truly developmental account of ASD.

Professor Jill Boucher

Researcher in autistic spectrum disorders

Professor Boucher's research interests are in teh broad area of the neuropsychology of autism, especially lower-functioning individuals. She has ongoing research relating to language development, learning ability, and memory in lower-functioning autism, involving behavioural testing and brain imaging. Professor Boucher is also interested on links between memory and generativity; also in sense of time, and timing, and its relation to temporal binding in the brains of people with autism.

Ms Cristina Sheppard

Counselling Psychologist

Relating theory proposes that, because humans are social animals, their relating to one another is a biological need, just like hunger or thirst. The relating of humans, and animals, comprises of a need for proximity to others and a need for power over others. The proximity aspect is further divided into the need for closeness to others and the need for distance from others and the power aspect comprises of the need for uperness, or dominance, over others and the need for lowerness, or submission, to others.

People are constantly, and subconsciously, working towards obtaining one or more of these states, or satisfying one or more of their relating needs. A well adjusted person is expected to feel comfortable in each og the relating states at different points in time and depending on the circumstances. All of us, however, have a tendency to favour one or two states when relating to others or responding to the relating of others.

Based on relating theory, Cristina Sheppard is investigating how the relating of our parents towards us in our childhood may, or may not, influence the way we relate to others in our adult life. One aspect of the investigation is the creation of a new measure of parental relating towards children, called the Adult Recollection of Parental Relating Questionnaire (ARPQR). Other aspects will include researching the link between parental relating and attachment, both retrospectively and prospectively.

Some future studies will focus on trying to understand the connection between the relating of parents in our childhood and our present relating in romantic relationships while others will focus on how the relating of our parents might influence the way we relate to our children.

Dr Brenda K Todd

Researcher into infancy and early childhood

One of Dr Todd's main research interests is the Left Cradling Bias which is shown by the majority of women who hold babies, regardless of their handedness. This area is of interest because holding on the left side is said to have advantages with regard to the transfer of information from the infant to the mothers right hemisphere which is specialised for the processing of emotion. Brenda's recent research has focused on the relationship between the left cradling bias and infant age, handedness of holder, sex of holder, and the experience of stressors.

Further interests centre on Pre-verbal Communication with a particular focus on the visual behaviour of infants as they gesture and the transition to intentional communication and more complex social awareness.

Dr Todd is currently interested in disseminating research findings on Children's Play from academia to parents and others who spend time with children. She is also currently researching the origins of gender differences in toy choice and the relationship between childrens preferences and parental expectations.