Sophie Jacques

Sophie Jacques is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience at Dalhousie University, located in Halifax, Nova Scotia. She holds a BA from McGill University, MA and PhD from the University of Toronto, and a Postdoctoral Fellowship from Université de Montréal. Her research focuses on self-control development in children and adults, including cognitive control, behavioral control, and emotion regulation, with a particular interest in how language influences these processes and their long-term outcomes. She uses experimental and longitudinal methods, including studies with typically developing children and domestic dogs.

Dr. Jacques has received significant funding including the Public Health Agency of Canada’s SEAK project (Associate Lead) and NSERC grants. Her work has been recognized through awards like the APA Div.7 Dissertation Award. She serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Cognition and Development and has contributed to seminal frameworks like the Flexible Item Selection Task (FIST).

• Education:
  • BA, McGill University
  • MA, University of Toronto
  • PhD, University of Toronto
  • Postdoctoral Fellowship, Université de Montréal
• Key Research Themes:
  • Developmental trajectories of executive functions
  • Language’s role in cognitive flexibility
  • Animal cognition (canine behavioral studies)
• Grants & Awards:
  • Public Health Agency of Canada Innovation Strategy Phase II ($2.76M)
  • NSERC Discovery Grant (2003-2012)
  • NSERC Postdoctoral Fellowship (2001-2003)

Her research bridges developmental psychology and applied methodologies, with a focus on interventions that improve cognitive and emotional outcomes in children. Recent work explores the predictive power of executive functions on academic performance and anxiety development. Collaborations extend to animal behavior studies, examining parallels between human and canine socio-cognitive processes.