معرفی
Kristen Dunfield is a Professor in the Department of Psychology at Concordia University and serves as Interim Associate Dean for Graduate Student Academic Matters & Postdoctoral Studies in the School of Graduate Studies. She leads the Concordia Social Cognitive Development (CSCD) Lab and maintains affiliations with the Centre for Research in Human Development (CRDH).
Her academic credentials include:
- PhD from Queen's University
- Post Doctoral Fellowship at The Ohio State University
Dr. Dunfield's research program investigates how children develop trust and prosocial behaviors through social interactions. Her work examines three interconnected domains: children's production of prosocial acts (helping, sharing, comforting), responses to others' trustworthiness, and individual differences influencing trust extension. Using interdisciplinary methods from social, cognitive, and evolutionary psychology, she explores the psychological foundations of human cooperation across developmental stages.
Recent publications (2022-2023) reveal strong emphasis on prosocial behavior mechanisms across childhood and adolescence, with particular attention to domain-specific variations (helping vs. sharing vs. comforting) and cross-cultural comparisons. Her work bridges developmental, social, and cognitive psychology through experimental paradigms that capture real-world social evaluations.
Dr. Dunfield teaches advanced courses in childhood development and cognitive development while mentoring graduate students in the CSCD Lab. Her research is supported by active grants enabling experimental studies of social cognition and trust development.
The CSCD Lab provides a dynamic research environment focused on social cognitive development from infancy through adolescence. Current projects investigate the challenges of comforting behavior, brilliance beliefs in academic contexts, and selective prosocial responses through innovative methodologies that combine laboratory control with ecological validity.
