Penn State Penn State: College of the Liberal Arts

CSC Child Study Center

The Child Study Center is dedicated to promoting children’s development and well-being through the dynamic integration of research, undergraduate and graduate training, and engaged community outreach.

We are housed in the Department of Psychology in the College of the Liberal Arts.

The Child Study Center is dedicated to promoting children’s development and well-being through the dynamic integration of research, undergraduate and graduate training, and engaged community outreach.

We are housed in the Department of Psychology in the College of the Liberal Arts.

Events

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Save the date!
September 28, 2026
Brown Bag Discussion
Daphne Maurer, O.C., Ph.D., Distinguished University Professor, Department of Psychology, Neuroscience & Behavior
McMaster University
11:00 a.m., 274 Moore Building
Registration required

Save the date!
October 22, 2026
The 2026-2027 Child Study Center’s Lois Bloom Lecture
Daniel S. Shaw, Ph.D.
Distinguished Professor of Psychology
University of Pittsburgh
Director, The Center for Parents and Children
4:15 p.m., Nittany Lion Inn, Ballroom A/B

Save the date!
October 23, 2026
2026 Child Maltreatment Solutions Network Conference
Co-Sponsored by the CSC
8:30 a.m., Nittany Lion Inn

Save the date!
November 11, 2026
Community Talk on Suicide Prevention
Holly C. Wilcox, Ph.D., M.A.
Professor, Johns Hopkins, Bloomberg School of Public Health
4:00 p.m., The Press: Cider & Craft Beverage Taphouse, State College, PA

News

Researchers including Erika Lunkenheimer examined how the warmth and harshness parents show toward their children predict children’s disruptive behavior

Participation in the PROSPER program appears to benefit the next generation

Katie L. Burkhouse and Joan L. Luby discuss the importance of considering age-related periods when certain neurobehavioral systems are especially malleable and responsive to intervention in the prevention of youth psychopathology

Zülal İşcanoğlu and colleagues investigated the reliability and validity of the Turkish version of the Inventory of Family Feelings

Sarah Myruski, associate research professor of psychology, and others examined neural systems underlying scaffolded cognitive reappraisal using an fMRI task in children

Student Spotlight

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Shadane Johnson (’20)

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I am really interested in identity, so the thesis and the lab work are good stepping stones toward what I want to research in the future.