The Developmental Science program at the University of Iowa invites applicants to its PhD
training program in Psychology.
Our program offers a unique vision with a focus on developmental process and mechanisms of
change. We have a highly integrative program with strengths in language, spatial cognition and
embodiment, social communication, working memory, executive function, developmental
behavioral neuroscience, and psychobiology. We are the only program nationally with back-toback winners of the APA’s Distinguished Scientific Award for Early Career Contribution to
Psychology in the area of Developmental Psychology (with three such awards total).
Our PhD program is integral to the DeLTA Center, an interdisciplinary research center that
brings together 22 faculty who seek to understand the processes of development and learning
from neurons to neighborhoods. Our faculty embrace the complexity of development and the
challenges inherent in understanding the emergence of new skills over time. We are also
committed to translating insights beyond the laboratory, recognizing that translation is most
impactful when guided by an understanding of developmental process.
DeLTA Center Faculty (for the list of affiliated faculty, see: www.delta-center.org)
 Mark Blumberg (Psychology), Neural bases and function of sleep
 Susan Cook (Psychology), Gesture, thinking, learning, embodiment
 Rodica Curtu (Mathematics), Dynamical system models of vision
 Melissa Duff (Communication Sciences & Disorders), Neural systems of communication and
social interaction
 John Freeman (Psychology), Ontogeny and neurobiology of associative learning
 Jean Gordon (Communication Sciences & Disorders), Language deficits in aphasia
 Julie Gros-Louis (Psychology), Communicative development in prelinguistic infants
 Prahlad Gupta (Psychology), Word learning, working memory, implicit memory
 Eliot Hazeltine (Psychology), Motor learning, cognitive control, neural systems
 Juan Pablo Hourcade (Computer Science), Human-Computer Interaction
 Karen Kirk (Communication Sciences & Disorders), Speech perception and language
processing in listeners with cochlear implants or hearing aids
 Deborah Linebarger (Teaching and Learning—College of Education), digital media and
executive function in early development
 Karla McGregor (Communication Sciences & Disorders), word learning, language
impairment and autism
 Bob McMurray (Psychology), Speech perception, spoken word recognition
 Kristen Missall (Psychological and Quantitative Foundations—College of Education), Early
academic and social development, school readiness, early school adjustment.
 Jodie Plumert (Psychology), Spatial memory, perceptual-motor development
 Larissa Samuelson (Psychology), Language acquisition, category formation
 John Spencer (Psychology), Dynamic neural field models of cognition and action
 Bruce Tomblin (Communication Sciences & Disorders), Developmental language
impairments, genetic factors in language development
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Amanda Van Horne (Communication Sciences & Disorders), Syntax and morphology by
children with language impairment
Ed Wasserman (Psychology), Comparative analysis of learning and cognition
Patricia Zebrowski (Communication Sciences & Disorders), Stuttering in children
We offer 5 years of funding to all students, many of whom have research fellowships. Recent
graduates of our program have won national awards such as the APA Dissertation award in
Developmental Psychology and the Council of Graduate Schools/University Microfilms
International Distinguished Dissertation Award in Social Science.
For more information on PhD training in Developmental Science see:
http://www.psychology.uiowa.edu/research/developmental_science
Or visit the DeLTA center:
www.delta-center.org
Information on the application process can be found here:
http://www.psychology.uiowa.edu/graduate-program/application-information