Derek Price
Associate Professor of Psychology
Office: Knapton 317A
Phone: (508) 286 3688
Email: dprice@wheatoncollege.edu
Degrees
Ph.D., M.A., University of Denver
B.A., University of California at Santa Barbara
Main Interests
Developmental psychology; cross-cultural and cultural psychology
Research Interests
Preschool thinking, especially across cultures.
I am interested in how cultures frame the ways that minds emerge during child development. Specifically, I investigate the development of preschoolers' thinking, especially as it varies across cultures. My work examines Navajo and European-American children's thinking in early childhood, including the transition to school. Recently this work also has included the program evaluation of a preschool serving a primarily Navajo population.
Teaching Interests
Courses in human development; Cognition; Cross-cultural Psychology.
My courses over the years have covered the range of human development, from the "Infancy Across Cultures" and childhood-focused "Developmental Psychology" courses I currently teach to the "Adult Development" course no longer offered. My current First-year Seminar -- "U.S. Minority Education and Us" -- reflects my emerging interest in applied developmental issues related to culture.
Other Interests
Navajo culture; Vietnam veterans' issues.
Student Projects
Recent honors theses: Family Predictors of Preschool Friendships; The Effect of Gender and Science Attitudes on Schoolchildren's Science Fair Projects