Development

Welcome

to the Department of Developmental Psychology
Development
Image: iStock.com/HAKINMHAN

How do individuals develop from infancy to very old age? Why do developmental pathways differ between individuals? What are the contributions of biology, social and historical contexts, and the developing individuals themselves? How can one characterize and promote positive development? These are some of the questions that developmental psychology seeks to answer.

The team of our department is committed to the tradition of lifespan psychology. We offer classes in Bachelor and Master programs that address basic and applied aspects of human development from conception to death. The lifespan approach also infuses our research agenda. Together with national and international cooperation partners, we investigate children, adolescents, and adults from various age groups, including very old age. Our research interests include, among others, the development of socio-emotional and self-regulatory processes. Findings from our studies have been published in numerous internationally renowned journals and books.

News

  • New publication: Luong, G., Miller, J.W., Kirkland, D., Morse, J.L. ... Riediger, M. (2023). Valuing negative affect weakens affect-health linkages: similarities and differences across affect valuation measures. Motivation and Emotion. Published online: 24 March 2023. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11031-023-10012-7External link
  • Andrea Schlesier-Michel received a mini-grant from the German Psychological Society (DGPs) devision Developmental Psychology for young scientists with caregiving responsibilities.
  • The new DFG project “Interpersonal motor coordination and empathic accuracy” at the department was launched in March 2023. The project is headed by Michaela Riediger and Antje Rauers. It will be funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) with 481.335 Euros for the duration of 3 years (project 506643803).
  • New publication: Schaefer, S., Riediger, M., Li, S.-C., & Lindenberger, U.(2023). Too easy, too hard, or just right: Lifespan age differences and gender effects on task difficulty choices. International Journal of Behavioral Development. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/01650254231160126External link
Information

Information on current regulations of the Friedrich Schiller University Jena in the course of the corona virus (SARS-CoV-2) crisis is available here. de

Contact

Department of Developmental Psychology
Opening hours:
by appointment
You can find our laboratory here:
Center for Lifespan Developmental Science, Room 2nd Floor
Semmelweisstr. 12
07743 Jena