Kristen Dunfield, PhD

Research interests

My research focuses on how children interact with, learn from, and evaluate the people in their environment. Specifically, I examine the effect of social cognition on the development, production, and maintenance of trust and prosocial behaviour. The long-term goal of my research program is to achieve a more comprehensive understanding of the effect of trust on human behaviour and development through the utilization of methods and theory from social, cognitive, and evolutionary psychology.

Work in my lab can broadly be divided into three related lines examining:

1. how children extend trust to others through the production of prosocial behaviours,
2. the development of children's ability to respond to other's displays of trustworthiness through selective social interactions
3. individual difference factors that affect the tendency to extend trust

Education

• PSYC 490: Honors Seminar Topics

• PSYC 714: Central Topics in Psychology

• PSYC 495: Honors Seminar

• PSYC 432: Childhood Development

• PSYC 466: Cognitive Development

Sample Publications

Refereed Journal Articles

Maranges, H., Iannuccilli, M., Dunfield, K.A., Hlobil, U., Nieswandt, K. (2023). Brilliance Beliefs, not Mindsets, Help Explain the Inverse Gender Gaps in Psychology and Philosophy. Sex Roles.

Tavassoli, N., Recchia, H., Dunfield, K. A. (2023). Children’s and Adolescents’ Judgments of the Desirability and Obligatoriness of Prosocial Action: Variations across Helping, Sharing, and Comforting. Cognitive Development.

Dunfield, Chang, Terrizzi, Isler, & Beier (2023). Helpers or Halos: Examining the Social Evaluations that Underlie Selective Prosocial Behaviour. Royal Society Open Science.

Karasewich, T., Hines, C, Pinheiro, S., Buchenrieder, N., Dunfield, K., Kuhlmeier, V. (2023). What Makes Comforting Difficult for Young Children. Frontiers in Psychology.

Maranges, H., Iannuccilli, M., Dunfield, K.A., Hlobil, U., Nieswandt, K. (2023). What Determines Feelings of Belonging and Majoring in an Academic Field? Isolating Factors by Comparing Psychology and Philosophy. Current Research in Behavioral Sciences.

Tavassoli, N., Dunfield, K., Kleis, A., Recchia, H., & Conto, L. P. (2022). Preschoolers’ Responses to Prosocial Opportunities During Naturalistic Interactions with Peers: A Cross-Cultural Comparison. Social Development.

Reviewed Book Chapters

McDonald, K., Dirks, M., Dunfield, K.A., Hakin, E. (2023). Prosocial Behavior, Peer Relationships, and Friendships. In Maayan Davidov & Tina Malti (Eds.), Handbook of Prosociality.

Kuhlmeier, V.A., Karasewich, T.A., & Dunfield, K.A. (2020). Selective Prosocial Behavior in Early Childhood. In J. Decety (Ed.), The Social Brain: A Developmental Perspective. MIT Press.

Dirks, M.A., Dunfield, K.A., & Recchia, H. (2018). Prosocial Behavior with Peers: Intentions, Outcomes, and Interpersonal Adjustments. In W. Bukowski, B. Laursen, & K. Rubin (Eds.), Handbook of Peer Interactions, Relationships, and Groups.