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Developmental Science Laboratory (DSL)

The Developmental Science Laboratory (DSL) consists of a team of interested faculty and students who share similar passions for examining developmental processes across the life span. Researchers in this lab take an interdisciplinary approach in order to examine the complexity of adjusted and maladjusted developmental processes appropriately.

Faculty Director

Hung-Chu Lin, Ph.D., Developmental Psychology
Professor
Chair, Institutional Review Board
SLEMCO/LEQSF Regents Professor in Liberal Arts
Sponsored Collaborator, Pediatric Newborn Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School

Faculty Co-Director

Kiara Martin, M.S., Psychology
Adjunct Instructor
Admissions Counselor at UL Lafayette

Read more about the Developmental Science Lab and students’ achievements »

Lab Activities

The DSL embraces students who demonstrate interests in research and show strong motivation and commitment to the learning process.  Lab members meet regularly on Friday afternoons, usually beginning by reflecting and discussing on various aspects of projects currently undertaken in the lab, followed by literature review as relevant to our current projects. If you would be interested in visiting our lab, please do not hesitate to contact Dr. Lin. We would love to hear from you.

Current Research Projects

  • The long-term physical and mental sequelae of adverse childhood experiences
  • The relation between adverse childhood experiences and sexual self-esteem
  • Mindfulness and resilience as protective factors for individuals with childhood trauma
  • Social stigma (explicit and implicit) towards individuals with developmental disabilities/LGBTQ populations
  • Perceived parental behaviors, relational identity and internal working models
  • The development of empathy and understanding of theory of mind
  • Using simulationg paradigms to observe emotional responses and physciological arousal
  • Interpersonal problems, emotional regulation, and anxiety disorders

Collaborators

Facilities & Equipment

The Cecil J. Picard Center for Child Development and Lifelong Learning
200 E Devalcourt St, Lafayette, LA 70506 / Rooms 236 and 238

The DSL is equipped with the state-of-the-art coding software, the Observer XT, and the Audio-Video Module (from the Noldus Information Technology) that permit observing and analyzing human behavior at multiple levels, from macroscopic overviews to microscopic behavioral analysis on a frame-by-frame basis.

Attending Conferences

 

Supported by the Undergraduate Research Mini Grant awarded to Dr. Hung-Chu Lin (2018), five students presented at the 31th Convention of the Association for Psychological Science, May 24-27, 2019, Washington, D.C., USA.
Nicholas Barker, Steven Stringfellow, Hung-Chu Lin, Lindsey Held, Madison Holmes, Maddison Knott (from left to right).

We had so much fun presenting at the Louisiana Undergraduate Research Conference, Fall 2018, at UL Lafayette.
Bailey Latiolais, Madison Holmes, Lauren LaHaye, Ashley Hughes, Hung-Chu Lin, Maddison Knott, Lindsey Held, Krista Malley, Sarah Flynn, Steven Stringfellow, and Nicholas Barker (from left to right).

 

  

DSL undergraduate researchers CammieJo Touchet, Demi Leleux, Jacob Ambrose, Ashley Hughes, Sophie Comeaux, Steven Stringfellow (from left to right) presenting at the Louisiana Undergraduate Research Conference, 2016