Dr. Michelle Barton

Associate Professor of Psychology

Education

M.A., Ph.D., Emory University
B.A., Carleton College

Professor Barton is a developmental psychologist specializing in early childhood cognitive development.Her primary research interest is investigating preschool children’s curiosity as they seek facts and explanations in everyday conversations with adults.  Using transcripts of natural conversations, she is examining how young children use conversational strategies and contexts to ask information-seeking questions of adults, and how the adults, in turn, support or thwart those inquiries via their own responses to the children’s  questions.

Professor Barton offers courses in developmental psychology, research methods in psychology, cross-cultural perspectives in child development, cognitive development, language development, and developmental psychology lab.

Recent Courses

Introductory Psychology Seminar:  Memory Development
Developmental Psychology
Research Methods in Psychology
Cross-Cultural Perspectives in Child Development
Special Topics in Language Development
Psychology Senior Thesis Tutorial