What is the research about?

We study how children think about fairness, friendship, and their developing reasoning about the social world. More details about specific studies can be found on our research page.

What are the current projects?

We have one project we are currently recruiting for:

Leadership Roles in Science Context

This study asks children and young adolescents about who should get to be the leader on a team competing in a science competition, and how they think the other characters in the story will react to what happens.

Who can participate?

We have multiple studies for children between the ages of 5-14 years! When you fill out our interest form, you will be directed to more details about any of our current studies that your child can participate in. We are constantly developing new studies and if a study is not available at this time we will add you to our list of families and contact you as soon as we have one that opens up!

If you are interested in having your child participate in our research, please click here!

What does participation involve?

Participation typically involves a 30 minute Zoom session with a UMD research assistant. For some studies, a research assistant will show your child a story using animated illustrations on a slideshow (using shared screen) and ask your child questions about the characters, while other studies involve your child filling out a survey with a research assistant available on video conference to answer questions.

Who do I talk to if I have a question?

If you have any questions or comments, feel free to contact Professor Melanie Killen at moraldevelopment@gmail.com