People

Faculty

Ageliki Nicolopoulou

B.A. & M.A University of Rhode Island; Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley 
Areas of interest: the development of narrative competence; narrative activities and its role in the construction of reality and identity; comparing different narrative elicitation methods; peer group and peer culture as contexts for development, socialization, and education; the foundations of emergent literacy; understanding and promoting narrative comprehension; play and narrative; narrative and social understanding (including theory of mind); narrative and reading; cultural influences on development.. 
E-mail: agn3@lehigh.edu

Vitae: Nicolopoulou vitae. pdf

Current Graduate Students

Caitlin Lindley (MS. expected, 2018; Ph.D. expected, 2021)
Thesis title: The relationship between inference-making and overall oral listening comprehension among 4- to 6-year-olds

Ph.D. Graduates

Burcu Unlutabak (Ph.D., 2017)
Dissertation title: Is the curious child universal? Examining the frequency and types of questions asked by turkish preschoolers 
Currently: Post-doctoral Research Fellow at the Science and Learning Institute and the Dept. of Cognitive Science at John Hopkins University.

Eleni Baldimsti (Ph.D. 2017; Aristotle Univ. of Thessaloniki; co-advisor)
Dissertation title: Narrative abilities and theory of mind in high functioning autistic school-age children

Aline de Sa (Ph.D., 2012)
Dissertation title: Fostering children's narrative comprehension through inference-making and story engagement
Currently: Research Psychologist, R. Frei Jacinto Infantino (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)

Hande Ilgaz (Ph.D., 2011)
Dissertation title: Children's representation of perspectives in storytelling and pretend play narratives and their relation to theory of mind abilities
Currently: Assistant Professor, Psychology Department, at Bilkent University (Ankara, Turkey)

Carolyn Brockmeyer (Ph.D., 2009) 
Dissertation title: Re-reading the relationship between narrative and theory of mind: The effects of narrative training on the developing understanding of mind
Currently: Assistant Professor of Pediatrics & Project Director, The BELLE Project, New York University School of Medicine

M.S. Graduates

Lisa Connor (M.S., 2012)
Thesis title: Factors affecting the development of character referentiality in preschoolers' narratives
Currently: Assistant Professor, Dept. of Child and Family Studies, University of Tennessee (Ph.D. 2016, University of Kentucky)

Aline de Sá (M.S., 2008)
Thesis title: Low-income preschoolers’ developing conceptions of emotional expressions and situational knowledge

Carolyn Brockmeyer (M.S. 2006)
Thesis title: Preschoolers' narrative abilities under different storytelling conditions

Ruohong Wei (M.S., 2004)
Thesis title: Peer collaboration and narrative development in a preschool classroom

Deborah Ferrara (M.S., 2002)
Thesis title: Adolescent narrative self-understanding

Elizabeth S. Richner (M.S., 1999)
Thesis title: From actors to characters to persons: The development of character representation in young children’s narratives  (won the Donald T. Campbell Social Science Research Prize)

Dorene McNamara (M.A. in Sociology, 1999)
Thesis title: Individual differences in adult attachment styles and their connection with representations of actual and ideal love  (won the Donald T. Campbell Social Science Research Prize)

 

Senior Honors Theses - Undergraduates

Gina Maurer (Expected: May 2019)
TBA

Callie Rose Teufert (May, 2018)
Fiction or nonfiction? The effects of genre on verbal ability and reading comprehension"

Jacob Silber (May, 2014)
Filling in the gaps: The development of inference-making abilities as a predictor of narrative listening comprehension"

E. Jacob Puzycki (May, 2014; University Scholars Program)
Physics & Philosophy: A Children's Tale

Lindsay Hough (December, 2011; University Scholars Program)
Perspective-taking abilities in 4-, 5-, and 6-year-olds: Are theory of mind concepts embedded in bookreading understood earlier?

Jillian Kerry (May, 2008; University Scholars Program)
Why narrative? A critical review of the use of narrative in psychological research and its effects on healing and coping

Christine Boblenz  (May, 2007)
Promoting social competence in low-income preschoolers with a story-telling and story-acting activity
(won a Williams Writing Prize; first prize)

Taylor Lubitz  (May 2007)
Differences in narrative skills between low-and middle-income preschoolers

Sarah Thomas (May 2007)
Tell me a story: How to most effectively elicit narratives from low SES preschool children

Erin Kenney (May, 2006)
Does a narrative-based intervention promote children’s social pretend play?

Amy Rikoon (2005)
Late adolescents' self-defining memories and their relation to psychological well-being

K. Brady Garrity (May, 2004) 
Social competence in Head Start classrooms: An assessment of a play intervention

Katie Lomas (December, 2004)
Children's reading achievement: The importance of oral language and narrative skills

Kira Florence (May, 2001)
Once upon a time: Differences between middle- and low-income children's narrative skills

Geneia Esterly (May, 2000) 
Teacher-child interactions in Head Start classrooms: Types of child-directed speech, language acquisition, and emotional development

Leigh Wickham (May, 2000)
Are there gender differences in stories and play of low-income preschool children?

Elizabeth Rankin (May, 2000)
Theory of mind and mental states talk in low-income children

Charlene Tai (May, 2000)
Preschool children's conceptions of 'good guys' and 'bad guys'

Carlita Johnston (May, 1999)
Structured storytelling by low-income children and its influence on achievement of language and literacy skills

Meredith Abrams (May, 1998; University Scholars Program)
The critical tension between individual and society: How society affects the development of the individual
(won a Williams Writing Prize)

Travis Beebe (May, 1998; University Scholars Program)
The development of main character in young children's stories

Amy Lederer (May, 1998; University Scholars Program)
Do peer groups affect the nature of spontaneous stories children tell?

Victoria Sbrocco (May, 1998) 
Gender differences in preschool children's narratives: A prehistory of moral orientations

Shân Cantrell (May, 1997)
Gender differences in children's stories: Selective appropriation and symbolic reworking