The IDCd lab
Lab Director
n Sara A. Hart, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Department of Psychology
& Florida Center for Reading Research
@saraannhart (twitter)
I am an interdisciplinary researcher who happens to find herself in a developmental psychology area.
My research efforts integrate theories and methods from developmental psychology, cognitive psychology, education, and behavioral genetics. Broadly, my substantive research relates to understanding how and why people differ in their cognitive development, particularly focused on reading and math development. My work is highlighted by the use of advanced methodological techniques and open science.
Most of my work to date has focused on using twin methods to understand the "nature" and "nurture" of child development. I also spend a lot of time trying to understand the direct role of environments around children, controlling for genetic predispositions. I currently have an NIH grant to create a national twin project, NatPAT, to examine the genetic and environmental influences on the co-development of reading and math skills through elementary school.
I also work in the field of meta-science, understanding how scientists do science, with a particular interest in supporting rigorous and reproducible educational and developmental science. I currently have an NIH grant to build a data repository, LDbase, to support the data storage and data access needs of scientists working in the field of learning disabilities.
Beyond my research, I am passionate about training, dissemination of research, and advocating for women and BIPOC in science. I am the PI of the Florida Learning Disabilities Research Center Engagement Core, with a mission to provide specialized training opportunities to students and postdocs, and disseminate our research to our community. I am the Co-Director of FIREFLIES, an IES funded predoctoral training grant focused on reading research. I am a co-founder and President of POWER, an association with the mission to connect, support, and advocate for women conducting research in the fields of education and child development.
Outside of work you will probably see me running around town or at a local restaurant.
Oh, and I'm Canadian.
Associate Professor
Department of Psychology
& Florida Center for Reading Research
@saraannhart (twitter)
I am an interdisciplinary researcher who happens to find herself in a developmental psychology area.
My research efforts integrate theories and methods from developmental psychology, cognitive psychology, education, and behavioral genetics. Broadly, my substantive research relates to understanding how and why people differ in their cognitive development, particularly focused on reading and math development. My work is highlighted by the use of advanced methodological techniques and open science.
Most of my work to date has focused on using twin methods to understand the "nature" and "nurture" of child development. I also spend a lot of time trying to understand the direct role of environments around children, controlling for genetic predispositions. I currently have an NIH grant to create a national twin project, NatPAT, to examine the genetic and environmental influences on the co-development of reading and math skills through elementary school.
I also work in the field of meta-science, understanding how scientists do science, with a particular interest in supporting rigorous and reproducible educational and developmental science. I currently have an NIH grant to build a data repository, LDbase, to support the data storage and data access needs of scientists working in the field of learning disabilities.
Beyond my research, I am passionate about training, dissemination of research, and advocating for women and BIPOC in science. I am the PI of the Florida Learning Disabilities Research Center Engagement Core, with a mission to provide specialized training opportunities to students and postdocs, and disseminate our research to our community. I am the Co-Director of FIREFLIES, an IES funded predoctoral training grant focused on reading research. I am a co-founder and President of POWER, an association with the mission to connect, support, and advocate for women conducting research in the fields of education and child development.
Outside of work you will probably see me running around town or at a local restaurant.
Oh, and I'm Canadian.
| hart_cv_0221.pdf |
Graduate Students
Mia Daucourt, MS
5th year Ph.D. Student
Legacy Fellow
Mia is a fourth-year graduate student who researches the bioecological factors that influence academic achievement in reading and math. Specifically, she investigates how children’s individual characteristics interact with their genes and environments to influence their cognitive development and school success. She is interested in using innovative, multidisciplinary methodologies from education, psychology, and related fields, including behavioral genetic and meta-analytic techniques, to identify the many interacting factors that influence academic achievement. She focuses on the home learning environment, self-regulatory ability, and school and district factors in hopes of expanding current learning disability identification models and classification techniques. Finally, she is interested in pushing the methodological techniques in her field forward by bringing in advanced, multidisciplinary statistical modeling in order to better align research questions with the methods used and conclusions drawn.
Mia Daucourt, MS
5th year Ph.D. Student
Legacy Fellow
Mia is a fourth-year graduate student who researches the bioecological factors that influence academic achievement in reading and math. Specifically, she investigates how children’s individual characteristics interact with their genes and environments to influence their cognitive development and school success. She is interested in using innovative, multidisciplinary methodologies from education, psychology, and related fields, including behavioral genetic and meta-analytic techniques, to identify the many interacting factors that influence academic achievement. She focuses on the home learning environment, self-regulatory ability, and school and district factors in hopes of expanding current learning disability identification models and classification techniques. Finally, she is interested in pushing the methodological techniques in her field forward by bringing in advanced, multidisciplinary statistical modeling in order to better align research questions with the methods used and conclusions drawn.
Jeffrey Shero, MPA, MS
3rd year Ph.D. Student
I am a second year Developmental Psychology student. I am interested in how factors related to students’ home and school environments affect the way they learn and acquire knowledge. Coming from a background in public policy work, I am interested in how we can use our understandings of these environmental factors to better develop curriculum and school assessment standards. My hope in studying this is to help school evaluators, teachers, and administrators put less emphasis on standardized testing. I also have interests in exploring and developing new methodologies in the field of psychology. On the personal side, I am passionate about cooking, eating and basically anything related to food, and I love to workout.
3rd year Ph.D. Student
I am a second year Developmental Psychology student. I am interested in how factors related to students’ home and school environments affect the way they learn and acquire knowledge. Coming from a background in public policy work, I am interested in how we can use our understandings of these environmental factors to better develop curriculum and school assessment standards. My hope in studying this is to help school evaluators, teachers, and administrators put less emphasis on standardized testing. I also have interests in exploring and developing new methodologies in the field of psychology. On the personal side, I am passionate about cooking, eating and basically anything related to food, and I love to workout.
Cynthia Norris, MPH
2nd year Ph.D. Student
McKnight Fellow
I am a first-year Developmental Psychology student. I am studying the individual differences in cognitive development to explore the contextual environmental and genetic factors influencing learning, to understand problems in academic achievement. Using integrative models my research will incorporate quantitative methods to disentangle these relationships, and identify biases in assessments and ineffective interventions. I hope this can potentially change practice and policy to address the gaps in our school systems. Some of my previous professional experience has focused on the poor public health outcomes of children, so I am excited to have the opportunity to focus on educational outcomes. When I am not on campus, I am with my husband chasing our active toddler.
2nd year Ph.D. Student
McKnight Fellow
I am a first-year Developmental Psychology student. I am studying the individual differences in cognitive development to explore the contextual environmental and genetic factors influencing learning, to understand problems in academic achievement. Using integrative models my research will incorporate quantitative methods to disentangle these relationships, and identify biases in assessments and ineffective interventions. I hope this can potentially change practice and policy to address the gaps in our school systems. Some of my previous professional experience has focused on the poor public health outcomes of children, so I am excited to have the opportunity to focus on educational outcomes. When I am not on campus, I am with my husband chasing our active toddler.
Postdocs
LaTasha Holden, Ph.D.
Provost Postdoctoral Fellow
I am Provost’s Postdoctoral Fellow in Psychology, affiliated with the Florida Center for Reading Research. My work applies both experimental and differential approaches to better understand factors that impact student achievement. I am particularly interested in examining student achievement through the combination of cognitive and non-cognitive/attitudinal factors like: working memory, executive functioning, self regulation and mindset, among others. I am expanding my work to incorporate behavioral genetics which will allow me to examine differences in student achievement between and within individuals over time (developmentally) to uncover the genetic and environmental contributions to these differences. I am also interested in learning about and implementing different statistical approaches and how we use innovative methods to address research questions in novel ways. Outside of work, I enjoy exploring local parks and hiking, spending time with family, and playing with my pet rabbit, Cadbury.
Provost Postdoctoral Fellow
I am Provost’s Postdoctoral Fellow in Psychology, affiliated with the Florida Center for Reading Research. My work applies both experimental and differential approaches to better understand factors that impact student achievement. I am particularly interested in examining student achievement through the combination of cognitive and non-cognitive/attitudinal factors like: working memory, executive functioning, self regulation and mindset, among others. I am expanding my work to incorporate behavioral genetics which will allow me to examine differences in student achievement between and within individuals over time (developmentally) to uncover the genetic and environmental contributions to these differences. I am also interested in learning about and implementing different statistical approaches and how we use innovative methods to address research questions in novel ways. Outside of work, I enjoy exploring local parks and hiking, spending time with family, and playing with my pet rabbit, Cadbury.
Wilhelmina ("Willa") van Dijk, Ph.D.
Dean's Postdoctoral Scholar
I am a Dean’s Postdoctoral Scholar on the LDbase grant with Drs. Hart and Schatschneider. My research is focused on preventing reading failure for struggling readers and students with disabilities. I have several approaches to tackle this problem including: identifying effective and efficient reading interventions, improving teacher knowledge and implementation through teacher education and professional development, and extending our understanding of how children learn to read and which factors influence this development. I believe interdisciplinary and collaborative research and the use of advanced data analytic methods will provide answer to help all children learn how to read.
In my free time, I am on a quest to ‘collect’ all National Park governed sites in the US and I like to run, preferably at the same time. I am Dutch and love good cheese, licorice, and beer.
Dean's Postdoctoral Scholar
I am a Dean’s Postdoctoral Scholar on the LDbase grant with Drs. Hart and Schatschneider. My research is focused on preventing reading failure for struggling readers and students with disabilities. I have several approaches to tackle this problem including: identifying effective and efficient reading interventions, improving teacher knowledge and implementation through teacher education and professional development, and extending our understanding of how children learn to read and which factors influence this development. I believe interdisciplinary and collaborative research and the use of advanced data analytic methods will provide answer to help all children learn how to read.
In my free time, I am on a quest to ‘collect’ all National Park governed sites in the US and I like to run, preferably at the same time. I am Dutch and love good cheese, licorice, and beer.
Lab Staff
Ashlyn Hicks, BS
Ashlyn is the IDCd Lab Coordinator. She graduated from FSU in 2018 with her B.S. in sociology/psychology. Her research interests include how workplace power dynamics influence productivity and how socioeconomic status affects education and mental health. In her free time, she enjoys FSU sports, interior design, and going to the movies.
Ashlyn is the IDCd Lab Coordinator. She graduated from FSU in 2018 with her B.S. in sociology/psychology. Her research interests include how workplace power dynamics influence productivity and how socioeconomic status affects education and mental health. In her free time, she enjoys FSU sports, interior design, and going to the movies.
Former Postdocs
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Florina Erbeli, Ph.D.
Florina was a postdoc with Dr. Hart and our close colleague, Dr. Jeanette Taylor, from Fall 2015-Fall 2017. She is currently an Assistant Professor at the Texas A&M University in Special Education! Check out her faculty website here |
Former Graduate Students
Rasheda Haughbrook, Ph.D.
Dr. Haughbrook defended her dissertation April 2020, and is currently a Teaching Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology at Florida State University.
As a graduate student, Dr. Haughbrook was a McKnight Fellow
Callie Little, Ph.D.
Dr. Little defended her dissertation August 2016, and is currently at the University of New England, Australia, working with Drs. Will Conventry & Brian Bryne as a post-doc!
Dr. Little's research interests are in behavioral genetics, technology as it pertains to assessment, classroom instruction and achievement and all things developmental. She is a terrible singer and a pretty bad chess player. Her strong points are too numerous to list, but I'll mention two: she recycles. She likes spiral Macaroni and Cheese.
Dr. Little defended her dissertation August 2016, and is currently at the University of New England, Australia, working with Drs. Will Conventry & Brian Bryne as a post-doc!
Dr. Little's research interests are in behavioral genetics, technology as it pertains to assessment, classroom instruction and achievement and all things developmental. She is a terrible singer and a pretty bad chess player. Her strong points are too numerous to list, but I'll mention two: she recycles. She likes spiral Macaroni and Cheese.
Connie Barroso, Ph.D.
Connie was a graduate student Research Assistant in the IDCd lab for three years, before moving on to the Developmental Psychology Ph.D. program at FSU! She's now a Visiting Assistant Professor at Texas A&M!
Connie was a graduate student Research Assistant in the IDCd lab for three years, before moving on to the Developmental Psychology Ph.D. program at FSU! She's now a Visiting Assistant Professor at Texas A&M!
Former Lab Staff
Kimberly Martinez, BS
Kimberly was the first project coordinator for NatPAT. She graduated from FSU in 2016 with her B.S. in psychology, and is currently pursuing her PhD in clinical psychology at Syracuse. Her research interests include eating pathology in adolescents and young adults, and the mechanisms that drive obsessive eating and exercise behavior. In her free time, she enjoys '70s music, competitive cooking shows, and all things dachshund.
Kimberly was the first project coordinator for NatPAT. She graduated from FSU in 2016 with her B.S. in psychology, and is currently pursuing her PhD in clinical psychology at Syracuse. Her research interests include eating pathology in adolescents and young adults, and the mechanisms that drive obsessive eating and exercise behavior. In her free time, she enjoys '70s music, competitive cooking shows, and all things dachshund.
Having fun around the lab...
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Dr. Hart is part of the Center for Developmental Science (CDS). The CDS is a group of faculty at FSU who all do research related to child development. CDS is recruiting families interested in being part of a registry of families interested in participating in research. Click the picture below to go to the CDS website to learn more!
Alumni
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IDCd Lab Fall 2019 and Spring 2020 IDCd Lab Spring 2019 IDCd Lab Fall 2018 IDCd Lab Spring 2018 IDCd Lab Fall 2o17 IDCd Lab Spring 2016 IDCd Lab Fall 2016 IDCd Lab Spring 2016 IDCd Lab Fall 2015 IDCd Lab Summer 2015 IDCd Lab Spring 2015 IDCd Lab, Fall 2015 |
IDCd Lab, Spring 2014
Jessica Lammers, DIS student Fall 2013-Fall 2014
Jessica graduated Spring 2015, and will be attending FSU for the Applied Behavior Analysis Master's program!
Jessica graduated Spring 2015, and will be attending FSU for the Applied Behavior Analysis Master's program!
Taylor Karas, DIS student Spring 2014-Fall 2014
Taylor graduated Fall 2014, and will be attending grad school in the fall!
Taylor graduated Fall 2014, and will be attending grad school in the fall!
Alysia Garcia, DIS student Fall 2013-Fall 2014
Alysia graduated Spring 2015, and will be attending FSU for the Master's in Social Work program!
Alysia graduated Spring 2015, and will be attending FSU for the Master's in Social Work program!
Lauren Propst, honors and DIS student 2013-2014
Lauren successfully defended her thesis in November, 2013. You can read it here: "Knowledge of Increased Risks Involved in Delaying Childbearing". She is now in graduate school for Genetic Counselling at Northwestern!
Lauren successfully defended her thesis in November, 2013. You can read it here: "Knowledge of Increased Risks Involved in Delaying Childbearing". She is now in graduate school for Genetic Counselling at Northwestern!
Deviyani Joshi, DIS student 2012-2014
Deviyani can still be seen around the lab, although she started her Master's program in Performance Improvement and Human Resource Development at FSU Fall of 2014!
Deviyani can still be seen around the lab, although she started her Master's program in Performance Improvement and Human Resource Development at FSU Fall of 2014!
Rodolfo Marin, DIS student 2013
Rodolfo graduated Fall of 2013 and is currently participating in a post-baccalaureate training program in Biomedical Sciences at the University of New Mexico.
Rodolfo graduated Fall of 2013 and is currently participating in a post-baccalaureate training program in Biomedical Sciences at the University of New Mexico.
Cynthia Norris, MPH
Cynthia was the mastermind that made the IDCd lab work from 2013-2015.
Cynthia was the mastermind that made the IDCd lab work from 2013-2015.
Shishandra Devlin, Research Assistant 2013
