Core Faculty
Lisa J. Crockett
(402)472-0584
ecrockett1@unl.edu
Professor Crockett's research interests focus on adolescent development. She conducts research in two primary areas: adolescent risk behavior, with an emphasis on sexuality, and ethnic differences in parenting and adolescent adjustment. In one study, Dr. Crockett followed a sample of rural adolescents from junior high into early adulthood. Using this data set she has examined predictors and consequences of early sexuality activity and heavy drinking among rural youth. More recent analyses focus on the transition to adulthood, including the implications of adolescents' family relationships, peer relationships and behavior for the quality of their romantic relationships in adulthood as well as the development of aspirations and expectations for the future. In a second study, she and Dr. Marcela Raffaelli have examined the childhood origins of adolescents' sexual risk-taking. In a third study, she has examined the relations between parenting practices and adolescent adjustment across different ethnic groups, using national survey data and qualitative data from focus group interviews with teenagers. A fourth project examines the relationships between temperament, internalizing, and externalizing problems from grades 3 to 10. A new project that focuses on the development and well-being of Latino adolescents is underway. Dr. Crockett served as Associate Editor of the Journal of Research on Adolescence from 1999-2004 and currently serves on the editorial boards of 
the Journal of Early Adolescence and Developmental Psychology.
Jenna E. Finch
(402) 472-5123 jenna.finch@unl.edu
Dr. Finch received her Ph.D. in Developmental and Psychological Sciences from Stanford University’s Graduate School of Education. She joined the UNL Psychology faculty in fall of 2018. Her research explores how contextual factors influence children’s early development. Specifically, her work focuses on the development of children’s executive functions and motivation in home and school environments. Her past work has examined how family risk factors are linked to the development of children’s executive functions and social-emotional skills in both domestic and international settings. Currently, Dr. Finch is exploring how interactions with teachers and peers can support executive function development in early and middle childhood.
Anne Schutte
Dr. Schutte received her Ph. D. from the University of Iowa and joined the faculty in 2004. Her research interests are in the area of cognitive development, with a particular focus on the development of spatial cognition. Her primary research program centers on the development of spatial working memory in early childhood. Her research is based on a dynamic systems model of cognition, the Dynamic Field Theory, which is a computational model of spatial cognition that uses dynamic neural fields. She teaches courses in developmental psychology, cognitive development, child behavior and development, and dynamic systems theory.
Emeritus Faculty
Dennis L. Molfese
Brian Wilcox