who we are
Our research
Publications
Get involved
Photos
Other websites

 

Rebecca S. Bigler, Ph.D.
Professor, The University of Texas at Austin and GARAL director

Becky was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota and attended high school in St. Cloud, Minnesota. She received her B.A. from Oberlin College, with high honors in Psychology, in 1986. She received her M.A. and Ph.D. from The Pennsylvania State University, where she worked under the supervision of Lynn S. Liben. Becky came to The University of Texas at Austin as an Assistant Professor in 1991.

Her research has three broad foci. One area of research concerns the cognitive and environmental factors that contribute to the formation of intergroup attitudes. A second area of research concerns the consequences of social stereotyping and prejudice for children’s cognitions and behavior. A third area concerns the mechanisms of social attitude change.

When she is not working, Becky spends time with her family, including her three children, Holden, Caitlin, and Laurel.

 

Dr. Bigler's CV

Andrea Arthur, M. A.
Graduate Student

Andrea was born in San Angelo, Texas. She graduated from the University of Texas at Austin in 2002 with a B.S. in biochemistry. Andrea received her M.A. in psychology from the University of Texas at Austin in 2004.

Andrea's research focuses on the development of gender stereotyping in preschool age children. Specifically, Andrea is looking at how cognitive factors shape attitudes and behaviors in young children. Currently, Andrea is doing a research project to determine the roots of gender stereotyping in two and three year old children.

Andrea is the designer of this website and the lab's UTopia site. She travels as much as she can (on a limited grad student budget!) When in Austin, she enjoys cooking and the Austin music scene.

Andrea's Resume//Andrea's CV

 

Julie M. Hughes, M. A.
Graduate Student

Julie was born and raised in Cincinnati, Ohio, and also has strong family roots in the panhandle of Texas. Her undergraduate alma mater is the University of South Carolina at Columbia. She graduated in May 2002 summa cum laude with a BA in psychology and with Honors from South Carolina Honors College. In August of 2004 she was awarded a Masters of Arts in Psychology from the University of Texas at Austin.

Her research interests focus on the development of racial stereotyping and prejudice, and racial attitude change among children and adolescents. Julie is currently studying the effects of antiracism education on African American and Hispanic children, as a follow up to previous work with European American children. Other ongoing projects include the development of a racial attitude measure for children and the study of the effects of cognitive development on the racial attitudes of adolescents.

Although passionate about matters of racism and feminism, Julie saves as much time as she can for the pursuit and enjoyment of musical, literary, and gustatory art.

 

Julie's CV

 

Lindsay Lamb

Graduate Student

Lindsay was born and raised in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Lindsay graduated summa cum laude from Saint Mary’s College of California with a BA in Psychology and a minor in Women’s Studies.  

Currently, Lindsay is a doctoral student in Human Development and Education in the department of Educational Psychology at the University of Texas at Austin. She will receive her MA in Educational Psychology from the University of Texas at Austin in December of 2007. 

Lindsay’s research interests focus broadly on issues of gender as they pertain to masculine gender-role development among adolescent boys. She and Dr. Bigler recently completed an anti-bullying intervention program designed to teach elementary school children how to combat gender-based bullying. She is also interested in the relationship between investment in stereotypical masculine gender roles to determine if adolescent boys investing in such roles are more likely to experience negative psychological repercussions such as poor psychological health, acting out in the classroom (e.g., bullying gender atypical peers), and disidentification with academics. 

Lindsay is a bit of a health nut and enjoys taking dance classes, canoeing, spending time outdoors, practicing yoga, and hanging out with her friends

Lindsay's CV

 

Erin Pahlke
Graduate Student

Erin was born in Denver, Colorado, and raised in San Diego, California. She graduated summa cum laude with a BA in psychology from Wellesley College in 2000. Erin received her MA in educational psychology from the University of Texas at Austin in 2007.

Erin's research focuses on children's understanding of discrimination and racial differences. She recently examined the effects of learning about historical sexism on middle school students. Currently, she is working on a research project at the Ann Richards School, the first all-girls public school in Austin.

When not poring over journal articles,
Erin enjoys reading mystery novels, running, and traveling.

 

Erin's CV

 

Former Lab Members:

Meagan M. Patterson, Ph. D - graduated 2007

Meagan was born in Mesa, Arizona and raised in Lexington, North Carolina. She graduated summa cum laude from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2001, with a BA in psychology and linguistics and highest honors in creative writing. In 2004, Meagan received her MA from the University of Texas at Austin in psychology. In 2007, Meagan graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with her Ph.D and is now an Assistant Professor the University of Kansas.

Erica S. Weisgram, Ph. D - graduated 2006

Erica is originally from Burlington, Illinois a small town in the Chicagoland area. As an undergraduate, she attended Luther College in Decorah, Iowa. She graduated in May of 2002 magna cum laude with a BA in Psychology and German. She came to graduate school at The University of Texas at Austin in August of 2002 and completed a Master of Arts degree in Developmental Psychology in December of 2003. She completed her Ph.D. at the University of Texas in 2006.  She is now an Assistant Professor of Psychology at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point.

Christia Spears-Brown, Ph. D - graduated 2003

Christia is now an Assistant Professor of Psychology at the University of Kentucky.


Credits and Contact Info    Site Map   The Children's Research Lab    Department of Psychology    The University of Texas