Nathan Fox (psychologist) explained

Nathan A. Fox
Occupation:Distinguished University Professor
Alma Mater:Williams College, Harvard University
Main Interests:Human Development, Quantitative Methodology
Workplaces:University of Maryland

Nathan A. Fox is a developmental psychologist known for his contributions to understanding how environmental factors affect early development.[1] [2] He holds the position of Distinguished University Professor of Human Development and Quantitative Methodology at the University of Maryland.

Fox is known for his involvement in the Bucharest Early Intervention Project,[3] a longitudinal study of the effects of social deprivation experienced by children who were abandoned by their families and living in institutions in Bucharest, Romania. He and his colleagues Charles Nelson III, and Charles H. Zeanah are all Principal Investigators of the study. The Bucharest Early Intervention Project was a randomized controlled trial examining the impact of foster care as an intervention for children abandoned at birth. The study tracked children's neuropsychological and cognitive development from infancy through adolescence using metrics such as electroencephalography (EEG), fMRI, and language and cognitive assessments.[4] Findings of this study have been discussed in The New York Times,[5] Nature,[6] and many other media outlets.

Biography

Fox received a Bachelor's degree in Political Science with honors from Williams College in 1970. From there, he went on to receive his Ph.D. in Psychology and Social Relations from Harvard University in 1975 and worked as a Postdoctoral fellow at Harvard in the field of cross-cultural child development. Fox's dissertation research examined effects of birth order on attachment styles of infants living in kibbutz, Israel.[7] his research also compared the attachment styles of infants with their mother versus their caregiver.[8]

After Fox received his PhD he went on to work as an assistant professor teaching Clinical Pediatric Psychology at Columbia University from 1978-1982. At the same time, Fox briefly worked at the New School for Social Research as a visiting lecturer from 1981-1992 before moving to Maryland. In Maryland, Fox worked as an assistant professor in the University of Maryland's Department of Human Development.[9] Fox has stayed at the University of Maryland since then. Fox became a Distinguished University Professor at University of Maryland in 2011.

Fox has been involved in numerous committees. His first committee was at the U.S Consumer Product Safety Commission in 1982. During his time, he worked to ensure safety compliances for children's products. He was also on a few National Institute of Health's committees; where he was a reviewer for several programs such as the Child Health and Development panel. Fox served as President of the International Congress of Infant Studies from 1988-1990,[10] and as President of Division 7 (Developmental Psychology) of the American Psychological Association from 2001-2002.[11]

In 2014, Fox co-authored with Charles Nelson and Charles H. Zeanah Romania's abandoned children: deprivation, brain development, and the struggle for recovery,[12] a book reporting findings related to The Bucharest Early Intervention Project. The Bucharest Early Intervention Project aimed to understand effects of social deprivation on infants. The project increased understanding of the welfare of abandoned infants and how their physical and mental behavior may change with increased access to caregivers.[13] [14]

Agencies that have supported Fox's work include the Brain and Behavior Research Foundation,[15] the National Science Foundation,[16] and the National Institutes of Health. Projects include the Healthy Brain and Child Development National Consortium, the Neural Origins of Temperamental Risk for Anxiety, and Effects of Early Psychosocial Deprivation on Mental Health in Early Adulthood.[17]

Research

Fox's research program has closely examined infant emotionality and temperament, to understand how these factors are associated with individual differences in behavior and self-regulation later in life. Some of Fox's most cited research focuses on development of behavioral inhibition, which is a temperament related to the experience of distress and withdrawal from unfamiliar environments.[18] [19] [20] [21] In one of his studies, he used EEG in a longitudinal study to trace continuities and discontinuities in behavioral inhibition from infancy through age four.

Fox currently spearheads the Child Development Lab, which is involved in multiple studies that observe of infant behavior and development. These studies include; The HEALthy Brain and Child Development (H.B.C.D),[22] a longitudinal study launched in April 2018 that focuses on the understanding prenatal substance abuse and its effects on brain development and behavior, The National Institute's of Health (NIH) HEAL (Helping to End Addiction Long-Term) Initiative,[23] and the Temperament Over Time Study (T.O.T.S),[24] another on-going longitudinal study exploring environmental and other factors that may affect social development. Some participants of the T.O.T.S have been involved since four months of age. The researchers plan to track the social development of the participants over the course of 15 years.

Fox's research has made important contributions to the field of child development, specifically in regards to understanding how the temperament of the child, their caregivers, the environment, and many other factors influence developmental outcomes. He has played a pivotal role in shaping how research is conducted in the field and continues to push on, with many projects still underway.

Awards

Books

Representative publications

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Gallagher . Winifred . 1994-09-01 . How We Become What We Are . 2022-10-21 . The Atlantic . en.
  2. Web site: Greene . Melissa Fay . 2020-06-18 . 30 Years Ago, Romania Deprived Thousands of Babies of Human Contact . 2022-10-03 . The Atlantic . en.
  3. Web site: Bucharest Early Intervention Project Homepage . 2022-10-16 . www.bucharestearlyinterventionproject.org.
  4. Web site: About BEIP . 2022-10-16 . www.bucharestearlyinterventionproject.org.
  5. News: James . Barry . Tribune . International Herald . 2002-06-06 . U.S. study of Romanian children faces European challenge . en-US . The New York Times . 2022-11-02 . 0362-4331.
  6. Turner . Marian . 2011-05-17 . Stress can shorten telomeres in childhood . Nature . en . 10.1038/news.2011.298 . 1476-4687. free .
  7. Web site: Fox, N. A. (1976). Developmental and birth order determinants of separation protest: A cross-cultural study of infants on the Israeli kibbutz. Dissertation Abstracts International Section A: Humanities and Social Sciences, 37(6-A), 3515–3516. . 2022-10-31 . psycnet.apa.org . en.
  8. Fox . Nathan . 1977 . Attachment of Kibbutz Infants to Mother and Metapelet . Child Development . 48 . 4 . 1228–1239 . 10.2307/1128480 . 1128480 . 608356 . 0009-3920.
  9. Web site: Nathan Fox . 2022-10-31 . education.umd.edu . en.
  10. Web site: History . 2022-11-02 . The International Congress of Infant Studies . en-US.
  11. Web site: Past Presidents of Division 7 . 2022-11-02 . www.apadivisions.org . en.
  12. Web site: Romania's abandoned children : deprivation, brain development, and the struggle for recovery WorldCat.org . 2022-11-05 . www.worldcat.org . en.
  13. Riddle . Sarah Christine . 2017-06-01 . Charles A. Nelson, Nathan A. Fox, and Charles H. Zeanah: Romania's Abandoned Children: Deprivation, Brain Development, and the Struggle for Recovery . Adolescent Research Review . en . 2 . 2 . 151–160 . 10.1007/s40894-016-0032-1 . 2363-8354. free .
  14. Dozier . Mary . 2014-06-01 . Romania's Abandoned Children: Deprivation, Brain Development, and the Struggle for Recovery . American Journal of Psychiatry . 171 . 6 . 693–694 . 10.1176/appi.ajp.2014.14030320 . 0002-953X.
  15. Web site: 2017-10-25 . Nathan A. Fox, Ph.D. . 2022-10-03 . Brain & Behavior Research Foundation . en.
  16. Web site: NSF Award Search: Award # 1625495 - Collaborative Research: Action, Learning, and Social Cognition . 2022-10-31 . www.nsf.gov.
  17. Web site: Reporter NIH . October 30, 2022 . NIH Report.
  18. Web site: Behavioral and physiological antecedents of inhibited and uninhibited behavior . 2022-11-02 . scholar.google.com.
  19. Fox . Nathan A. . Henderson . Heather A. . Rubin . Kenneth H. . Calkins . Susan D. . Schmidt . Louis A. . 2001 . Continuity and Discontinuity of Behavioral Inhibition and Exuberance: Psychophysiological and Behavioral Influences across the First Four Years of Life . Child Development . en . 72 . 1 . 1–21 . 10.1111/1467-8624.00262 . 11280472 . 0009-3920.
  20. Fox . Nathan A. . 1994 . Dynamic Cerebral Processes Underlying Emotion Regulation . Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development . 59 . 2/3 . 152–166 . 10.2307/1166143 . 1166143 . 7984158 . 0037-976X.
  21. Fox . Nathan A. . 1989 . Psychophysiological correlates of emotional reactivity during the first year of life. . Developmental Psychology . en . 25 . 3 . 364–372 . 10.1037/0012-1649.25.3.364 . 1939-0599.
  22. Web site: 2019-08-18 . HEALthy Brain and Child Development Study . 2022-10-16 . NIH HEAL Initiative . en.
  23. Web site: 2019-08-21 . Helping to End Addiction Long-term . 2022-10-16 . NIH HEAL Initiative . en.
  24. Web site: Current Studies . 2022-10-16 . Child Development Lab . en-US.
  25. Web site: Award for Distinguished Contributions to Developmental Psychology . 2022-11-02 . www.apadivisions.org . en.
  26. Web site: Mentor Award in Developmental Psychology . 2022-11-02 . APA Division 7 . en.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Nathan Fox (psychologist)".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2024, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.