Catherine Haden

Degrees

Post-Doctorate Fellowship(s): Center for Developmental Science, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Doctorate: Ph.D., Emory University, Specialty: Cognition and Development in Psychology
Masters: M.A., Emory University, Specialty: Cognition and Development in Psychology 
Bachelors: B.S., Wake Forest University, Major: Psychology

Research Interests

Catherine Haden is an expert in cognition and development who studies children's learning and remembering. A specific focus of the work is on how museum-based practices that encourage families' narratives and storytelling can promote children's science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) learning and advance diversity in STEM education. For the past 15+ years, Haden has partnered with Chicago Children's Museum, to study family interactions in museum exhibits with children ages 3 to 10 years of age; this work is contributing to understanding and improving young children's informal STEM education outside of school. Guiding this work is the notion that early exposure to fun, creative and meaningful engineering experiences may boost interest and the eventual pursuit of engineering and technology education paths by students. Haden's work with her students and colleagues recommends methods that parents and other educators can use with young children in STEM learning situations to foster early understanding of the scientific method, develop knowledge of STEM-related concepts, and potentially increase interest in future science education and career options. The focus on narrative and storytelling is further reflected in a recent project that considers the ways that Latinx/e families engage in talk about science when reading books and reminiscing about past experiences. Dr. Haden's research is funded by grants from the National Science Foundation.

Courses Taught

PSYC 306 Research Methods
PSYC 318 Laboratory in Developmental Psychology

Selected Publications

Researchgate: Catherine Haden

Google Scholar:  Catherine Haden Google Scholar 

(^*Graduate student/Postdoc ^uUndergraduate student ^oOther trainee)

Aldrich, B.^* & Haden, C. A. (in press). Associations between parents' autonomy supportive management language and children's STEM talk during and after tinkering at home. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology.

Pagano, L. C. ^*, George, R. E.^u, Uttal, D. H., & Haden, C. A. (2024). You gotta tell the camera: Advancing children’s engineering learning through tinkering and digital storytelling. Child Development. http://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.14094 

Acosta, D. I. ^* & Haden, C. A. (2023). Supporting Latine children’s informal engineering learning through tinkering and oral storytelling. Developmental Psychology, 59 (12), 2342-2355. https://doi.org/10.1037/dev0001648

Polinsky, N. ^o, Pagano, L. C. ^*, Acosta, D. I. ^*, Haden, C. A., & Uttal, D. H. (2023). Spatial language use in parent-child reflections about museum experiences. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 86, 101539. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appdev.2023.101539

Marcus, M. ^*, Solis, G. ^*, Sellars, S., & Haden, C. A. (2023). Promoting children’s STEM learning at home through tinkering and storytelling. Frontiers in Psychology, 14, 1146063. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1146063

Haden, C. A., Melzi, G., & Callanan, M. A. (2023). Science in stories: Implications for Latine children’s science learning through home-based language practices. Frontiers in Psychology, 14, 1096833. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1096833

Bae, J., Shavlik, M., Shatrowsky, C. E., Haden, C. A., & Booth, A. E. (2023). Predicting grade school scientific literacy from aspects of the early home science environment. Frontiers in Psychology, 14, 1113196. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1113196

Shavlik, M., Köksal, Ö., French, B. F., Haden, C. A., Legare, C. H., Booth, A. E. (2022). Contributions of causal reasoning to early scientific literacy. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology. 224, 105509. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2022.105509

Booth, A. E., Shavlik, M., & Haden, C. A. (2022). Exploring the foundations of early scientific literacy: Children’s causal stance. Developmental Psychology, 58(12), 2302-2309. https://doi.org/10.1037/dev0001433

Acosta, D. I. ^*, & Haden, C. A. (2022). Museum-based tinkering and engineering learning opportunities among Latine families with young children. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 80, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appdev.2022.101416

Marcus, M. ^*, Tõugu, P. ^*, Haden, C. A., & Uttal, D. H. (2021). Advancing opportunities for children’s informal STEM learning transfer through parent-child narrative reflection. Child Development, 92, e1075–e1084.  https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.13641

Marcus, M. ^*, Acosta, D. I. ^*, Tõugu, P. ^*, Uttal, D. H., & Haden, C. A. (2021). Tinkering with testing: Understanding how museum program design advances engineering learning opportunities for children. Frontiers in Psychology. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.689425

Acosta, D. I. ^*, Polinsky, N. J.^o, Haden, C. A., & Uttal, D. H. (2021). Whether and how knowledge moderates linkages between parent-child conversations and children’s reflections about tinkering in a children’s museum. Journal of Cognition and Development, 22(2), 226-245. https://doi.org/10.1080/15248372.2020.1871350

Booth, A. E., Shavlik, M., & Haden, C. A. (2020). Parents’ causal talk: Links to children’s causal stance and emerging scientific literacy. Developmental Psychology 56(11), 2055–2064. https://doi.org/10.1037/dev0001108

Pagano, L. C. ^*, Haden, C. A., & Uttal, D. H. (2020). Museum program design supports parent-child engineering talk during tinkering and reminiscing. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 200. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2020.104944

Pagano, L. C. ^*, Haden, C. A., Uttal, D. H., & Cohen, T. (2019). Conversational reflections about tinkering experiences in a children's museum. Science Education. 103(6), 1493-1512. https://doi.org/10.1002/sce.21536