Anna Bechner, Labortory Manager
B.S. Ed., 1997, Marian College (Early Childhood Education)

My background includes over ten years of teaching and research experience with families and young children in childcare, preschool, and the elementary school level. As a classroom teacher I became very interested in understanding how children's emotional experiences affect learning, behavior, and socio-emotional development. I very much enjoy being involved with this research where I have the opportunity to work on projects examining the effects of early emotional experiences as well as interact with children and their families.

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My experience ranges from work with families on government assistance to educational program development for non-profit organizations to academic research. Currently, there are three pathways down which my scientific inquiries lead: cultural identity development, autonomy development, and parent-adolescent-peer relationships. I have found that adolescents are extremely savvy and strategic in their management of information about themselves and their activities with peers, such as telling parents they are going to the library to study (which parents naturally approve of) while conveniently neglecting to tell parents that their boyfriend or girlfriend will also “happen” to be at the library! Parents are strategic about seeking information about their children’s activities as well. I seek to understand how parent and adolescent expectations about such behavior with peers are negotiated in ways that are culturally embedded. Moreover, I aim to examine how the process of negotiating these expectations affects the development of cultural identity, autonomy, and changes in family and peer relationships.

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Barbara J. Roeber, Community Outreach Coordinator
Wisconsin International Adoption Project
M.S., 1988, St. Cloud State University (Child and Family Studies)
B.S., 1977, Michigan State University (Special Education)

My background includes over 20 years of work with children and families including teaching children with emotional disabilities, counseling children affected by abuse, and supporting children with developmental disabilities.  I am a licensed social worker in the state of Wisconsin and also hold a lifetime teaching license in Wisconsin .  I am passionate about making a difference in the lives of children and families.

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Mary Schlaak, Laboratory Manager and Coordinator
1992 BS Psychology, BSW Social Work UW-Madison
1995 MSSW Social Work UW-Madison

I was thrilled to join the Child Emotion Lab this year as the Lab Manager and Coordinator of the Wisconsin International Adoption Research Project. I have a Master's Degree in Social Work from UW-Madison and have spent my career working with children with Developmental Disabilities and their families at the State and Local levels. This position allows me to utilize my experience with families in combination with cutting edge research that is being done through Dr. Pollak's labs. I am interested by the psycho-social adjustment of children who have been internationally adopted and the correlates that predict a positive outcome in this regard.

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Elvira Zobel, Research Fellow
M.S., 1999, Universitaet Konstanz, Germany (Clinical Psychology)
B.S., 1995, Universitaet Konstanz, Germany (Psychology)
B.A., 1989, Universitaet Stuttgart , Germany (Architecture)

My background includes research experience as well as clinical counseling. Prior to my arrival in Madison , I headed a therapy center. I have also had the opportunity to work for several years in clinical research projects at the EEG and MEG Laboratory of the University of Konstanz , where I was involved in psychophysiological studies of aphasia and schizophrenia. I am looking forward to working with children and their families, and to increasing my knowledge about emotion processes.

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Elizabeth A. Shirtcliff, Post-Doctoral Fellow 
Ph.D., 2003, The Pennsylvania State University (Biobehavioral Health)
B.A., 1998, University of Oregon (Psychology)

My research focuses on modeling how hormone levels, rhythms, and reactivity change in response to environmental stimuli, particularly in a social or a familial context.  While salivary cortisol is often of interest, other hormones (like testosterone, DHEA, and estradiol) and immune markers also provide a striking glance into the endocrine system.  One of my current projects aims to understand the implications of these stress hormones by characterizing "stress" at three levels: at a group level by comparing neglected, physically abused, and typically developing adolescents; at an individual level by examining biobehavioral associations with episodic and chronic life stress; and at an intraindividual difference level by examining hormonal variation across social contexts.  Another project aims is poised to analytically test how intraindividual changes in one neuroendocrine marker are coupled with changes in other markers; this research is aimed at uncovering similar mechanisms (and stronger causal tests) across physiological systems.  Ultimately, it is my goal to characterize how neuroendocrine markers help to predict how emotional or behavioral predispositions (like depression, aggression, and conduct disorder), interact with each other in social environments, thereby affecting behavior and health outcomes.  For links to my publications, see
http://www.personal.psu.edu/users/b/a/bas306/birdie/index.html

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Cassie Kistler-Anderson, Graduate Student, Genetic Counseling

Cassie Kistler-Anderson is a masters degree student in the genetic counseling program. Cassie is designing a project to look at difficulties in making health decisions for parents when they do not have any family history for a child. She'll be working with the International Adoption Project.

Alison B. Wismer Fries, Graduate Student, Clinical Psychology
M.S., 2003, University of Wisconsin – Madison (Clinical Psychology)
B.A., 1998, University of Wisconsin – Madison (Psychology)

Broadly, I am interested in understanding the mechanisms through which early adverse experiences impact later social and emotional development, as well as increases risk for psychopathology.  My research explores the relationship between social and emotional deprivation during early childhood and both behavioral and physiological aspects of socioemotional functioning and behavioral regulation.  My approach utilizes multiple levels of analysis including overt behavior, cognition, and neurophysiology.  I am particularly interested in the biological basis of social behavior, as well as cognitive aspects of emotion regulation and how disruptions in these areas of development may lead to problematic social behavior.  More specifically, my current research explores hypotheses regarding explicit neuro-developmental processes that may be underlying the social and emotional difficulties seen in children who experienced severe early deprivation secondary to institutionalization in Eastern European orphanages.

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Leslie Seltzer , Graduate Student,
B.S., 2007, SUNY Binghamton (Biological Anthropology)

I am interested in studying the evolution of language in our species.  One current paradigm holds that language evolved in order to communicate nonsocial information, such as the location of likely prey animals, water, or other resources.  Another holds that language evolved for social reasons, i.e., to help humans monitor increasingly complex relationships with those in their environments.  Endocrine analysis of nonhuman primates (for comparative purposes), neurotypical individuals, and those affected with autism/related disorders may shed light on this question.  My work to date has focused on helping to develop/validate a noninvasive assay with Toni Ziegler to measure oxytocin in the urine of the common marmoset under conditions of changing social stimulation, especially isolation and subsequent reunion with the pair-bonded mate.

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Jessica Shackman, Graduate Student, Clinical Psychology
B.A., 2002, Bucknell University (Biochemistry and Cell Biology)

I am interested in understanding the mechanisms through which atypical early experience impacts later social and emotional development, as well as increases vulnerability for psychopathology. My current research explores the relationship between physical abuse and perceptual, cognitive and physiological processes implicated in emotional development. The broad goal of this work is to understand how plasticity in the development of these processes may confer risk for maladaptation, and how learning from emotionally atypical environments can compromise children's' ability to flexibly attend to emotional stimuli and regulate their subsequent emotional responses. Specifically, I am interested in pursuing the hypothesis that affective signals that are outside the current focus of attention may substantially impact how children perceive, attend to and react to emotional signals conveyed through ongoing social interactions. My current work also aims to increase our understanding of the mechanisms underlying attention to both auditory and visual emotion signals, and how the relative influence of information conveyed in these two modalities changes throughout development and is affected by experience. Other interests include the development of anxiety disorders in childhood, and psychophysiological measures of emotion in children.

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I am interested in exploring how the experience of adverse early care, such as abuse or neglect from a primary caregiver, affects brain development. Individuals who experience this type of care are more likely to develop psychopathology, however, little is known about the brain changes that may be associated with this experience, and how they confer risk for psychopathology. I am particularly interested in exploring whether brain systems that govern emotion regulation differ as a function of early care experience.

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Christopher Tan, Graduate Student, Clinical Psychology
B.CS. 2006, university of Waterloo (Computer Science and Psychology)

My predominant area of interest involves, broadly, comparing the similarities and differences between risk and resiliency factors for developmental psychopathology.  I am especially enthused about studying how risk and resiliency factors impact both typical and atypical emotional development in children.  In particular, while I hope to garner a nuanced understanding of specific risk and resiliency factors, my intent is to focus on the pertinent neural mechanisms of change in terms of how they buffer or predispose children to psychopathology, as well as how such processes interact with each other.  By examining biological mechanisms across methodologies and within a larger theoretical framework, it will be possible to piece together a comprehensive understanding of developmental psychopathology.  Knowledge of the specific processes through which risk and resiliency factors operate, even if limited, will elucidate the nature of psychological disorders more than an expansive perusal of the relevant risk factors.  Ultimately, such knowledge will lead to improvements in clinical treatment and, ideally, assist in identifying and preventing certain psychological disorders outright.

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Christa Tober , OTR, Graduate Student, Kinesiology
M.S.,1995, Washington University in St. Louis (Occupational Therapy)
B.A., 1994, Maryville University (Psychology)

I am a doctoral student in the kinesiology department and an occupational therapist.  I have been involved with assessing motor development and motor learning abilities in children adopted internationally from orphanages through the Wisconsin International Adoption Study. I am particularly interested in examining learning competence across different systems and different contexts in children with movement disorders. I am also interested in examining the relationships between a child's motor ability and internalizing/externalizing disorders to develop a deeper understanding of risk and protective factors to guide future therapeutic interventions.

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Anne Van Grondelle, Graduate Student, Clinical Psychology

My primary interest is the relationship between familial factors, particularly child maltreatment and parental mental health, and children’s emotional development. I am especially curious about the cognitive dimension of children’s emotions, resulting from their own actions and those taken by others, such as guilt, pride, and empathy. Furthermore, I am interested in the interplay between the development of emotion and psychopathology. My background includes work at Massachusetts General Hospital in the study of temperament in young children, specifically the reaction to novel stimuli, as a risk factor for later onset of psychological disorders.

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