Assistant Professor
(PhD, University of Massachusetts)

Research Interests

Emergent Literacy, emergent numeracy, preschool social-emotional development, preschool learning and behavior, school and home-based interventions.

Contact Information

Department of Child Development and Family Studies
Purdue University
Fowler House, Rm. 227
1200 West State Street
West Lafayette , IN 47907-2055

Phone: (765) 494-2931
Fax: (765) 496-1144

E-mail: jdobbs@purdue.edu

Web site: Ready To Read

Biography
Recent Publications
Education
Courses Recently Taught
Honors
Professional Service

Biography

As an Indiana native, the child of two Boilermakers, and a Purdue alumna myself, it only makes sense that I have made Purdue my academic home. I am pleased to be part of the Purdue community, and especially to work in a department that values applied research, interdisciplinary perspectives, and research and education efforts that engage with our community and beyond.

My graduate training at the University of Massachusetts was in clinical psychology, with a concentration on children, adolescents, and families. My research interests bridge the disciplines of psychology and education, focusing on the learning and behavior of preschool-aged children. I am interested in how young children’s pre-academic skills (including pre-literacy, pre-numeracy, and precursors of engineering thinking) are connected to their psychological functioning (including behavior and social-emotional development). In addition to understanding these relationships, I am interested in developing interventions that promote young children’s academic success and social-emotional well-being. In particular, I am interested in children who are at risk for negative outcomes due to poverty and early behavior problems.

top of page

Recent Publications

Meagher, S.M., Arnold, D.H., Doctoroff, G.L, Dobbs, J., & Fisher, P.H. (in press). Preschool social-emotional problems and the development of depressive symptoms in school-age children. Early Education and Development.

Brown, S.A., Arnold, D.H., Dobbs, J., & Doctoroff, G.L. (2007). Parenting predictors of overt and relational aggression among school-aged children. Early Childhood Research Quarterly,22, 147-159 .

Arnold, D.H., Brown, S.A., Meagher, S., Baker, C.N., Dobbs, J., & Doctoroff, G. L. (2006). Preschool-based programs for externalizing problems. Education and Treatment of Children, 29, 311-340.

Dobbs, J., Doctoroff, G.L., Fisher, P.H., & Arnold, D.H. (2006). The association between preschool children's socio-emotional functioning and their mathematical skill.  Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology , 27, 97-108.

Dobbs, J., Arnold, D.H., & Doctoroff, G.L. (2004). Attention in the preschool classroom:  The relationships among child gender, child misbehavior, and types of teacher attention. Early Child Development and Care , 174, 281-295.

Dobbs, J., Doctoroff, G.L., & Fisher, P.H. (2003). The "Math is Everywhere" preschool mathematics curriculum and its success in Head Start classrooms. Teaching Children Mathematics, 10 (1), 20-22.

Arnold, D.H., Fisher, P.H., Doctoroff, G.L., & Dobbs, J. (2002). Accelerating math development in Head Start classrooms: Outcomes and gender differences. Journal of Educational Psychology, 94, 762-770.

Hoza, B., Pelham, W.E., Dobbs, J., Owens, J.S., & Pillow, D.R. (2002).  Do Boys with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Have Positive Illusory Self-Concepts?  Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 111, 268-278.

top of page

 Education

• Ph.D., Clinical Psychology, 2006 University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA.
• Clinical Psychology Internship, 2005-2006 University of Tennessee, Health Science Center, Memphis, TN.
• M.S., Clinical Psychology, 2002 University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA.
• B.A., Psychology, 2000 Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN.

top of page

Courses Recently Taught

CDFS 406 Curriculum Applications of Math/Science Development
CDFS 424 Children and Stress
CDFS 590 Preschool Literacy Research (Graduate Research Experience)
CDFS 685R Research Seminar

top of page

Honors

2008 Selected to attend the ECLS-B Database Training Seminar, sponsored by the National Center for Education Statistics, Institute for Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education.

top of page

Professional Service

Member
American Educational Research Association
American Psychological Association
National Association for the Education of Young Children
Society for Research on Child Development

Ad Hoc Reviewer
Child Development
Fathering

top of page