I conduct research in two areas. In the first, I propose and test developmental theories of rapid, intuitive moral judgments and decision making. Toward this end, I am focused on novel assessment creation and the use of advanced statistical methods (factor analysis, structural equation modeling, etc.) to study latent psychological constructs. Much of this work is focused on the development and use of text-based instruments to test nuanced theories for neuro- and psycholinguistic processing—primarily related to time courses of categorization and stereotype activation and their influence on moral judgments.

In my other line of research, I search for relationships between latent psychological factors and learning and behavioral outcomes. My recent studies in this area have included looking at the effects of gender stereotypes and political identity on moral intuition development in early adolescents and the ways that morality framing in various cultural contexts influences science education outcomes and beliefs about science.

I currently have two large research projects underway. The first is continued data collection using an instrument I have validated to assess early adolescents’ moral intuitions (The Character Foundations Survey). Currently, more than 3,000 middle and high school students from predominantly conservative counties in rural America have taken this survey. The goal is to expand data collection to various social and cultural demographics in the US and abroad with the purpose of testing theoretical hypotheses about the relationship between adolescent moral development and political identity/ideology formation. The second is a series of studies to test specific neurolinguistic hypotheses of gender stereotypes and their ability to influence rapid, intuitive moral judgments when assessed using text-based stimuli.