Professor of Psychology
Lab Director
Research Interests
My current fields of interest involve two major research domains: social
cognition in adulthood and aging and everyday problem solving from adolescence
through older adulthood. The National Institute on Aging funds both of these
projects. The social cognition and aging project examines age differences in
social cognitive reasoning and attributional processes. We are particularly
interested in how social values, attitudes, and beliefs influence social
judgment biases in older adults. The everyday problem-solving project examines
patterns of age-related differences in problem solving strategies and the
influence of emotional salience, interpersonal involvement, controllability, and
goals on problem solving strategies.
Education
Ph.D., Developmental Psychology
Wayne State University, 1983
Selected Publications
Blanchard-Fields, F. (2007). Everyday problem solving and emotion: An adult developmental perspective. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 16, 26-31.
Blanchard-Fields, F., Mienaltowski, A., & Seay, R. B. (2007). Age differences in everyday problem-solving effectiveness: Older adults select more effective strategies for interpersonal problems. Journals of Gerontology: Psychological Science, 62, P61-64.
Mienaltowski, A., & Blanchard-Fields, F. (2005). The differential effects of mood on age differences in the correspondence bias. Psychology and Aging, 20, 589-600.
Blanchard-Fields, F., & Beatty, C. (2005). Age differences in blame attributions: The role of relationship outcome ambiguity and personal identification. Journals of Gerontology: Psychological Science, 60, P19-26.
Blanchard-Fields, F., & Horhota, M. (2005). Age differences in the correspondence bias: When a plausible explanation matters. Journals of Gerontology: Psychological Science, 60, P259-267.
Blanchard-Fields, F., Stein, R., & Watson, T. (2004). Age differences in emotion regulation strategies in handling everyday problems. Journals of Gerontology: Psychological Science, 59, P261-269 .
Blanchard-Fields, F., Hertzog, C., Stein, R., & Pak, R. (2001). Beyond a
stereotyped view of older adults' traditional family values. Psychology and
Aging, 16, 483-496.
Chen, Y., & Blanchard-Fields, F. (2000).
Unwanted thought: Age differences in the correction of social judgments. Psychology and Aging, 15, 475-482.
Frequently Taught Courses
PSY 2103 Developmental psychology
(Undergraduate)
PSY 6015 Life span developmental psychology (Graduate)
Seminars:
Social Cognition and Aging
Emotion, Cognition and Aging
Affiliations
American Psychological Association (Fellow)
American
Psychological Society (Fellow)
Gerontological Society of America (Fellow)
Society for Research in Child Development
Psychonomics Society
