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Academics - Psychology Faculty & Staff

Academics - Psychology Faculty & Staff

Eric Olofson

Professor of Psychology, Dept Chair

CONTACT:

Baxter Hall 317
765-361-6328
olofsone@wabash.edu

Picture of Olofson, Eric

Prof. Olofson came to Wabash in 2008 after completing his graduate studies in infant cognitive development at the University of Oregon. His dissertation investigated how 10- to 12-month-old infants interpret the actions of other people. Recently, his research focuses on father-child relationships, co-parenting, and how to best measure quality father behavior.

Prof. Olofson originally hails from the Seattle area and proudly embodies many of its stereotypes. Perhaps most predictably, he roasts his own coffee and is intensely arrogant about it.

When he is not teaching he spends most of his time with his wife and two children. He can frequently be found wherever there are athletic events on campus, either cheering on the Wabash teams or playing Ultimate Frisbee with students.

EDUCATION

Ph.D. in Psychology, University of Oregon, June 2008
M.S. in Psychology, University of Oregon, May 2005
B.A. in Psychology and Philosophy, summa cum laude, Concordia College (Moorhead, MN), May 2002
 

RECENT COURSE OFFERINGS

PSY 101 – Introduction to Psychology
PSY 105 – Fatherhood
PSY 201 – Research Methods and Statistics I
PSY 202 – Research Methods and Statistics II
PSY 210 – Psychology of Sex and Gender
PSY 213 – Language Development
PSY 220 – Child Development
PSY 320 – Research in Developmental Psychology 
PSY 495 & 496 – Senior Capstone
Freshman Colloquium: Enduring Questions
Freshman Tutorial: What Kind of Man Do You Want to Be?
 

RECENT PRESENTATIONS

Olofson, E. L., & Schoppe-Sullivan, S. J. (2021, April 9). Same behaviors, different outcomes: Mothers’ and fathers’ observed challenging behavior measured using a new coding system differentially predicts children’s social-emotional development [Conference presentation]. Society for Research in Child Development 2021 Virtual Biennial Meeting.

Schoppe-Sullivan, S. J., Shafer, K., & Olofson, E. L. (2019, November 21). Hegemonic masculinity and new fathers’ observed parenting and coparenting quality [Conference presentation]. 2019 National Council on Family Relations Annual Conference, Fort Worth, TX, United States.

Olofson, E. L., & Schoppe-Sullivan, S. J. (2019, March 21). Overview of the Risky Interaction Support and Challenge (RISC) Scale [Conference roundtable]. Fathers are Parents, Too! Society for Research in Child Development 2019 Biennial Meeting Pre-Conference Event, Baltimore, MD, United States.

Olofson, E. L., & Volling, B. L. (2019, March 21). Overview of the Marbach Coding System [Conference roundtable]. Fathers are Parents, Too! Society for Research in Child Development 2019 Biennial Meeting Pre-Conference Event, Baltimore, MD, United States.

Olofson, E. L. (2018, June 28). “This Class is Too Hard!" Calibrating the Level of Difficulty in Introductory Psychology [Conference roundtable]. 2018 Psychology One Conference, Duke University, Durham, NC, United States.

Olofson, E. L. (2018, March 17). Fathers are more involved than ever. What next? [Address]. TEDxWabashCollege, Wabash College, Crawfordsville, IN, United States. https://youtu.be/IZ2w_FvBYU4.

Olofson, E. L., Arellano, A., Chilton, T., Cox, K., & Havlin, Z. (2017, October 13). Measuring the quality of fathers’ parenting behavior [Conference presentation]. 88th Annual Meeting of the Indiana Academy of the Social Sciences, Wabash College; Crawfordsville, IN, United States.

RECENT PUBLICATIONS

Olofson, E. L., & Schoppe-Sullivan, S. J. (2022). Same behaviors, different outcomes: Mothers’ and fathers’ observed challenging behaviors measured using a new coding system relate differentially to children’s social-emotional development. Children, 9(5), 675. doi: 10.3390/children9050675

Schoppe-Sullivan, S. J., Shafer, K., Olofson, E. L., & Kamp Dush, C. M. (2021). Fathers’ parenting and coparenting behavior in dual-earner families: Contributions of traditional masculinity, father nurturing role beliefs, and maternal gate closing. Psychology of Men & Masculinities, 22(3), 538-550.  doi: 10.1037/men0000336

Taylor, A. T., Olofson, E. L., & Novak, W. R. (2017). Enhancing student retention of prerequisite knowledge through pre‐class activities and in‐class reinforcement. Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Education, 45(2), 97-104. doi: 10.1002/bmb.20992

Tahiroglu, D., Moses, L. J., Carlson, S. M., Mahy, C. E., Olofson, E. L., Sabbagh, M. A. (2014). The Children’s Social Understanding Scale: Construction and validation of a parent-report measure for assessing individual differences in children’s theories of mind. Developmental Psychology, 50(11). 2485-2497. doi: 10.1037/a0037914
 
Olofson, E. L., Casey, D.*, Oluyedun, O.*, Van Herwegen, J., Becerra, A.*, & Rundblad, G. (2014). Youth with autism spectrum disorder comprehend lexicalized and novel primary conceptual metaphors. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 44(10). 2568-2583. . doi: 10.1007/s10803-014-2129-3.
*Undergraduate student co-authors

HONORS AND AWARDS

McLain-McTurnan-Arnold Research Scholar Award, Wabash College (2014-2015 academic year)

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