• adolescent development
• reward sensitivity
• self-regulation
• risk-taking
• decision-making
• juvenile justice

I am a developmental psychologist who specializes in the study of adolescence. My work examines psychosocial development during the transition from childhood to adulthood and how it relates to decision-making, risk-taking, and crime. I am also interested in the practical implications of discoveries related to adolescents’ capacities and limitations with respect to legal and social policy.

Research in my lab addresses three overarching questions :

1. How do normative developmental processes in adolescence and early adulthood contribute to the rise and fall of risky behaviour across these periods?
2. To what extent is adolescent development universal, and to what extent is it a product of culture?
3. How should the science of adolescence inform social and legal policy?

To view my CV please click on this link.

For a complete list of publications, click here

*Co-first authors

Steinberg, L., Icenogle, G., Shulman, E. P., Breiner, K., Chein, J., Bacchini, D., … & Fanti, K. A. (in press, February, 2017). Around the world, adolescence is a time of heightened sensation seeking and immature self‐regulation. Developmental Science. doi: 10.1111/desc.12532

Shulman, E. P., Monahan, K. C., & Steinberg, L. (2017). Severe violence during adolescence and early adulthood and its relation to anticipated rewards and costs. Child Development, 88, 16–26. doi: 10.1111/cdev.12684

Silva, K., Shulman, E. P., Chein, J., & Steinberg, L. (2016). Peers increase late adolescents’ exploratory behaviour and sensitivity to positive and negative feedback. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 26, 696–705. doi: 10.1111/jora.12219

Shulman, E. P., Bechtold, J. N., Kelly, E. M., & Cauffman, E. (in press, May, 2016). Mental health screening in juvenile justice settings: Evaluating the utility of the Massachusetts Youth Screening Inventory, Version 2. Criminal Justice Policy Review. doi: 10.1177/0887403416650250

Icenogle, G., Steinberg, L., Olino, T. M., Shulman, E. P., Chein, J. et al. (in press, April, 2016). Puberty predicts approach but not avoidance behaviour on the Iowa Gambling Task. Child Development.

Shulman, E. P.*, Smith, A. R.*, Silva, K., Icenogle, G., Duell, N., Chein, J., & Steinberg, L. (2016). The Dual Systems Model: Review, reappraisal, and reaffirmation. Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, 17, 103–117. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.dcn.2015.12.010

Shulman, E. P., & Steinberg, L. D. (August, 2015).  Human development and juvenile justice.  In K. Heilbrun (Ed.), APA handbook of psychology and juvenile justice (Chapter 4). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

Shulman, E. P., Harden, K. P., Chein, J. & Steinberg, L. (online October, 2014). The development of impulse control and sensation-seeking in adolescence: Independent or interdependent processes? Journal of Research on Adolescence. doi: 10.1111/jora.12181

Shulman, E. P., Harden, K. P., Chein, J. & Steinberg, L. (in press). Sex differences in the developmental trajectories of impulse control and sensation-seeking from early adolescence to early adulthood. Journal of Youth and Adolescence. doi: 10.1007/s10964-014-0116-9

Shulman, E. P., & Cauffman, E. (2014). Deciding in the dark: Age differences in intuitive risk judgment. Developmental Psychology, 50, 167–177. doi: 10.1037/a0032778

Bechtold, J., Cavanagh, C., Shulman, E. P., & Cauffman, E. (in press). Does Mother know best? Adolescent and mother report of impulsivity and subsequent delinquency. Journal of Youth and Adolescence. doi: 10.1007/s10964-013-0080-9

Malloy, L. C., Shulman, E. P., Cauffman, E. (2014). Interrogations, confessions, and guilty pleas among serious adolescent offenders, Law and Human Behaviour, 38, 181–193. doi: 10.1037/lhb0000065

Shulman, E. P., Steinberg, L., & Piquero, A. R. (2013). The age-crime curve in adolescence and early adulthood is not due to age differences in economic status. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 42(6), 848-860. doi: 10.1007/s10964-013-9950-4

Shulman, E. P., & Cauffman, E. (2013). Reward-biased risk appraisal and its relation to juvenile vs. adult crime. Law and Human Behaviour, 37, 412–423. doi: 10.1037/lhb0000033

Shulman, E. P., Cauffman, E., Fagan, J., & Piquero, A. (2011). Moral disengagement among serious juvenile offenders: A longitudinal study of the relations between moral cognition and offending. Developmental Psychology. doi: 10.1037/a0025404

Cauffman, E., Shulman, E. P., Steinberg, L., Claus, E., Banich, M. T., Graham, S., & Woolard, J. (2010). Age differences in affective decision making as indexed by performance on the Iowa Gambling Task. Developmental Psychology, 46, 193-207. doi: 10.1037/a0016128