Cara Cashon, PhD

Associate Professor, Dept. of Psychological & Brain Studies

Associate Dean for Graduate Studies, College of Arts & Sciences

University Honors Teaching Fellow

UPDATE FOR PROSPECTIVE GRADUATE STUDENTS: On April 26, 2021, our program voted to continue  our GRE-optional policy for the next admissions cycle (i.e., deadline Dec. 1, 2021 for Fall 2022 matriculation). PLEASE NOTE:  My personal policy differs from that of the program's. I will not review the GRE scores of anyone who applies to work with me, whether they submit scores or not. 

Underrepresented minority students are especially encouraged to apply!!!

Experimental Psychology Ph.D. applicants, I am looking to accept a new student. Deadline is Dec. 1st.  Apply here!

Undergraduate students interested in research openings in my lab, click here to download a flyer with more information

Education

• Ph.D. Psychology, The University of Texas at Austin, 2004
• B.S. Psychology, The University of Iowa, 1995

Research Interests

• Face recognition
• Infant cognitive development
• Face processing, emotion perception
• Visual attention
• Physical development and cognition
• Effects of parental behaviors on infant learning and cognition
• Linguistic development
• Cognitive, perceptual, and linguistic development in infants and toddlers with Williams syndrome
• Replicability in science (e.g., ManyBabies project)
• Algorithmic bias in AI

Selected Publications

* denotes student author

• Yoder-Himes, D. R., *Asif, A., *Kinney, K., *Brandt, T. J., *Cecil, R., Himes, P. R., Cashon, C., Hopp, R. M. P., & Ross, E. (2022). Racial, skin tone, and sex disparities in automated proctoring software. In Frontiers in Education (p. 675). Frontiers. doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2022.881449
• Cashon, C.H., *Ha, O., Graf Estes, K., Saffran, J. R., & Mervis, C. B. (2016). Infants with Williams syndrome detect statistical regularities in continuous speech, Cognition. doi: 10.1016/j.cognition.2016.05.009
• Cashon, C. H. & *Holt, N. A. (2015). Developmental origins of the face inversion effect. In J. B. Benson (Ed.), Advances in Child Development and Behavior, Vol. 48 (117-150). Burlington: Academic Press.
• Cashon, C. H., *Ha, O., *Allen, C. L., & *Barna, A. C. (2013). A U-shaped relation between sitting ability and upright face processing in infants. Child Development, 84, 802-809. doi: 10.1111/cdev.12024
• Cashon, C. H., *Ha, O., *DeNicola, C. A., & Mervis, C. B. (2013). Toddlers with Williams syndrome process upright but not inverted faces holistically. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 1-9. doi: 10.1007/s10803-013-1804-0
• Cohen, L. B., & Cashon, C. H. (2006). Infant Cognition. In W. Damon & R. M. Lerner (Series Eds.) & D. Kuhn & R. S. Siegler (Vol. Eds.), Handbook of child psychology: Vol. 2. Cognition, Perception, and Language (6th ed., pp. 214-251). New York: Wiley.
• Cashon, C. H., & Cohen, L. B. (2004). Beyond U-shaped development in infants’ processing of faces. Journal of Cognition and Development (special issue on U-shaped development), 5, 59-80.
• Cashon, C. H., & Cohen, L. B. (2000). Eight-month-old infants' perception of possible and impossible events. Infancy, 1, 429-446.

Courses Often Taught

Graduate:

• PSYC 610: Advanced Statistics I
• PSYC 609: Infant Cognition and Perception

Undergraduate:

• HON 101: Honors Modes of Inquiry
• PSYC 414/HON 446/HON 456: Honors-Psychology of Social Media-WR
• PSYC 435: Seminar in Infancy-WR

Service at UofL (Current)

• Member - Dept. Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee
• Member - UofL Digital Transformation Team (subcommittee: Developing Curricula)
• University Honors Teaching Fellow