Hjortsvang

Notable Achievements

Several Psychology faculty members and students presented papers at the annual meeting of the Southwestern Psychological Association in San Antonio. Professor of Psychology Traci Giuliano and student Megan Muskara ’24, presented a poster titled “Identifying predictors of the psychological benefits of travel.” Associate Professor of Psychology Carin Perilloux and students Lainey Gutierrez ’25, Jaxson Haynes ’25, Maryn Medlock ’25, Cassidy Reynolds ’24, and Lauren Sanders ’24 presented a poster titled “Developing the Self-Perceived Parental Effort Scale (SPES).” Assistant Professor of Psychology Karen Lara and students Mara Strohl ’25, Paige Chapman ’25, Tessa Elizondo ’24, Jessica Metcalf ’25, Hailey Brisco ’25, and Ashten Wheeler ’25 presented a poster titled “Children’s and Adults’ Reasoning About How Expected Wait Time Influences Preferences and Emotions.”

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Karen Hjortsvang Lara

Assistant Professor of Psychology

Expertise

Developmental Psychology, Social Cognition (theory of mind), Emotions, Affect, Expectations

I received a B.S. in Psychology from the University of California, Davis in 2010 and my Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of California, Davis in 2019. Currently, I teach Principles of Psychology, Lifespan Development, and the Developmental Psychology Capstone. I love teaching and working closely with students. I strive for the combination of an exciting and caring learning environment. I want students to love psychology as much as I do.

  • Biography

    I received a B.S. in Psychology from the University of California, Davis in 2010 and my Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of California, Davis in 2019. Currently, I teach Principles of Psychology, Lifespan Development, and the Developmental Psychology Capstone. I love teaching and working closely with students. I strive for the combination of an exciting and caring learning environment. I want students to love psychology as much as I do.

  • Research

    My program of research surrounds understanding children’s and adults’ beliefs about and experiences of the connections between expectations and affective experiences (i.e., preferences and emotions). I enjoy involving undergraduate researchers in all aspects of research.

  • Publications

    Lara, K. H., Kramer, H. J., & Lagattuta, K. H. (2021). This is not what I expected: The impact of prior expectations on children’s and adults’ preferences and emotions. Developmental Psychology.

    Kramer, H. J., Wood, T., Lara, K. H., & Lagattuta, K. H. (2021). Children’s and adults’ beliefs about the stability of traits from infancy to adulthood: Contributions of age and executive function. Cognitive Development.

    Kramer, H. J., Parra, L. A., Lara, K. H., Hastings, P., & Lagattuta, K. H. (2020). Consistencies among social groups in judging emotions across time. Emotion, advanced online publication

    Lara, K. H., Lagattuta, K.H., & Kramer, H. J. (2019). Is there a downside to anticipating the upside? Children’s and adults’ reasoning about how prior expectations shape future emotions. Child Development, 90, 1170–1184.

    Hjortsvang, K. & Lagattuta, K. H. (2017). Emotional development. In A. E. Wenzel (Ed.), The SAGE Encyclopedia of Abnormal and Clinical Psychology (pp. 1322). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications.

    Lagattuta, K. H., Kramer, H. J., Kennedy, K., Hjortsvang, K., Goldfarb, D., & Tashjian, S. M. (2015).  Beyond Sally’s missing marble: Further development in children’s understanding of mind and emotion during middle childhood. In J.B. Bensen (Ed.), Advances in Child Development and Behavior (volume 48). Waltham, MA:  Elsevier.

    Lagattuta, K. H., Hjortsvang, K., & Kennedy, K. (2014). Theory of mind and academic competence during early childhood: Emotion understanding, relationships, and learning from others. In O. Saracho & B. Spodek (Eds.), Contemporary perspectives on research in theories of mind in early childhood education (pp. 245-267). Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing.