David C Witherington
Associate Professor
Area Head Evolution & Development

- Email:
- dcwither@unm.edu
- Office:
- Logan Rm 112
- Education:
- Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley, 1998
- Curriculum vitae
Research Area/s:
Evolution and Development
Research Interests:
- Dynamic Systems and Metatheory
- Emotional development in infancy and early childhood
- Cognitive development in infancy and early childhood
- Development of fear of the dark in preschoolers
- Development of perception and action relations in infancy
Profile:
Accepting students? Dr. Witherington is not accepting students for Fall 2023.
My primary focus is on delineating, elucidating, and resolving conceptual confusion within the metatheoretical foundations of research activity in psychological science. Empirically, my focus is on the study of early childhood, particularly the area of emotional development.
Selected Publications
Witherington, D. C., Overton, W. F, Lickliter, R., Marshall, P. J., & Narvaez, D. (2018). Metatheory and the primacy of conceptual analysis in developmental science. Human Development, 61, 181-198.
Lickliter, R., & Witherington, D. C. (2017). Towards a truly developmental epigenetics. Human Development, 60, 124-138.
Witherington, D. C., & Lickliter, R. (2016). Integrating development and evolution in psychological science: Evolutionary Developmental Psychology, Developmental Systems, and Explanatory Pluralism. Human Development, 59, 200-234.
Witherington, D. C., & Heying, S. (2015). The study of process and the nature of explanation in developmental science. Review of General Psychology, 19, 345-356.
Witherington, D. C. (2015). Dynamic systems in developmental science. In W. F. Overton & P. C. M. Molenaar (Vol. Eds.) & R. M. Lerner (Ed.-in-Chief), Handbook of child psychology and developmental science. Vol. 1: Theory & method (7th ed., pp. 63-112). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
Witherington, D. C. (2014). Self-organization and explanatory pluralism: Avoiding the snares of reductionism in developmental science. Research in Human Development, 11, 22-36.
Witherington, D. C., & Heying, S. (2013). Embodiment and agency: Toward a holistic synthesis for developmental science. In R. M. Lerner & J. B. Benson (Eds.), Advances in child development and behavior, Vol. 44: Embodiment and Epigenesis: Theoretical and Methodological Issues in Understanding the Role of Biology within the Relational Developmental System Part A: Philosophical, Theoretical, and Biological Dimensions (pp. 161-192). Oxford: Elsevier Inc Academic Press.Courses Taught
PSY 220: Developmental Psychology (undergraduate)
PSY 324: Infant Development (undergraduate)
PSY 373: Psychology of Horror (undergraduate)
PSY 450: Philosophy of Neuroscience(undergraduate)
PSY 507: Teaching Seminar in Psychology (graduate)
PSY 521: Advanced Developmental Psychology (graduate)
Lab
If you are interested in pursuing graduate studies with Dr. Witherington, please contact him by email.