Dr. Christy Wolfe

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Dr. Christy Wolfe (email) earned her BS in psychology from the University of Virginia’s College at Wise, her MA in experimental psychology at East Tennessee State University, and her PhD in psychological sciences with an emphasis in developmental processes from Virginia Tech.  

Her research interests include the development of executive functioning (e.g., working memory, inhibitory control, and focused attention) from infancy to early childhood and how this relates to temperament, patterns of brain electrical activity, and measures of heart rate. Her most recent research investigates the relation between executive functioning and temperamental shyness, specifically. Her research has been published in Brain and Cognition, Developmental Neuropsychology, Cognitive Development, Developmental Psychobiology, and International Journal of Behavioral Development.  

Dr. Wolfe currently teaches in Bellarmine’s psychology and neuroscience programs and serves as the faculty advisor for Psi Chi and Chair of the Institutional Review Board. She enjoys spending time with her husband, two daughters, German Shepherd, and drinking coffee.  

Publications 

  • Wolfe, C. D., & Bell, M. A. (2023). The interplay between cognition and emotion in infancy and toddlerhood: Special issue editorial. Infant Behavior and Development, 72. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.infbeh.2023.101845

  • *Bell, M.A., *Wolfe, C.D., Diaz, A., & Liu, R. (2019). Cognition and emotion in development. In V. LoBue, K. Perez-Edgar, & K. Buss (Eds.), Handbook of emotional development. Springer Nature Switzerland AG. https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1007/978-3-030-17332-6_15 [*co-first authorship]

  • Joyce, A. W., Friedman, D. R., Wolfe, C. D., & Bell, M. A. (2018). Executive attention at eight years: Concurrent and longitudinal predictors and individual differences. Infant and Child Development. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/icd.2066

  • Loprinzi, P. D., Wolfe, C. D., & Walker, J, F. (2015). Exercise facilitates smoking cessation indirectly via improvements in smoking-specific self-efficacy: Prospective cohort study among a national sample of young smokers. Preventive Medicine, 81, 63-66. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ypmed.2015.08.011

  • Wolfe, C. D., & Bell, M. A. (2014). Brain electrical activity of shy and non-shy preschool-aged children during executive function tasks. Infant and Child Development. https://doi.org/10.1002/icd.1858

  • Wolfe, C. D., Zhang, J., Kim-Spoon, J., & Bell, M. A. (2014). A longitudinal perspective on the association between cognition and temperamental shyness. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 38(3), 266-276. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0165025413516257

  • Hannesdóttir, D. K., Doxie, J., Bell, M. A., Ollendick, T. H., & Wolfe, C. D. (2010). Emotion regulation and anxiety during middle childhood:  Associations with frontal EEG asymmetry in infancy and early childhood. Developmental Psychobiology, 52, 197-204. https://doi.org/10.1002/dev.20425

  • Bell, M. A., Greene, D. R., & Wolfe, C. D. (2010). Psychobiological mechanisms of cognition-emotion integration in early development. In S. Calkins & M.A. Bell (eds.), The integration of cognition and emotion in early development. Washington, DC:  American Psychological Association. https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/12059-007

  • Bell, M. A., & Wolfe, C. D. (2008). The use of the electroencephalogram in research on cognitive development. In L. A. Schmidt & S. J. Segalowitz (Eds.), Developmental psychophysiology: Theory, systems, and methods (pp. 150–170). Cambridge University Press. https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2008-09538-006

  • Wolfe, C. D., & Bell, M. A. (2007). Sources of variability in working memory in early childhood: A consideration of age, temperament, language, and brain electrical activity. Cognitive Development, 22, 431-455. https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1016/j.cogdev.2007.08.007

  • Wolfe, C. D., & Bell, M. A. (2007). The integration of cognition and emotion during infancy and early childhood: Regulatory processes associated with the development of working memory. Brain and Cognition, 65, 3-13. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bandc.2006.01.009

  • Bell, M. A., & Wolfe, C. D. (2007). Changes in brain functioning from infancy to early childhood: Evidence from EEG power and coherence during working memory tasks. Developmental Neuropsychology, 31, 21-38. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15326942dn3101_2

  • Bell, M. A., & Wolfe, C. D. (2007). The cognitive neuroscience of early socioemotional development. In C. A. Brownell & C. B. Kopp (Eds.), Socioemotional development in the toddler years: Transitions and transformations (pp. 345–369). The Guilford Press. https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2007-15136-014

  • Bell, M.A., Wolfe, C.D., & Adkins, D.R. (2007). Frontal lobe development during infancy and childhood: Contributions of brain electrical activity, temperament, and language to individual differences in working memory and inhibitory control. In D. Coch, G. Dawson, & K.W. Fischer (Eds.), Human behavior and the developing brain (2nd ed.): Typical development (pp. 247-276). New York: Guilford.

  • Bell, M. A., & Wolfe, C. D. (2004). Emotion and cognition: An intricately bound developmental process. Child Development, 75, 366-370. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2004.00679.x

  • Wolfe, C. D., & Bell, M. A. (2004). Working memory and inhibitory control in early childhood: Contributions from electrophysiology, temperament, and language. Developmental Psychobiology, 44, 68-83. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/14704991/