Emma Rose Hart

I am a PhD Candidate in Developmental Psychology at Teachers College, Columbia University advised by Drs. Kimberly Noble and Tyler Watts. My doctoral work has been supported by the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship.

I am on the market for a new position beginning in the summer/fall of 2025.

My research examines the extent to which early skills and contexts shape later development, and the underlying causal mechanisms. I am particularly interested in the short- and long-term effects of interventions that experimentally change such skills and contexts. Much of my work has focused on programs designed to support children and families experiencing poverty.

A major strand of my current research employs meta-analytic methods to investigate: 1) whether boosts to early skills from educational interventions can change children's long-term developmental trajectories, and 2) whether we can forecast when programs are likely to have long-run effects.

I aim to conduct methodologically rigorous and responsible research that accurately identifies and portrays core developmental phenomena. I aspire for my work to contribute to shaping policymaker investments and parent behaviors that are most likely to support children to thrive.

My work has been published in journals including Psychological Bulletin, Child Development, Scientific Reports, and Developmental Psychology.

My research examines the extent to which early skills and contexts shape later development, and the underlying causal mechanisms. I am particularly interested in the short- and long-term effects of interventions that experimentally change such skills and contexts. Much of my work has focused on programs designed to support children and families experiencing poverty.

A major strand of my current research employs meta-analytic methods to investigate: 1) whether boosts to early skills from educational interventions can change children's long-term developmental trajectories, and 2) whether we can forecast when programs are likely to have long-run effects.

I aim to conduct methodologically rigorous and responsible research that accurately identifies and portrays core developmental phenomena. I aspire for my work to contribute to shaping policymaker investments and parent behaviors that are most likely to support children to thrive.

My work has been published in journals including Psychological Bulletin, Child Development, Scientific Reports, and Developmental Psychology.

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erh2169@tc.columbia.edu

emmarosehart

Publications

Bailey, D. H., Watts, T. W., Hart, E. R., & Yu, M. J. (in press). Learning about development from educational interventions. Annual Review of Developmental Psychology.

Hart, E. R., Bailey, D. H., Luo, S., Sengupta, P., Watts, T. W. (2024). Fadeout and persistence of intervention impacts on social-emotional and cognitive skills in children and adolescents: A meta-analytic review of randomized controlled trials. Psychological Bulletin. [working paper] [data/code] [AERA talk]

Hart, E. R., Gennetian, L. A., Sperber, J. F., Penalva, R. P., Magnuson, K., Duncan, G. J., Halpern-Meekin, S., Yoshikawa, H., Fox, N. A., & Noble, K. G. (2024). The effect of unconditional cash transfers on maternal assessments of children’s early language and socioemotional development: Experimental evidence among U.S. families residing in poverty. Developmental Psychology. [data/code]


Hart, E. R., Sperber, J. F., Troller-Renfree, S. V., Ortells-Faci, P., Halpern-Meekin, S., Sandre, A., & Noble, K. G. (2024). Mothers with low incomes view both individual and structural interventions as potentially helpful for supporting early child development. Scientific Reports. [data/code] [pre-registration]

Burchinal, M., Duncan, G., Bailey, D. H., Whitaker, A. A., Jenkins, J., Watts, T. W., Hart, E. R. (2024). Unsettled science on the effectiveness of today’s early childhood education programs. Science.

Hart, E. R., Vandell, D. L., Whitaker, A. A., & Watts, T. W. (2023). Child care and family processes: Bi-directional relations between child care quality, home environment, and maternal depression. Child Development. [code]

Hart, E. R., Troller-Renfree, S. V., Sperber, J. F., & Noble, K. G. (2023). Relations among socioeconomic status, perceived stress, and the home language environment. Journal of Child Language Development.

Sperber, J.F., Gennetian, L., Hart, E.R., Kunin-Batson, A., Magnuson, K., Duncan, G., Halpern-Meekin, S., Yoshikawa, H., Fox, N., Noble, K.G. (2023). Unconditional Cash Transfers and Maternal Assessments of Children's Health, Nutrition, and Sleep: A randomized control trial. JAMA Open.

Li, C., Hart, E. R., Duncan, R. J., & Watts, T. W. (2023). Bi-Directional relations between behavioral problems and executive function: Assessing the longitudinal development of self-regulation. Developmental Science.

Troller-Renfree, S. V., Hart, E. R., Sperber, J. F., Costanzo, M. A., Gennetian, L. A., Meyer, J. S., Fox, N. A., Noble, K. G. (2023). Associations between maternal stress and infant resting brain activity among families residing in poverty in the U.S. Biological Psychology.

Sperber, J. F., Hart, E.R., Troller-Renfree, S. V., Watts, T. W., Noble, K. G. (2022). The effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on infant development and maternal mental health in the first year of life. Infancy.

Troller-Renfree, S.V., Hart, E.R., Sperber, J.F., Fox, N.A., & Noble, K.G. (2022). Associations among stress and language and socioemotional development in a low-income sample. Development and Psychopathology.

Noble, K. G., Hart, E. R., & Sperber, S. F. (2021). Socioeconomic disparities and neuroplasticity: Moving toward adaptation, intersectionality, and inclusion. American Psychologist.



Under Review/Revision:

Whitaker, A. A., Burchinal, M., Jenkins, J. M., Bailey, D. H., Watts, T. W., Duncan, G. J., Hart, E. R., Peisner-Feinberg, E. Why are preschool programs becoming less effective? [working paper]

Troller-Renfree, S. V., Gray, K. N., Sandre, A., Hart, E. R., Sperber, J. F., Dettmer, A. M., Meyer, J. S., & Noble, K. G. Associations between prenatal maternal stress and infant resting brain activity: A preregistered investigation. 

Watts, T. W., Botvin, C. B., Bailey, D. H., Hart, E. R., Mattera, S., Clements, D. H., Sarama, J., Farran, D., & Lipsey, M. W. Predicting persistence and fadeout across multi-site RCTs of an early childhood mathematics curriculum intervention.

Rosengarten, M. L., Hart, E. R., Bailey, D. H., McCormick, M. P., Lovett, B. J., & Watts, T. W. Using meta-analytic data to examine fadeout and persistence of intervention impacts on constrained and unconstrained skills. [working paper]

erh2169@tc.columbia.edu

emmarosehart