Meriah L. DeJoseph, PhD
Postdoc Fellow at Stanford’s Center on Early Childhood
Welcome! I’m a developmental psychologist at Stanford’s Center on Early Childhood studying children’s self-regulation and cognitive development in the context of economic hardship. My research focuses on how children’s everyday experiences shape how they pay attention, behave, and learn, and how these patterns reflect adaptation to their environments — strengthening some skills while constraining others over time.
My work is informed in part by my own experiences growing up below the poverty line. It motivates a commitment to representing these experiences with accuracy and nuance, and to producing research that informs policies and practices that build on strengths while addressing the challenges families face. These goals contribute to broader efforts within the CERA network, which I co-direct and which aims to advance strength-based approaches to understanding and communicating about childhood adversity.
I received my PhD in developmental psychology from the University of Minnesota, my MA from Columbia University, and my BS in cognitive neuroscience from UC San Diego. I will join the University of Denver as an Assistant Professor of Psychology in Fall 2026.