Qi Wang to receive young scientist award from international group

By Susan S. Lang, Cornell News Service

Qi Wang, associate professor of human development in the College of Human Ecology at Cornell, has been selected as the 2006 recipient of the Young Scientist Award from the International Society for the Study of Behavioral Development for her "distinguished theoretical contribution to the study of behavioral development, her programmatic research of distinction and her distinguished contribution to the dissemination of developmental science."

Wang joined the Cornell faculty in 2000 and received tenure in 2005. Her research integrates developmental, cognitive and socio-cultural perspectives to examine the mechanisms responsible for the development of autobiographical memory. She focuses particularly on the relationship between autobiographical memory and the self as they co-mingle and develop across the life course and in the context of culture. She has conducted extensive studies to examine how cultural self-constructs sustain autobiographical remembering by affecting information processing at the level of the individual and by shaping social practices of remembering between individuals (e.g., sharing memory narratives between parents and children).

"These studies illustrate that constructs of the self differ across cultures as a function of the social orientations, cultural values and narrative environments in which children are raised," said Wang. "In turn, such differences in self-construct have powerful effects on the structure, content and long-term accessibility of autobiographical memories."

Wang holds a B.Sc. (1989) in psychology from Peking University, China, and an M.A (1998) and Ph.D. (2000), both in psychology, from Harvard University. She will receive the award at the 19th biennial meeting of the society in Melbourne, Australia, July 2-6.