Childhood Researcher to Speak at Williams College
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. - Steven R. Asher, professor of psychology and neuroscience at Duke University, will deliver a lecture titled "The Social Tasks of Friendship" as part of the Psychology Class of 1960 Scholars Colloquium series. The talk will take place on Thursday, March 12, at 4 p.m. in Bronfman 105 on the Williams College campus.A developmental psychologist, Asher's academic interests include peer relations and social competence among children. He has researched childhood loneliness and how children's goals and strategies influence their response to social challenges. Asher has also studied the processes underlying children's peer acceptance, friendship participation, and friendship quality.
He is the author of multiple books and scholarly articles, including "Children's Friendship" and "Peer Rejection in Childhood."
The recipient of numerous honors and awards, he was invited last year to be an Inaugural Fellow of the American Educational Research Association. He also holds fellow status in the Association for Psychological Sciences and the American Psychological Association.
Asher received his B.A. from Rutgers University in 1966 and his Ph.D. in developmental psychology from the University of Wisconsin at Madison in 1971. He did his postdoctoral work at the University of Illinois Center for Advanced Study.
