Phil Zelazo is the Nancy M. and John E. Lindahl Professor at the Institute of Child Development, University of Minnesota. His research has helped shape current understanding of executive function (EF) and its development, including the key roles of reflection, rule use, hierarchical complexity, mindfulness, and emotion (hot versus cool EF), and it has led to the design of widely used standardized measures of EF (e.g., he was lead developer of the EF measures for the NIH Toolbox measures of EF) and the creation of effective interventions for promoting the healthy development of EF in early childhood. Zelazo has received numerous awards, including a Boyd McCandless Young Scientist Award from the APA, and a Canada’s Top 40 Under 40 Award. He was Founding Editor of the Journal of Cognition and Development, he serves on several editorial boards, and is editor of the two-volume Oxford Handbook of Developmental Psychology (2013).

This profile was last updated on June 8, 2020

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