Stephanie M. Carlson is an American developmental psychologist whose research has contributed to scientific understanding of the development of children's executive function skills, including psychometrics and the key roles of imagination and distancing.
In 2007, she moved to the Institute of Child Development, University of Minnesota, where she co-directs (with Philip David Zelazo) the Developmental Social Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory.
In 2021, Carlson and Zelazo co-founded Reflective Performance, Inc., to measure and develop executive function skills for the adult work force.
[11] In contrast, children with worse executive function skills are more likely to have a history of deprived care, such as experience in orphanages,[12][13] and prenatal exposure to alcohol.
[3] Together with former students Rachel White and Emily Prager, and colleagues Angela Duckworth and Ethan Kross, Carlson has shown that asking children to role-play as if they were an exemplary character (e.g., Batman), which creates psychological distance, increases kindergarten children's executive function scores by the equivalent of 1 year of development,[15] and helps them to resist a tempting video game and persist longer at tasks.