Specialist Research Laboratory
Intergenerational Laboratory
| Coordinator | Associate Professor Jeanette Lawrence |
| Location | Room 1106, 11th Floor, Redmond Barry Building |
| Phone | +61 3 8344 8958 |
| email: | lawrence AT unimelb.edu.au |
The nature of the research associated with this lab is life-span developmental in its perspective.
Topics include:
- Perceptions of intergenerational contributions and responsibilities (previously funded by ARC);
- Developmental transitions and pathways (with the developmental consortium and other developmentally-focused groups);
- Developmental perspectives on illness and processes of adaptation.
Research Staff:
Associate Professor Jeanette Lawrence
Research Assistants:
- Sarity Dodson, Jessie Lyons and Kirsty Higgins
Research Collaborators:
- Agnes Dodds, Faculty Education Unit, Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry & Health Sciences
- Dr Sarah Wilson, Department of Psychology
- Professor Jacqueline Goodnow, Emeritus Professor, School of Psychology, Macquarie University.
- Professor Jaan Valsiner of Psychology, Clark University, USA. Professor Valsiner visited our lab during 2004 as a visiting scholar.
- Our developmental research has led to collaborations with the developmental Consortium, the ARACY/ARC Future Generation Network for which Jeanette Lawrence was one of the 50 core applicants.
- It also has led to involvement in a multi-disciplinary group under the auspicies of the Australian Academic of Social Sciences, currently producing a volume on the future of children and young people in Australia (edited by Sue Richardson and Margo Prior).
- We are currently collaborating with Drs. Jennifer Conn and Alison Nankervis, both endorinologists on developmental perspectives on diabetes.
- The research methodology component on our work involves an ongoing collaboration with Hugh Campbell and Andrew Vincent of Highbrow Interactive.
Research Methodology:
A major focus of the research has involved the production of developmental appropriate research methodologies. This has specifically involved work on interactive computer programs.
Understanding Development is a cd with teaching programs and workbooks -- developed by Jeanette Lawrence and Agnes Dodds (Faculty Education Unit). The programs draw on our research in life-span development and have been used to develop lab materials for undergraduate scholar students. They are used in the subject 512-380 Personal and Social Development, and in other universities.
 Screenshot of the "Understanding Development" Program |
 Screenshot of the "Generation to Generation " Program |
The "Generation to generation" program is used for asking people their views of inheritance arrangements in families. The program asks participants to process 4 narratives about inheritance arrangements in families. It asks participants to indicate how much a set of inheritance norms is "What I think" or "Not what I think" and then to their approval for the actions of the givers and receivers in the narratives, and to rate alternative actions these people could have taken. Program development was supported by an ARC grant and was developed by Jeanette and Jacqueline in consultation with Hugh Campbell and Adrew Vincent of Highbrow Interactive.
The "Assiging Responsibilities For Caregiving in Families" program presents research participants with a distribution task in which they are asked to allocate a set of caregiving tasks to family members. The program allows for experimental variations of family circumstances, and participants' abilities to check and revise their distribution choices. There are several versions. The technical aspect of the program was carried out by Highbrow Interactive. One study is reported in Lawrence, Goodnow, Woods and Karantzas (2002).
 Screenshot of the "Assigning Responsibilties" Program |
 Screenshot of the "Living with Diabetes " Program |
This program presents participating young adults with a set of questions and tasks (including building up diagrams and typing-in opne-ended comments). The program is part of the doctoral research of Sarity Dodson. The data are collected on a unversity server. Interested parties should contact Sarity Dodson at sdodson@unimelb.edu.au or Jeanette, below. This project is funded by Diabetes Australia.
For further information or inspection of the programs, please contact Associate Professor Jeanette Lawrence.
Funding & Grants:
Currently the lab is supported by external and school grants.
| Project: | Understanding Young Adults' Self-Management of Their Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus: A Study of Developmental Transitions |
| Year: | 2005 |
| Funded by: | Diabetes Australia |
| Project: | Perceptions of Intergenerational Contributions in Later Life |
| Year: | 1998-2000 |
| Funded by: | Australian Research Council |
Current Research Students:
- Jessie Lyons, D Psych (Organisational)
- Sarity Dodson, D Psych (Health)