Professor Emerita of Developmental Studies
(PhD, Cornell University)

Contact Information

Child Development and Family Studies Building
Purdue University
101 Gates Road
West Lafayette, Indiana 47907-2020

E-mail: okagaki@purdue.edu

Major Interests and Activities

Dr. Okagaki's research focuses on parenting and children's school achievement in minority families and on parental socialization of beliefs and values. In addition, she examines the development of ethnic identity among minority children and adolescents. Currently she is conducting a study on Socialization of Family Values. The goal of this research is to better understand the beliefs parents have about how children develop beliefs and values and how parents can encourage their children's development.

Editorial Board, Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology

Representative Publications

Okagaki, L., (2001). Parental beliefs, parenting style and children's intellectual

   development. In E. L. Grigorenko & R. J. Sternberg (Eds.), Family environment

   and intellectual functioning: A life-span perspective (pp. 141-172). Hillsdale, NJ:

   Erlbaum Associates.

Okagaki, L. (2001). Triarchic model of minority children's school achievement.

   Educational Psychologist, 36(1), 9-20.

Okagaki, L., & Diamond, K.E. (2000). Responding to cultural and linguistic differences

   in the beliefs and practices of families with young children. Young Children, 55 (3),

   74-80.

Okagaki, L., & Moore, D.K. (2000). Socialization of ethnic identity in families of

   Mexican descent. Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, 22 (2), 139-162.

Okagaki, L., & Bevis, C. (1999). Transmission of religious values: Relations between

   parents' and daughters' beliefs. Journal of Genetic Psychology, 160, 303-318.

Okagaki, L., Hammond, K.A., & Seamon, L. (1999). Socialization of religious beliefs.

   Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 20, 273-294.

Okagaki, L., Diamond, K. E., Kontos, S. J., & Hestenes, L. L. (1998). Correlates of

   young children's interactions with classmates with disabilities. Early Childhood

   Research Quarterly, 13, 67-86.

Okagaki, L., & Frensch, P. A. (1998). Parenting and children's school achievement:

   A multi-ethnic perspective. American Educational Research Journal, 35(1), 123-144.

Okagaki, L., Frensch, P. A., & Dodson, N. E. (1996). Mexican-American children's

   self-perceptions and school achievements. Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences,

   18(4), 469-484.

Okagaki, L., Frensch, P. A., & Gordon, E. W. (1995). Encouraging school achievement

   in Mexican-American children. Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, 17(2),

   160-179.

Bernardo, A. B. I., & Okagaki, L. (1994). The roles of symbolic knowledge and

   problem information context in solving word problems. Journal of Educational

   Psychology, 86(2), 212-220.

Okagaki, L., & Frensch, P. A. (1994). Parental support for Mexican-American

   children's school achievement. In H. I. McCubbin, E. A. Thompson, A. I. Thompson,

   & J. E. Fromer (Eds.), Resiliency in ethnic minority families: Native and immigrant

   American families. (Vol. 1, pp. 325-342). Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin

   System.

Okagaki, L., & Frensch, P. A. (1994). Effects of video game playing on measures of

   spatial performance: Gender effects in late adolescence. Journal of Applied

   Developmental Psychology, 15(1), 33-58.

Okagaki, L., & Sternberg, R. J. (1994). Perspectives on kindergarten: Rafael,

   Vanessa, and Jamlien go to school. Childhood Education, 71(1), 14-19.

Okagaki, L., & Sternberg, R. J. (1993). Parental beliefs and children's early school

   performance. Child Development, 64(1), 36-56.

Okagaki, L., & Sternberg, R. J. (Eds.). (1991). Directors of development: Influences

   on the development of children's thinking. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum

   Associates.