Stephanie M. Carlson PhD is a Distinguished McKnight University Professor in the Institute of Child Development at the University of Minnesota. She investigates basic developmental processes in executive function skills in children from infancy through adolescence, with a focus on the preschool period. She is particularly interested in how EF skills can be cultivated through play, parenting, and education, and in turn, how EF skills prepare children for learning and better physical and mental health. Together with Professor Philip David Zelazo, she co-founded Reflection Sciences (for kids) and Reflective Performance (for adults), to provide the Minnesota Executive Function Scale (MEFS) and solutions for improving these important neurocognitive skills more broadly. Her work has received funding from federal agencies and non-profit foundations, including the National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, and the John Templeton Foundation. 

Carlson’s studies have been highly cited and featured in several media outlets, including Time, Newsweek, New York Times Magazine, Times(UK), Forbes, the Wall Street Journal, and National Public Radio. She is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association (APA) and the Association for Psychological Science (APS) and was selected for the 2022 Mary Ainsworth Award for Excellence in Developmental Science from the APA. She is frequently invited to speak at national and international events, including TEDx Minneapolis. She is currently Chief Editor for the Cognitive Development section of Frontiers in Developmental Psychology.