Carl Johnson is a facuty member in Applied Developmental Psychology.
He received his doctoral degree from the University of Minnesota in Child Psychology in 1976, focused on cognitive development.
Having long investigated children’s concepts of mind and body, Dr. Johnson has recently turned attention to the development of religious and spiritual concepts like “soul” and “spirit”. His recent work, with graduate students, includes cross-national studies of the concept of “vital energy” or “life force”, as reflecting biological and spiritual understanding. He as also been working to inaugurate a new field of “developmental contemplative science”, with the aim of understanding how developmentally appropriate mindful practices may promote self-regulation in children and youth. In this field he is developing a study of young children’s capacity to attend to their breath and thoughts. And, he working on a project to integrate contemplative principles and practices in the education of teachers and other professionals who work with children and youth.
Dr. Johnson regularly teaches a seminar in the field of spiritual development or developmental contemplative science. He is always interested in collaborating with students with interests in these fields. However, he does not currently have funding to support new doctoral students.