Prof. Olofson came to Wabash in 2008 after completing his graduate studies in infant cognitive development at the University of Oregon. His dissertation investigated how 10- to 12-month-old infants interpret the actions of other people. Recently, his research focuses on father-child relationships, co-parenting, and how to best measure quality father behavior.
Prof. Olofson originally hails from the Seattle area and proudly embodies many of its stereotypes. Perhaps most predictably, he roasts his own coffee and is intensely arrogant about it.
When he is not teaching he spends most of his time with his wife and two children. He can frequently be found wherever there are athletic events on campus, either cheering on the Wabash teams or playing Ultimate Frisbee with students.
Education
M.S. in Psychology, University of Oregon, May 2005
B.A. in Psychology and Philosophy, summa cum laude, Concordia College (Moorhead, MN), May 2002
Recent Course Offerings
PSY 105 – Fatherhood
PSY 201 – Research Methods and Statistics I
PSY 202 – Research Methods and Statistics II
PSY 213 – Language Development
PSY 220 – Child Development
PSY 320 – Research in Developmental Psychology
PSY 495 & 496 – Senior Capstone
Freshman Colloquium: Enduring Questions
Recent Presentations
Olofson, E. L., & Schoppe-Sullivan, S. J. (2021, April 9). Same behaviors, different outcomes: Mothers’ and fathers’ observed challenging behavior measured using a new coding system differentially predicts children’s social-emotional development [Conference presentation]. Society for Research in Child Development 2021 Virtual Biennial Meeting.
Schoppe-Sullivan, S. J., Shafer, K., & Olofson, E. L. (2019, November 21). Hegemonic masculinity and new fathers’ observed parenting and coparenting quality [Conference presentation]. 2019 National Council on Family Relations Annual Conference, Fort Worth, TX, United States.
Olofson, E. L., & Schoppe-Sullivan, S. J. (2019, March 21). Overview of the Risky Interaction Support and Challenge (RISC) Scale [Conference roundtable]. Fathers are Parents, Too! Society for Research in Child Development 2019 Biennial Meeting Pre-Conference Event, Baltimore, MD, United States.
Olofson, E. L., & Volling, B. L. (2019, March 21). Overview of the Marbach Coding System [Conference roundtable]. Fathers are Parents, Too! Society for Research in Child Development 2019 Biennial Meeting Pre-Conference Event, Baltimore, MD, United States.
Olofson, E. L. (2018, June 28). “This Class is Too Hard!" Calibrating the Level of Difficulty in Introductory Psychology [Conference roundtable]. 2018 Psychology One Conference, Duke University, Durham, NC, United States.
Olofson, E. L. (2018, March 17). Fathers are more involved than ever. What next? [Address]. TEDxWabashCollege, Wabash College, Crawfordsville, IN, United States. https://youtu.be/IZ2w_FvBYU4.
Olofson, E. L., Arellano, A., Chilton, T., Cox, K., & Havlin, Z. (2017, October 13). Measuring the quality of fathers’ parenting behavior [Conference presentation]. 88th Annual Meeting of the Indiana Academy of the Social Sciences, Wabash College; Crawfordsville, IN, United States.
Recent Publications
Olofson, E. L., & Schoppe-Sullivan, S. J. (2022). Same behaviors, different outcomes: Mothers’ and fathers’ observed challenging behaviors measured using a new coding system relate differentially to children’s social-emotional development. Children, 9(5), 675. doi: 10.3390/children9050675
Schoppe-Sullivan, S. J., Shafer, K., Olofson, E. L., & Kamp Dush, C. M. (2021). Fathers’ parenting and coparenting behavior in dual-earner families: Contributions of traditional masculinity, father nurturing role beliefs, and maternal gate closing. Psychology of Men & Masculinities, 22(3), 538-550. doi: 10.1037/men0000336
Taylor, A. T., Olofson, E. L., & Novak, W. R. (2017). Enhancing student retention of prerequisite knowledge through pre‐class activities and in‐class reinforcement. Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Education, 45(2), 97-104. doi: 10.1002/bmb.20992
Honors & Awards
McLain-McTurnan-Arnold Research Scholar Award, Wabash College (2014-2015 academic year)