Rufan Luo
Assistant Professor,
School of Social and Behavioral Sciences
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Mail code: 3051Campus: West
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Long Bio
Rufan Luo is an assistant professor of psychology in the School of Social and Behavioral Sciences in the New College of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences. She received her doctorate in applied psychology from New York University. Before joining ASU, she was an assistant professor of psychology at Rutgers University, Camden.
In her research, Luo works with young children, families, and teachers from culturally, linguistically and socioeconomically diverse backgrounds. Her work focuses on language and cognitive development, parent-child language interactions, home and classroom learning environments, and sociocultural and ecological influences of early childhood development. She also conducts applied work through developing community-based, early language interventions and language assessment tools. Her work has been published in peer-review journals such as Child Development, Early Childhood Research Quarterly, Reading Research Quarterly, Infancy, Early Education and Development, and Frontiers in Psychology. Her research has been supported by the William Penn Foundation and the Bezos Family Foundation.
Education
PhD New York University
Google Scholar URL
Research Interests
- Home learning environment (e.g., quality of parent-child interactions, language and literacy activities, children’s access to books) in relation to children’s language and school-related outcomes
- Children’s early learning experiences and language and cognitive development in culturally, linguistically, and socioeconomically diverse families; cultural and ethnic differences; socioeconomic disparities; dual language learners
- Development of early language interventions and assessment tools; community-based participatory research
Publications
- O’Fallon, M. K.*, Alper, R.M., Beiting, M., & Luo, R. (2022). Assessing shared reading in families at risk: Does quantity predict quality? American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology.
- Beiting, M.*, Alper, R.M., Luo, R., & Hirsh-Pasek, K. (2022). Keep the ball rolling: Sustained conversational episodes are associated with child language ability. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology.
- Luo, R., Song, L., Chiu, I. (2022, published online). A closer look at the birth order effect on early cognitive and school readiness development in diverse contexts. Frontiers in Psychology.
- Ma, W., Luo, R. (co-first author), Golinkoff, R. M., & Hirsh-Pasek, K. (2022, published online). The influence of exemplar variability on young children’s construal of verb meaning. Language Learning and Development.
- Song L., Luo, R., & Liang, E. (2022). Dual language development of Chinese 3-and 4-year-olds: Associations with the family context and teachers’ language use. Early Education and Development, 33(2), 219-242. doi: 10.1080/10409289.2020.1865746
- Luo, R., Masek, L. R.*, Alper, R. M., & Hirsh-Pasek, K. (2022). Maternal question use and child language outcomes: The moderating role of children’s vocabulary skills and socioeconomic status. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 59(2), 109-120. doi:org/10.1016/j.ecresq.2021.11.007
- Luo, R., Song, L., Villacis, C.*, & Santiago-Bonilla, G. (2021). Parental beliefs and knowledge, parenting practices, and child school readiness: The dual language perspective. Frontiers in Psychology. doi:org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.661208
- Rumper, B., Alper, R., Jaen, J., Masek, L.*, Luo, R., Blinkoff, E.*, Mogul, M., Golinkoff, R., Hirsh-Pasek, K. (2021). Beyond translation: Caregiver collaboration in adapting an early language intervention. Frontiers in Education. doi:org/10.3389/feduc.2021.660166
- Alper, R., Beiting, M.*, Luo, R., Jaen, J., Peel, M.*, Levi, O.*, Robinson, C.*, & Hirsh-Pasek, K. (2021). Change the things you can: Modifiable parent characteristics predict high-quality early language interaction within socioeconomic status. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research. 64(4): 1992-2004.
- Pace A., Luo, R. (co-first author), Golinkoff, R. M., de Villiers J., Hirsh-Pasek K., Iglesias A., & Wilson, M. S. (2021). Within and across language predictors of word learning processes in dual language learners. Child Development. 92(1): 35-53.
- Luo, R., Pace A., Levine, D.*, Golinkoff, R. M., de Villiers J., Hirsh-Pasek K., Iglesias A., & Wilson, M. S. (2021). Home literacy environment and existing knowledge mediate the link between socioeconomic status and language learning skills in dual language learners. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 55(2): 1-14.
- Luo, R., Escobar, K., & Tamis-LeMonda, C. S. (2020). Heterogeneity in the trajectories of US Latine mothers’ dual-language input from infancy to preschool. First Language, 40(3): 275-299
- Luo, R., Tamis-LeMonda, C. S, & Mendelsohn A. (2020). Children’s literacy experiences in low-income families: The content of books matters. Reading Research Quarterly, 55(2): 213-234.
- Atkins, R., Luo, R., Wunnenberg, M, Ayres, C., Lipman, T., Pena-Cardinali, V., Hayes, L., Deatrick, J. (2020). Contributors to depressed mood in Black single mothers. Issues in Mental Health Nursing, 41(1): 38-48.
- Levine, D.*, Pace, A., Luo, R., Hirsh-Pasek, K., Golinkoff, R. M., de Villiers, J., Iglesias, A., & Wilson, M. S. (2020). Evaluating socioeconomic gaps in preschoolers’ vocabulary, syntax, and language process skills with the Quick Interactive Language Screener (QUILS). Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 50: 114-128.
- Luo, R., Alper, R.(co-first author), Hirsh-Pasek, K., Mogul, M., Chen, Y.*, Masek, L.*, Paterson S., Pace, A., Adamson, L., Bakeman, R., Golinkoff, R., & Owen, M. (2019). Community-based, caregiver-implemented early language intervention in high-risk families: Lessons learned. Progress in Community Health Partnerships: Research, Education, and Action, 13(3), 283-291.
- Luo, R. & Tamis-LeMonda, C. S. (2019). Preschool book-sharing and oral storytelling experiences in ethnically diverse, low-income families. Early Child Development and Care. 189(10), 1602-1619.
- Tamis-LeMonda, C. S., Luo, R., Bandel, E., Vallontton, C., & McFadden, K. (2019). Early home learning environment predicts children’s 5th grade academic skills. Applied Developmental Science. 23(2), 153-169.
Courses
2025 Spring
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| PSY 592 | Research |
| PSY 599 | Thesis |
| PSY 593 | Applied Project |
| PSY 499 | Individualized Instruction |
| PSY 502 | Professional Issues in Psych |
| PSY 493 | Honors Thesis |
2024 Fall
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| PSY 592 | Research |
| PSY 593 | Applied Project |
| PSY 599 | Thesis |
| PSY 290 | Research Methods |
| PSY 492 | Honors Directed Study |
2024 Spring
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| PSY 592 | Research |
| PSY 499 | Individualized Instruction |
| PSY 230 | Introduction to Statistics |
2023 Fall
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| PSY 592 | Research |
| PSY 494 | Special Topics |
| PSY 290 | Research Methods |
| PSY 598 | Special Topics |
2023 Spring
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| PSY 230 | Introduction to Statistics |
2022 Fall
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| PSY 290 | Research Methods |