Ebenézer A. de Oliveira, Ph.D.

Ebenézer A. de OliveiraBiography

Inspired by Vygotsky, I think of my role as one of a “mediator” of student learning. Together, students and I engage "cultural tools" to co-construct knowledge and understanding, and resolve problems. In practice, this is especially true in collaborative efforts, as I team up with students and former students to conduct research, participate in seminar-style discussions, or reach out to serve others in course field trips or MU sponsored service-learning travels. However, I often also find myself taking the more traditional role of a lecturer in Malone’s classrooms.

Education

  • Ph.D. in Applied Human Development, University of Delaware, DE, USA
  • M.A. in School Psychology, University of Delaware, DE, USA
  • M.A. in Religion/Counseling, Westminster Theological Seminary, PA, USA
  • Part-time studies in psychology, Temple University, PA, USA
  • BS in Bible/Counseling, Cairn University, PA, USA
  • BTh in Theology, Seminário Presbiteriano do Norte, Recife, PE, Brazil

Experience

  • Department of Psychology, Malone University, OH, USA; current rank: Professor
  • AP Psychology Reader, College Board/Educational Testing Services
  • Associate Professor of Psychology, Universidade Federal de Santa Maria, Brazil

Recent Publications

  • de Oliveira, E. A., Mendes, D. M. L. F., Pessôa, L. F., & Oliveira, S. K. de M. (2022). Who gets mad, sad, scared or happy at discipline: Emotion attributions explain child externalizing behaviour. Infant and Child Development, 32, https://doi.org/10.1002/icd.2378
  • de Oliveira, S. K. de M., Mendes, D. M. L. F., de Oliveira, E. A., & Pessôa, L. F. (2020). Moral and conventional violations in childhood: Brazilians tolerate less but expect more punishment than US Americans. Journal of Cognition and Culture, 20, 282-303. doi: https://doi.org/10.1163/15685373-12340085
  • de Oliveira, E. A. (2018). O papel da empatia na creche brasileira [The role of empathy in the Brazilian daycare system]. In C. A. Piccinini, K. Seabra, and V. M. R. de Vasconcelos, (Eds.), Babies on focus: Contributions from developmental psychology (pp. 55-65). Curitiba, Brazil: Editora Juruá.
  • de Oliveira, E. A., & Jackson, E. A. (2016). The moderation role of self-perceived maternal empathy in observed mother-child collaborative problem solving. Infant and Child Development, early view. doi: 10.1002/icd.1993
  • de Oliveira, E. A., Ables, J. N., & Dingler, M. L. (2012). Capítulo 16: Empatia parental [Chapter 16: Parental empathy]. In C. A. Piccinini and P. Alvarenga (Eds.), Maternidade e paternidade: A parentalidade em diferentes contextos [Maternity and paternity: Parenting in diverse contexts] (pp. 391-408). São Paulo, Brazil: Casa do Psicólogo.

Selected Recent Presentations

  • de Oliveira, E. A., Pessôa, L. F., Mendes, D. M. L. F, & Davis-Boone, D. (2022, February). Emotion attributions at discipline explain externalizing behavior in Brazilian children. Poster presented at the Annual Convention of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, San Francisco, CA, USA.
  • de Oliveira, E. A., Mendes, D. M. L. F., S. K. de M., Oliveira, & Pessôa, L. F. (2019, March). Brazilian children attribute more sadness, less fear than US children to moral/social-conventional violators facing discipline. Poster presented at the Biennial Convention of the Society for Research in Child Development, Baltimore, MD, USA.
  • de Oliveira, E. A. (2018, July). Emotion situation knowledge, moral development, and culture*. Simpósio de Pesquisa e Intercâmbio Científico, Brasília, Brazil.
  • Hall, V., Sullivan, M., Brathwaite, K., & de Oliveira, E. A. (2018, April). Walking and talking: Outcomes related to time spent in faith-based preschools. Research-based student presentation at the 32nd Ohio Undergraduate Psychology Research Conference, Ohio Dominican University, USA.
  • de Oliveira, E. A., & de O. Chen, S. (2018, March). Emotion expressivity in US American and Brazilian college students: A multi-method, multi-informant comparison, poster presented at the Annual Convention of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Atlanta, GA, USA.
  • de Oliveira, E. A., Oliveira, S. K. de M., Mendes, D. M. L. F., & Pessôa, L. F. (2017, May). Morality and conventionality in elementary-school children: North-Americans are more liberal and differential than Brazilians, poster presented at the Annual Convention of the Association for Psychological Science, Boston, USA.

Teaching Assignments

  • PSYC 121 – Introduction to Psychology
  • PSYC 220 – Psychology of Human Development
  • PSYC 312 – Cultural Psychology 
  • PSYC 420 – Research Practicum
  • PSYC 442 – Child Psychology
  • PSYC 443 – Adolescent Psychology
  • PSYC 480 – Senior Seminar (co-teaching)
  • GEN 460 - Peace in Stress