Research Interests
- Children’s deceptive behavior and their socio-cognitive development
- Typical and atypical development
- Parent-child interaction
- Investigative interviewing with children
- Statement Validity Analysis
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Narcisa PRODAN, PhD
Researcher
Research in Individual Differences and Legal Psychology (RIDDLE) Lab
Department of Psychology
Babeș-Bolyai University
Republicii Str., 37, Cluj-Napoca, 400015
E-mail: narcisaprodan@psychology.ro
Professional career
2024 – present: Assistant Lecturer, Department of Psychology, Psychology and Educational Sciences Faculty, Babeș – Bolyai University
2025 – present: Postdoctoral Researcher and Project Manager in Multilateral Academic Projects, Second Swiss Contribution, Title “Children’s Honest and Deceptive Behaviour during School Transitions: Developmental insights from three European educational systems” (CHOICES), Grant IZ11Z0_230823 / F-RO-CH-2024-0328 (2025-2029)
2025 – present: Auditor of The European Association of Psychology and Law
2015 – present: Researcher in RIDDLE Lab, Department of Psychology, Psychology and Educational Sciences Faculty, Babeș – Bolyai University
2022 – 2024: Research assistant in Human Resources Program, Projects for Young Independent Research Teams, Title:„Multifinality of parental economic migration: The longitudinal interplay between risk and resilience factors predicting children’s well-being” MULTI-PATH, Grant PN-III-P1-1.1-TE-2021-1051
2021 – 2024: Assistant in Research Project “Early literacy development of Roma children from Romania: Bridging the socio-economic divide” (ELIRA 2.0), Grant: EEA-RO-NO-2018-0026
2021 – 2024: Board Member of The European Association of Psychology and Law, Student Division
2020 – 2022: Research assistant in Human Resources Program, Projects for Young Independent Research Teams, Title: „Strategic deception as a marker of Theory of Mind development during early to middle childhood: A microgenetic approach” STRATOM, Grant PN-III-P1-1.1-TE-2019-1075
2020 – 2024: Teaching Assistant and Tutoring for Experimental Psychology and Data Analysis, Atypical Developmental Profiles, Legal Psychology and Criminology and Psychology, Department of Psychology, Psychology and Educational Sciences Faculty, Babeș – Bolyai University
2017 – 2019: Psychologist, CHRISTIANA Filantropic Association, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Academic career
2023: Ph.D. in Psychology (Suma Cum Laude), Babeș-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania. Dissertation title: Individual and Contextual Factors Involved in School-Age Children’s Self-Serving Dishonest Behavior in Competitive Settings, Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Laura Visu-Petra; External evaluators: Prof. Victoria Talwar (McGill University, Canada) & Prof. Xiao Pan Ding (National University of Singapore, Singapore)
2018: M.A. in Legal Psychology, Babeş-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca. Thesis: „Children’s ability to construct complex lies and its relation to constructive theory of mind and socioeconomic status” Coordinator: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Laura Visu-Petra;
2016: B. Sc., Faculty of Psychology and Sciences of Education, Babeş-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca – Valedictorian Student
Grants and Awards
2025: ISSBD 2×2 Grant for Early Career Scholars in collaboration with PhD student Meng Dai, National University of Singapore
2025: Early Career Travel Award for the SRCD 2025 Biennial Meeting, Minneapolis, US
2024: Early Career Scholar Travel Grant for the ISSBD 2024 Biennial Meeting in Lisbon, Portugal
2023: Graduate Student Travel Award for the SRCD 2023 Biennial Meeting in Salt Lake City, US
2018: Award for Scientific Activity, Student Academic Performance College, Babeș – Bolyai University Cluj-Napoca
2016: Excellentia Student Psychology and Educational Sciences Faculty, Babeș – Bolyai University Cluj-Napoca, Excelentia Awards Gala, 4th edition
Publications
Visu-Petra, L., Millen, A. E., Lee, A. J., Buta, M., and Prodan, N.* (2026). “I Know Something I Won’t Tell. A Longitudinal Investigation of Children’s Ability to Withhold Information in an Adapted RT-CIT Paradigm.” Applied Cognitive Psychology, 40(2): e70191. https://doi.org/10.1002/acp.70191
Cheie, L., & Prodan, N. (2025). Left behind, but not forgotten: Differences and resilience factors in the psychosocial wellbeing of children with parents working abroad – Evidence from Romania. Journal of Family Research, 37, 181-204. https://doi.org/10.20377/jfr-1087
Prodan, N., Ding, X. P., & Visu-Petra, L. (2024). Truthful yet misleading: Elementary second-order deception in school-age children and its sociocognitive correlates. In Special Issue: Social and cognitive factors that affect children’s honesty. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 237, 105759. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2023.105759
Dumitriu, C. G., Prodan, N., & Toma, A. M. (2023). Intra and interpersonal factors influencing post-divorce co-parenting. Anthropological Researches and Studies 12. https://doi.org/10.26758/13.1.2
Dolean, D. D., & Prodan, N. (2023). Let’s eat grandma: Awareness of punctuation and capitalization rules’ violations predicts the development of reading comprehension. Learning and Instruction, 86, 101780. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.learninstruc.2023.101780
Prodan, N., Ding, X. P., Szekely-Copîndean, R. D., Tănăsescu, A., & Visu-Petra, L. (2023). Socio-cognitive correlates of primary school children’s deceptive behavior toward peers in competitive settings. Acta Psychologica, 240, 104019. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actpsy.2023.104019
Prodan, N., Moldovan, M., Cacuci, S. A., & Visu-Petra, L. (2022). Interpretive Diversity Understanding, Parental Practices, and Contextual Factors Involved in Primary School-Age Children’s Cheating and Lying Behavior. European Journal of Investigation in Health, Psychology and Education, 12(11), 1621-1643. https://doi.org/10.3390/ejihpe12110114
Moldovan, M., Prodan, N., Coman, A. D., & Visu-Petra, L. (2022). Deep dive into the constructive mind: Relating interpretive diversity understanding to anxiety symptoms and parental practices in middle childhood. Journal of Evidence-Based Psychotherapies, 22(1), 55-86. https://doi.org/10.24193/jebp.2022.1.4
Prodan, N., & Visu-Petra, L. (2022). The art of telling the truth to deceive: A matter of intent. Studia Universitatis Babes-Bolyai, Psychologia-Paedagogia, 67(1). https://doi.org/10.24193/subbpsyped.2022.1.05
Sipos, M., Farcas, A., Prodan, N., & Mogosan, C. (2020). Relationship between beliefs about medicines and adherence in elderly patients with cardiovascular and respiratory diseases: A cross-sectional study in Romania. Patient Education and Counseling, 104(4), 911-918. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pec.2020.09.001
Visu G., Poetar, C., & Prodan, N. (2025). Consimțământul sexual la copii și adolescenți din perspectiva psihologiei dezvoltării [Sexual consent in children and adolescents from a developmental psychology perspective] in Infracțiuni sexuale, în special împotriva minorilor. Studii de drept comparat și din perspectiva psihologiei dezvoltării. Hamagiu Press. ISBN/ISSN: 978-606-27-2845-8
Visu G., Poetar, C., & Prodan, N. (2024). El consentimiento sexual en ninos y adolescents dese la perspectiva de la psihologia del desarrullo [Sexual consent in children and adolescents from a developmental psychology perspective] in Delitos sexuales en enspecial contra menores [Special sex offenses against minors]. CUNIEP, ISBN: 978-84-18455-43-8
Visu-Petra, L., Prodan, N., & Talwar, V. (2022). Children’s lies: Intersecting cognitive development, theory of mind and socialization. In Smith P. K. & Hart C. (Eds). Wiley-Blackwell Handbook of Childhood Social Development, 3rd Edition (pp. 668-687) Wiley-Blackwell, UK. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119679028.ch36
Buta, M., Prodan, N., Opre, D., & Visu-Petra, L. (2016). Minciuna în perioada dezvoltării: între tipic și atipic. [Deception: between typical and atypical development] in Visu-Petra, G., Buta, M., & Visu-Petra, L. (Eds.) Psihologia Copilului în Context Judiciar: Fundamente Teoretice și Aplicative [Forensic Child Psychology: Theoretical and Applied Aspects], Cluj-Napoca: ASCR Press.
Other professional activities and training
2026: Participation in the ISSBD pre-conference workshop for early career scholars “An Introduction to Latent Curve Model in Developmental Science” held by dr. Antonio Zuffiano (Sapienza, University of Rome) and dr. Giuseppe Corbelli (Uninettuno University, Rome), Incheon, South Korea
2024: Participation in the ISSBD pre-conference workshop for early career scholars “Open Developmental Science” held by dr. Ana Catarina Canario (University of Porto, Portugal) and dr. Marlies Maes (Utrecht University, The Netherlands), Lisbon, Portugal
2022 – present: Member of the International Society for the Study of Behavioural Development (ISSBD)
2021 – present: Member of the Society for Research in Child Development (SRCD)
2019 – present: Member of the European Association of Psychology and Law (EAPL)
Riddle Lab