"Dr. Allard received his BA in psychology from the University of Sioux Falls and his Masters and PhD in social and developmental psychology from Brandeis University. Prior to his faculty appointment at CSU in 2014, Dr. Allard spent 4 years as a postdoctoral research fellow at Boston College. Dr. Allard's research broadly focuses on emotion and cognition links throughout adulthood and old age. Of particular interest is how emotion regulation processes are maintained or improve as we grow older and how these regulatory capacities generally influence adjustment and well-being. Dr. Allard's research utilizes a variety of methodologies. These primarily include the use of eye tracking technology to examine how attention patterns influence individuals' experienced and desired emotional states. Psychophysiological assessment of emotional experience is addressed primarily through EDA, HRV, and pupilommetry measures. Dr. Allard has also published research implementing neuroimaging (namely fMRI) techniques. Dr. Allard is a core member of the Adult Development and Aging PhD and Experimental Research Programs at CSU."

"Dr. Allard's research broadly focuses on the cognitive and motivational components of emotional processing and regulation throughout adulthood and old age. Various lines of research focus on how younger and older adults differ in their information processing preferences for emotional information in the environment. This is primarily assessed through attentional preferences for affective material and what those specific preferences mean in terms of emotional functioning and regulation for individuals at different ages. A related line of work addresses age differences in the effective execution of particular cognitive emotion regulation strategies. For instance, are certain strategies more relied upon or more useful for individuals at different ages? These emotion regulation processes are addressed primarily from a hedonic orientation (i.e., desires to feel good and avoid feeling bad). However, emotion regulation efficacy includes the modulation and effective use of myriad emotional states to accomplish everyday goals. Thus, additional research examines how older adults effectively engage in ""utilitarian"" emotion regulation (i.e., regulation that can include the amplification of negative affect to attain a particular goal in the moment)."