Faculty Members
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Hilary Barth, Ph.D. is a cognitive developmental psychologist with a background in cognitive neuroscience and visual perception. Most ongoing work in her lab explores the perceptual and cognitive processing of number and quantity throughout childhood and into adulthood. A second series of studies is investigating children’s social cognitive development. Please visit Prof. Barth’s faculty page for more information and a publication list. |
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Anna Shusterman, Ph.D. studies the relationships between language and conceptual development, primarily representations of space and number. Her lab uses behavioral methods to explore cognitive development and language acquisition in young children. She is also interested in the effects of atypical linguistic experience on conceptual representation. For more information, please visit Prof. Shusterman’s faculty page. |
Postdoctoral Fellows
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Mariah Schug, Ph.D. comes from a diverse academic background bridging developmental psychology and anthropology. Theoretically, she is interested in how modern human behavior may yield insights into our evolutionary past. Her general research interests concern social and cognitive development in early childhood. Much of her recent work examines the development of group bias (e.g., racial or ethnic bias) in infancy. Additionally, she is interested in cross-cultural comparisons of infant and child development and the ontogeny of prosocial behaviors. |
Graduate Students
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Barry Finder is a BA/MA student advised by Anna Shusterman. His research explores the conceptual representation of numbers in preschool-aged children. As an undergrad he double majored in Psychology and Sociology. Barry is excited to explore both disciplines in his research as he strives to better understand the nature of children’s number knowledge as well as society’s pedagogical narratives. Barry is also active in the Wesleyan Office of Admission, working for the third year as the coordinator of the campus tour program. |
Lab Coordinator
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Sarah Edelman ‘09 is the new lab coordinator! She is currently working on a project on social preferences in preschool friendships. She is also the Personnel Director at WESU and sings at preschools. |
Undergraduate Students
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Anima Acheampong ‘11 is a Psychology major on the pre-med track. She is interested in the social cognitive development of children. Anima is also active in two Wesleyan dance groups, X-tacy and ISIS. | |
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Liza Bourchtein ‘10 is a Psychology major who is currently studying the development of number knowledge in preschoolers. She is also interested in researching children with cognitive developmental delays, and studied abroad in Denmark in a program focusing on special needs children. Outside of the lab, she is involved with Amnesty International and works two jobs on campus. | |
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Luci Cassella ‘11 is a Psychology and Science in Society major. She is interested in children’s numerical & social cognition. Luci is a Resident Advisor at Wesleyan and plans to go abroad in her junior year to expand on her French speaking skills. | |
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Lauren Feld ‘11 is a Psychology major. She is interested in adolescent stress and anxiety, especially the associated environmental influences and coping mechanisms found in high-achieving student populations. She is also interested in trichotillomania, an impulse control disorder involving repetitive hair-pulling behavior. |
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Jenn Garcia ‘10 | |
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Dominic Gibson ‘10 | |
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Elise Herrig ‘10 is a double major in Psychology and Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, currently working on lab projects involving children’s social cognition and quantitative thinking. She is also writing a senior essay for FGSS. | |
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Gwynne Hunter ‘10 is a Psychology major. She is currently working on a theoretical project on inductive inference in social cognition, and a study on children’s visuospatial perception and memory. Gwynne is a board member of Mind Matters, Wesleyan’s student-run psychology journal. Outside of psychology, she plays on the squash team, volunteers in Middletown, and helps out with the Farmer’s Market. Ideas for paths beyond Wesleyan are always changing. | |
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Kyle MacDonald ‘10 is a Psychology major currently working on a senior thesis project investigating children’s social cognition. His interests outside of the lab include playing on the Football and Lacrosse teams at Wesleyan. His possible post-graduation plans include graduate school for psychology or education. | |
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Laura Nuzzi ‘10 is a Psychology and English double major. In the lab, she investigates the reorientation abilities of young children in the Navigation Lab. After Wesleyan, she hopes to work in publishing for a few years before pursuing graduate work in either Clinical or Industrial/Organizational Psychology. Outside of the lab, Laura tutors local middle and high school students and serves as a mentor for transfer students. |
Lab Alumnae
Ariel (Ballinger) Starr ‘07 is a Research Associate at the Developmental Cognitive Neuro Imaging Lab at UCLA and plans to attend grad school.
Keera Bhandari ‘08 (MA ‘09) is a Research Associate at the Institute of Living, Hartford Hospital.
AnjaLi Carrasco ‘07 is a student in the M.S. program in Occupational Therapy at Tufts University.
Emily Compton ‘08 is an intern with Texas Wildlife Rescue & Rehabilitation
Nick DeWind ‘06 is a graduate student at the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience at Duke.
Lisa Drennan ‘09 is a professional volleyball player in Denmark.
Meghan Duberek ‘08 is working for a marketing company in Waltham, MA.
Sarah Elgart ‘07 is a student in the interdisciplinary M.A. program in Mind, Brain, and Education at Harvard University.
Joseph Feldblum ‘08 is Teaching for America.
Nicole Gray ‘08 is working as a legal assistant and plans to attend grad school in social psychology.
Margaret Gullick ‘07 is a graduate student in Elise Temple’s lab at Dartmouth.
Rachel Jacobson ‘08 is in law school at the University of Michigan.
Phoebe Jones ‘08 is working at Georgetown University Hospital in the Dept. of Surgery’s Office of Education.
Julie Neuspiel ‘09 is Patient Services Coordinator for a reproductive medicine office.
Ravenna Neville ‘10 is majoring in American Studies with a concentration in U.S. History. She is a co-captain of the Wesleyan Women’s Cross Country team and hopes to pursue a career in education or collegiate coaching.
Annie Paladino ‘09 is a Research Associate with WestEd conducting assessments of children’s math knowledge.
Lisa Sacerio ‘07 is working in cocaine dependence research at the University of Pennsylvania Treatment Research Center and plans to attend grad school.
Corey Savereid ‘08 is teaching at the Eaglebrook School in Deerfield, MA, and plans to enter graduate school for psychology/counseling.
Andrew Smith ‘08
Jessica Sullivan ‘08 is a graduate student in David Barner’s lab at UC San Diego.
Nora Switchenko ‘07 is enrolled in medical school at Oregon Health and Science University in Portland.
Jessica Tsai ‘07 is Assistant Editor at CRM magazine in New York City.
Allison Zoromski ‘07 is working at the Institute for Juvenile Research at the University of Illinois-Chicago. She plans to enter graduate school in Clinical Psychology.