Cognitive Development Lab

Lab Members

Faculty Members

Hilary Barth, Ph.D. studies mathematical cognition and development throughout childhood and into adulthood. A second line of research investigates children’s social cognitive development. She is director of the Yellow Lab. [Faculty Page; Publications]

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. She is director of the Blue Lab. [Faculty Page; Publications]

Postdoctoral Fellow

Emily Slusser, Ph.D. is interested in how young children learn number word semantics via preverbal representations of quantity and numerosity. She has explored how this process is realized within and across languages and is particularly interested in how various syntactic and semantic restrictions elicit distinctive developmental trajectories. Additionally, her background in early childhood education and intervention has prompted a growing interest in bridging basic research with early educational practices through the development of school readiness curricula and training. Dr. Slusser collaborates with both of the Cognitive Development Labs. [Faculty Page; Publications]

Lab Coordinator

Jessica Taggart is the Joint Lab Coordinator. She graduated from Johns Hopkins University in 2012 with a B.A. in Psychology and English. She is currently working on a study investigating children’s understanding of inverse relationships in multiplication and division in the Yellow Lab and a study investigating toddlers’ understanding of the word “two” in the Blue Lab. She is also interested in how children learn through play.

Undergraduate Research Assistants

Blue Lab RAs
	Srotoshini Bhalobasha ’14, who goes by Asha, is a psychology major interested in child psychology and education. She is primarily working on a study looking at how children learn to count and hopes to improve early education through research in cognitive development. She enjoys working with children and wants to pursue a career as a clinical psychologist.
	Taylor Deloach ’13 is a Psychology major currently studying children’s use of landmarks in search and reorientation. She is a coordinator for Wesleyan’s WesReads/WesMath tutoring program and enjoys volunteering at elementary schools. She hopes to one day open a socioeconomically and culturally diverse preschool.
	Rebecca Lange ’13 is a Psychology and Philosophy double major interested in cognitive and social development. She is currently studying number development in hearing and oral deaf preschool-aged children. Outside of the lab, Rebecca is involved in an a cappella group and a cooking co-op. After graduation, she hopes to join Teach For America and then pursue graduate work in psychology.
	Angela Lo ’14 is a Psychology major and a Japanese language student, who is interested in early education and child development. She is currently working on developing a research-based preschool math curriculum. She loves children and hopes to work with them in her future career.
	Samantha Melvin ’13 is a Psychology major interested in cognitive development and education. She is currently studying spatial navigation and reorientation, toddlers’ early understanding of the word two, and the effects of learning American Sign Language in adulthood on spatial cognition. Outside of the lab, she is involved in dance and theater groups on campus. After graduation, she hopes to apply her knowledge of child development to policy research and to ultimately attend graduate school.
	Andrew Ribner ’14 is an Educational Psychology & Learning Theory and Biology double major, and is studying how socioeconomic status influences early academic achievement through numeracy and language acquisition. He is photography editor of the Wesleyan Argus and chapter leader of Wesleyan Students for Education Reform, but you will most often find him baking cakes and cleaning dishes.
	Simoneil Sarbh ’13 is a Psychology major, who enjoys taking lots of Sociology and Theater classes on the side. Her goal is to research how children with disabilities learn different concepts and to help develop curricula to help them learn those concepts. She is interested in Education and Psychology and hopes to find a way to combine the two in her future career. Sim loves kids, acting, and always has music playing in her head!
Yellow Lab RAs
	Isabel Bernstein ’13 is a Biology major. She is currently working on a spatial bias and number line estimation study in the Yellow Lab. She is interested in non-human primate cognition and evolution, and hopes to end up in a rain forest after graduation.
	Emilie George ’13 is a Neuroscience and Behavior major currently studying the influence of proportional reasoning on number line tasks in young children at the yellow lab. She is a volunteer at Wesleyan’s Elderly Services, a member of the Wesleyan Women’s Crew Team, and an EMT.
	Madeline Kidd ’14 is a Neuroscience and Behavior major pursuing a certificate in the Science in Society Program. She is currently working on a project related to proportion judgment and spatial bias in young children. Maddie is a member of Wesleyan’s Active Minds student group and sits as a class representative on the Student Health Advisory Committee. She hopes to pursue a career in pediatric neurology.
	Ellen Lesser ’15 is a prospective Neuroscience and Behavior major pursuing a certificate in South Asian Studies. She is currently working on a project in the yellow lab to related to number-line estimation, proportion judgment, and spatial biases. She also tutors local high school students for the SAT and enjoys cooking.
	Portia Lundie ’14 is a Psychology and Classics major. Her interest in developmental psychology developed over years of working closely with children of all ages and developmental abilities in preschool, after school, and summer camp settings. She hopes to pursue psychology research in these areas after graduation.
	Laura Machlin ’13 is a Psychology and Science in Society double major. In the lab, she is currently studying the development of proportional reasoning. She also works in the Reasoning and Decision Making Lab, volunteers at Connecticut Valley Hospital and loves to bake cupcakes. After graduation, she hopes to pursue psychology research.
	Jillian Roberts ’15 is a prospective Psychology and Sociology double major, and is currently working on a study in the Yellow Lab about spatial biases in young children. She is co-director of Precision Troupe Dance Company, a member of Fusion Dance Crew, a member of the executive board of the Wesleyan chapter of Shining Hope For Communities, and works as a camp counselor during the summer. She hopes to pursue a career as a dance therapist.
	Jason Saltiel ’14 is a member of the Reasoning and Decision Making Lab; he is working with the Yellow Lab on probability, numeracy, and decision making in adults.
	Amy Toig ’14 is a Psychology and Spanish double major and is pursuing a Certificate in Writing. Through her studies in the Yellow Lab, she is currently focusing on the development of proportional reasoning in children. She is the lead singer for a band on campus and a member of the Wesleyan Women’s soccer team. Amy hopes to pursue a career in developmental psychology.