Professor of Psychology
New York University
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Principal Investigator, Cognitive Development Lab
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President Elect, Cognitive Development Society
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Associate Editor, Child Development
Email: andrei.cimpian@nyu.edu
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AndreiCimpian
Phone: +1-212-998-3551
Sophie Arnold
Graduate Student
Email: sophie.arnold@nyu.edu
Sophie graduated from the University of Chicago in 2018 with degrees in Psychology and Economics before working as the Yale Social Cognitive Development Lab manager from 2018-2020. She is primarily interested in understanding the reasons behind the development of behaviors and preferences that lead to societal gender disparities like the wage gap. She is also interested in questions at the intersection of moral reasoning and group membership. Outside of the lab, Sophie enjoys playing cards, reading fiction and hiking.
Dr. Eliana Avitzour
Postdoctoral Fellow
PhD, Tel-Aviv University
Email: eliana.avitzour@nyu.edu
Eliana is interested in the psychological mechanisms that lead to gender-biased behavior in adults, and in the origins of gender stereotypes in children. One strand of her research focuses on implicit and explicit gender stereotypes (of adults) and their different roles in predicting gender discriminatory behavior towards children. The other deals with the origins of gender stereotypes in children focusing on objectification – specifically, the role of physical appearance in defining the identify of young girls. In both strands of research, she is interested in exploring the social phenomena as well as in finding evidence-based methods to alleviate them.
Dr. Mark Bowker
Visiting Scholar
PhD, University of St. Andrews
Email: markalanbowker@gmail.com
Mark is a philosopher by training, working on issues at the intersection of philosophy of mind/language and psychology. He is particularly interested in the connection between language, stereotypes, and prejudice, as well as the relation between philosophical and psychological descriptions of mind and language.
Natalie Hutchins
Lab Coordinator
Email: natalie.hutchins@nyu.edu
Natalie is a 2020 graduate from Franklin & Marshall College with a degree in psychology. Her prior research interests focused on differences in social learning and attention between typically developing children and children with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Natalie hopes to learn more about gender stereotyping across development in her time at CDL. In her free time, Natalie enjoys playing board games, reading, and being outside.
Mert Kobaş
Graduate Student
Email: mk7922@nyu.edu
Mert graduated from Boğaziçi University with a Bachelor's degree in Guidance and Psychological Counseling and from Koç University with a Master’s degree in Developmental Psychology. He is interested in the role of explanation in adults' and children’s thinking. Outside of the lab, Mert enjoys making music, playing video games, and reading.
Dr. Bethany Lassetter
Postdoctoral Fellow
PhD, University of Toronto
Email: bethany.lassetter@nyu.edu
Bethany examines how motivations and beliefs shape social judgment. In one line of research, she studies how goal relevance guides social perception and emotion. She also examines how beliefs about who can versus cannot change shape social perception and how major political events influence fundamental affective processes. In the Cognitive Development Lab, she is studying the social cognitive development and consequences of gender stereotypes about talent versus effort.
Dr. Jillian Lauer
Postdoctoral Fellow
PhD, Emory University
Email: jillian.lauer@nyu.edu
Jillian is interested in the origins of gender disparities in STEM achievement and interests. Her research has examined various aspects of spatial and mathematical development between infancy and adulthood, with a particular focus on gender-linked correlates of performance in these cognitive domains using behavioral, eye-tracking, and meta-analytic techniques. She is excited to be working with the Cognitive Development Lab, where she is studying the development of gender stereotypes, including those relevant to math achievement.
Rachel Leshin
Graduate Student
Email: rachel.leshin@nyu.edu
Rachel graduated from Northwestern in 2015 with degrees in psychology and gender studies, and served as CDL's lab manager from 2016-2018. Rachel is primarily interested in the development of social bias and stereotyping. In CDL, her focus is on the developmental roots of gender disparities in political leadership. Outside of the lab, Rachel enjoys cooking (and eating), seeing shows, and capitalizing on NYU student discounts throughout the city.
(Primary advisor: Marjorie Rhodes)
Vivian Liu
Graduate Student
Email: vl845@nyu.edu
Vivian graduated from Wesleyan University with a Bachelor's degree in Psychology. She is interested in the overlap of different social identities in children and adults, the development of essentialist thought, as well as practical applications of strategies to reduce stereotyping and bias. Outside of lab, Vivian loves to bake desserts, eat desserts, and read fiction.
Aashna Poddar
Graduate Student
Email: aashna.poddar@nyu.edu
Aashna graduated from Singapore Management University with a Bachelor's degree in Marketing and Psychology and from the Harvard Graduate School of Education with a Master’s degree in Human Development and Psychology. She is interested in understanding how gender stereotypes and status differences affect the development of children’s academic and career interests. She is also interested in cultural socialization and intersectionality. Outside of the lab, Aashna enjoys reading, experimenting with cooking, and running.
Postdoctoral Fellow
PhD, Duke University
Email: adam.stanaland@nyu.edu
Adam joins the Cognitive Development having just graduated from Duke University with a joint-PhD in psychology and public policy. His research centers around three main topics: (1) the origins of rigid social category norms, (2) how these norms affect intra- and interpersonal processes, and (3) the feasibility of shifting these norms and stereotypes to improve outcomes. To study these topics, he explore the origins of rigid masculinity norms, how they affect boys and men across diverse social & cultural contexts, and how to shift rigid masculinity norms to improve male psychology and behavior.
Natalie Toomajian
Lab Coordinator
Email: nt2190@nyu.edu
Natalie is a 2019 graduate from the University of Michigan with a degree in Biopsychology, Cognition, and Neuroscience. She's excited to work at CDL as lab coordinator and continue exploring the complexity of children's development through the lab's research. Her past research focuses include children's understanding of consciousness and conceptualization of Theory of Mind in non-human subjects. Natalie hopes to broaden her understanding of children's self-perceptions and how they impact motivation in school and social behavior. Outside the lab, Natalie enjoys reading, writing, and watching movies.
Lab Alumni
Dr. April Bailey
Former Postdoctoral Fellow (2020-2022)
Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, University of New Hampshire
Dr. Michael Barger
Former Postdoctoral Fellow (2016-2019)
Assistant Professor, Department of Educational Psychology, University of Georgia
Dr. Lin Bian
Former PhD Student (graduated 2017)
Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, The University of Chicago
Former Postdoctoral Fellow (2021)
Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, University of Amsterdam
Dr. Eleanor (Ellie) Chestnut
Former Postdoctoral Fellow (2017-2018)
Quantitative Researcher, Amazon
Former Postdoctoral Fellow (2019-2021)
Assistant Professor, Department of Educational Psychology, University of Illinois
Dr. Matthew Hammond
Former Postdoctoral Fellow (2015-2016)
Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor), School of Psychology, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand
Dr. Zachary Horne
Former PhD Student (graduated 2017)
Lecturer (Assistant Professor) in Psychology, School of Philosophy, Psychology & Language Sciences, University of Edinburgh
Dr. Larisa Hussak
Former PhD Student (graduated 2017)
Senior Director, Strategic Research, EAB
Jilana Jaxon
Former PhD Student (2017-2019)
Master's student, Mental Health Counseling, Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine
Dr. Ryan Lei
Former Postdoctoral Fellow (2017-2019)
Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, Haverford College
Dr. Melis Muradoglu
Former PhD Student (graduated 2022)
Postdoctoral Scholar, Department of Psychology, Stanford University
Dr. Erika Salomon
Former PhD Student (graduated 2016)
Lead Data Scientist, eSpark Learning
Dr. Daniel Storage
Former PhD Student (graduated 2018)
Teaching Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, University of Denver
Dr. Shelbie Sutherland
Former PhD Student (graduated 2016)
Senior Behavioural Scientist, BEworks (Toronto)
Molly Tallberg
Former Lab Coordinator (2018-2020)
PhD student, The University of Chicago
Dr. Christina Tworek
Former PhD Student (graduated 2017)
Director, Strategic Solutions Methodology & Advanced Analytics, Gerson Lehrman Group, Inc.
Dr. Jussi Valtonen
Former Postdoctoral Fellow (2017-2019)
Researcher, Department of Psychology and Logopedics, University of Helsinki, Finland
Dr. Andrea Vial
Former Postdoctoral Fellow (2018-2020)
Assistant Professor of Psychology, New York University Abu Dhabi