Current Postdocs | Current Predocs | Still in training | Past Trainees

Predoctoral and Postdoctoral Trainees

Our overall goal is to produce developmental scientists who bring new insight into the understanding of developmental process from a multi-leveled approach. We seek to train ethical scientists who are also good mentors and to increase diversity in the scientific community.

This is our 27th year and we are proud to introduce our predoctoral and postdoctoral trainees for the 2021-2022 year.



Current Postdocs

Erin Anderson Erin Anderson, CV Postdoctoral Fellow

Faculty Supervisors: Linda Smith and David Crandall

Research Interests: My research investigates infants' early visual experience with inter-object relations. Using head-mounted cameras to capture the infant's point of view in naturalistic settings, we can understand what the distribution of spatial relations is in the environment and what roles age, context, and parents play in shaping these.






Sara Benham Sara Benham, CV Postdoctoral Fellow

Faculty Supervisors: Linda Smith, Mike Jones and Richard Betzel

Research Interests: My research focuses on the relationship between lexical and phonological bases of word learning in children with typical and atypical language development. I am particularly interested in detecting principles of organization and structure in word and sound learning using network-based approaches.












Amanda Grenell Amanda Grenell, CV Postdoctoral Fellow

Faculty Supervisor: Emily Fyfe and John Bates

Research Interests: My research focuses on the relation between individual differences in cognitive skills, such as executive function, and science and math learning in early childhood. I am particularly interested in determining how cognition may influence the effectiveness of specific instructional approaches and materials to optimize learning.










Back to the top


Current Predocs

Emma Cleary Emma Cleary, CV Graduate Student

Faculty Supervisor: Brian D'Onofrio,Psychological and Brain Sciences and Patrick Quinn, School of Public Health

Research Interests: Broadly, I am interested in studying eary risk factors. I am particularly interested in how pregnancy complications and substance use during pregnancy may influence outcomes.













Allison Green Allison Green, CV Graduate Student

Faculty Supervisor: Daniel Kennedy, Psychological and Brain Sciences

Research Interests: My research focuses on better understanding the underlying neural differences in typical vs. atypical development, and whether these neural differences can be used as biomarkers for early identification or individualized interventions in Autism Spectrum Disorder.








Megan Merrick Megan Merrick, CV Graduate Student

Faculty Supervisor: Emily Fyfe, Pyschological and Brain Sciences and Amanda Diekman,Psychological and Brain Sciences

Research Interests: My research interests lie in the intersection of developmental psychology and education. I am interested in how the use and source of feedback affects educational outcomes such as performance, resilience, and motivation.










Joshua McGraw Joshua McGraw, CV Graduate Student

Faculty Supervisor: Justin Wood, Department of Informatics

Research Interests: I am particularly interested in complex network structures, specifically the emergence of intelligent behavior from neurons - in vivo and in silica. I aim to build embodied agents to this means which can model the fundamental learning properties of humans and animals. I believe that fundamental questions of intelligence and consciousness can be answered with task performing models supported with advancements in AI research. My current research focuses on the development of newborn chicks raised in virtual environments as a model learners in which all environmental variables are systematically controlled.









Rebecca Bove Rebecca Bove, CV Graduate Student

Faculty Supervisors: Karin James

Research Interests: My research interests include language development along with reading comprehension in children. I also have a side interest in the social-emotional development of young children.









Hellen Kyler Hellen Kyler, CV Graduate Student

Faculty Supervisors: Karin James

Research Interests: I am on the Cognitive track, and am planning to study if action or object structure drives visual gaze patterns with novel, 3-D printed objects. I will use eye tracking technology to investigate gaze patterns.














Back to the top

Still in training

Shawn Fagan Shawn Fagan, CV

Current Position: Postdoctoral Fellow, Indiana University (B. Bertenthal, Psychology)

Research Interests:I am interested in eye tracking and psychophysiological measures, development of emotion regulation, individual differences and social decision-making.











Mansi Joshi Mansi Joshi, CV

Current Position: Gradate Student, Indiana University (A. Diekman, Psychology)

Research Interests: My research interests are centered around gender and racial issues in education. My research focuses primarily on how how face-based traits of real and hypothetical people signal different opportunities in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). I am also interested in motivational cultures and artifacts within STEM environments that influence how individuals navigate their role.








Andrei Amatuni Andrei Amatuni, CV

Current Position: Graduate Student, University of Texas, Austin (C. Yu, Psychology)

Research Interests:I am interested in the interaction between learned representations and selective attention processes in the development of semantic knowledge.







Thomas Gorman Thomas Goldstone, CV

Current Position: Graduate Student, Indiana University, Bloomington (R. Goldstone, Psychology)

Research Interests: My research revolves around issues in the transfer of learning. I conduct experiments to investigate different factors that promote learning transfer in humans, and develop computational models to help us better understanding the underlying processes through which transfer occurs.





Sara Schroer Sara Schroer, CV

Current Position: Graduate Student, University of Texas, Austin (C. Yu, Psychology)

Research Interests: My research investigates the dynamics of parent-infant interactions and how infants learn about their social world, through observations of naturalistic toy play and experimental studies that manipulate the statistics of social partner's behavior. Currently, I am studying the effects of parent speech and infant vocalizations on dyadic behavior, as well as how social contingencies impact infant attention.







Sophia Vinci-Booher Sophia Vinci Booher, CV

Current Position: Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Texas, Austin(F. Pestilli, Psychology)

Research Interests: My research focuses on understanding how the brain changes and reorganizes throughout the lifespan. I am particularly interested in how specific sensorimotor training experiences contribute to brain changes and the relationship of these brain changes to learning. I assess brain changes at both functional and structural levels using functional and diffusion MRI and I assess learning through a variety of behavioral measurements.




Hadar Karmazyn Hadar Karmazyn, CV

Current Position: Graduate Student, Indiana University, Bloomington (L. B. Smith, Psychology)

Research Interests: I am interested in understanding how children's visual processing relates to language development.





Lindsey Nelson Lindsey Nelson, CV

Current Position: Graduate Student, Indiana University, Bloomington (E. Fyfe, Psychology)

Research Interests: My research interests are rooted in child development, specifically: self-regulated learning, problem-solving, metacognition, executive functioning, motivation, help seeking, private speech, and how these skills are interrelated during early development. Ultimately, I aspire to teach, conduct related research, and continue to dissect early childhood development to provide evidence to inform the design and implementation of interventions that may positively inform what, why, and how we teach our youth in order to optimally facilitate learning during one of the most critical periods of development.


Jeremy Borjon Jeremy Borjon, CV

Current Position: Postdoctoral Fellow, Indiana University, Bloomington (L. Smith, Psychology)

Research Interests: My developing research program is aimed at understanding how the autonomic nervous system shapes and guides behavior during development. Using a combination of wireless physiology sensors, motion capture, and head-mounted eye tracking, we will be able to computationally reconstruct and dissect the naturally occurring behavior of human children and their parents.








Julia Yurkovic Julia Yurkovic, CV

Current Position: Graduate Student, Indiana University, Bloomington (D.Kennedy, Psychology)

Research Topic: I am interested in the development of social cognitive processes in typical populations and in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and studying how individual differences in the development of joint attention and engagement within the mother-infant dyad contribute to phenotypic differences in children with and without ASD.








Elizabeth Clerkin Elizabeth Clerkin, CV

Current Position: Graduate Student, Indiana University, Bloomington (L. Smith, Psychology)

Research Topic: How children learn object names and how skills such as visual processing, attention and memory aid and impact word learning.









Colin Downey Colin Downey, CV

Current Position: Graduate Student, Indiana University, Bloomington (R. Candy, Vision Science Optometry)

Research Topic: Infants' dynamic accommodation and vergence tracking of an unpredicted stimulus.








Kelsey Wiggs Kelsey Wiggs, CV

Current Position: Graduate Student, Indiana University, Bloomington (B. D'Onofrio, Psychology)

Research Topic: Etiology and treatment of neurodevelopmental problems (e.g. symptoms of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, seizures, and autism spectrum disorders) across multiple levels of analysis and time scales.








Grace Lisandrelli Grace Lisandrelli, CV

Current Position: Lab Manager/Project Coordinator, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Research Topic: Developmental origins of various social cognitive processes in typically developing individuals and individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).







Samantha Faber Samantha Faber, CV

Current Position: Graduate Student, Indiana University, Bloomington (E. Newman, PNS)

Research Topic: Using graph and information theoretic approaches to characterize information flow and processing in neural networks derived from effective connectivity of in vitro organotypic cultures.









Brittany Rudd Brittany Rudd, website

Current Position: Postdoctoral Fellow, Clinical, University of Pennsylvania

Research Topic: Impact of divorce and non-marital separation on the development of parent and child psychopathology.









Eugene Kim Eugene Kim, CV

Current Position: Graduate Student, Indiana University, Bloomington (B. Bertenthal, Psychology)

Research Topic: Investigating the developmental processes/mechanisms underlying the emergence of complex social abilities in humans.




Caitlin Lischer Caitlin Lischer, CV

Current Position: Indianapolis Teaching Fellows, Indianapolis (Further Training)

Research Topic: Development of visual attention and social attention in infancy and how motor development influences visual attention.



Maureen McQuillan Maureen McQuillan, CV

Current Position: Graduate Student, Indiana University, Bloomington (J. Bates, Psychology)

Research Topic: The Roles of parent-child interactions, home environment, and sleep on self regulation, attention, school readiness, and behavioral outcomes.






Jennifer Bush Jennifer Bush

Current Position: Medical Student, Indiana University of Medicine (Further Training)

Research Topic: Social development and social impairments in individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD).




Branden Bryan Branden Bryan

Current Position: Technical Problem Solver, Epic, Madison, Wisconsin

Research Topic: Pedagogical efficacy of diagrams for models in Bayesian data analysis







Back to the top

Past Trainees

Linger Tian Xu Linger Tian Xu

Current Position: Research Scientist, Psychology, Indiana University










Lisa Byrge Lisa Byrge

Current Position: Assistant Professor, Psychology, University of North Florida









Lauren Slone Lauren Slone

Current Position: Assistant Professor, Psychology, Hope College, Holland, Michigan










Drew Abney Drew Abney

Current Position: Assistant Professor, Psychology, University of Connecticut










Greg Kohn Greg Kohn

Current Position: Assistant Professor, Psychology, University of North Florida








Alexis Barton Alexis Barton

Current Position: Research Manager, Truth Initiative, Washington D. C.








Umay Suanda Umay Suanda

Current Position: Assistant Professor, Psychology, University of Connecticut








Lisa Cantrell Lisa Cantrell

Current Position: Assistant Professor, Psychology, Sacramento State








Viridiana Benitez Viridiana Benitez

Current Position: Assistant Professor, Psychology, Arizona State University











Daniel Yurovsky Daniel Yurovsky

Current Position: Assistant Professor, Psychology, University of Chicago








Kelly Donahue Kelly Donahue

Current Position: Assistant Professor of Clinical Pediatrics, Indiana University School of Medicine











Joanne Jao Keehn Joanne Jao Keehn

Current Position: Research Assistant Professor, Psychology, San Diego State University











Quetzal Class Quetzal Class

Current Position: Research Associate Professor, Obstetrics and Gynecology Director, Resident Research Program, University of Illinois, Chicago








Claire Coyne Claire Coyne

Current Position: Assistant Professor, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine






Julia Li Julia Li

Current Position: Researcher, Rockman, et al, Research and Evaluation







Isaac Petersen Isaac Peterson

Current Position: Assistant Professor, Clinical Psychology, University of Iowa







Jessica Montag Jessica Montag

Current Position: Assistant Research Psychologist, Department of Psychology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign









John Franchak John Franchak

Current Position: Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, University of California, Riverside












Richard Prather Richard Prather

Current Position: Assistant Professor, Educational Psychology, Human Development and Quantitative Methodology, University of Maryland







Alexa Romberg Alexa Romberg

Current Position: Assistant Research Scientist, Human Development and Quantitative Methodology, College of Education, University of Maryland









Caitlin Fausey Caitlin Fausey

Current Position: Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, University of Oregon






Sandra Street Sandra Street

Current Position: Assistant Professor, University of Wisconsin, Whitewater







Paul Williams Paul Williams

Current Position: Visiting Assistant Professor, Cognitive Science Program, Indiana University, Bloomington




Meagan Yee Meagan Yee

Current Position: Adjunct Faculty, Xavier University







Angela Staples Angela Staples

Current Position: Assistant Professor, Eastern Michigan University






Alice Schermerhorn Alice Schermerhorn

Current Position: Assistant Professor, Developmental Psychology, University of Vermont







Jennifer Miller Jennifer Miller

Current Position: Assistant Professor, Lewis College of Human Sciences, Illinois Institute of Technology






Thomas Baker Thomas Baker

Current Position: Scientist, Clinical Research Management, Inc., Silver Spring, Maryland






Hilary Kalagher Hilary Kalagher

Current Position: Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, Drew University





Elaine Augustine Elaine Augustine

Current Position: Instructor at College of Science and Engineering, Texas Christian University, Ft. Worth, Texas





Leonidas Doumas Leonidas Doumas

Current Position: Lecturer, Department of Psychology, University of Edinburgh





Thomas Hillls Thomas Hills

Current Position: Associate Professor, Psychology, University of Warwick, United Kingdom





Ji Son Ji Son

Current Position: Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, California State, LA






Nitya Sethuraman Nitya Sethuraman

Current Position: Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, University of Michigan






Aarre Laakso Aarre Laakso

Current Position: Research Scientist/Lecturer, Department of Psychology, University of Michigan






Hunter Honeycutt Hunter Honeycutt

Current Position: Associate Professor, Department of Psychology, Bridgewater College, Virginia






Jennifer Lanter Jennifer Lanter

Current Position: Dean of General Studies, Fox Valley Technical College, Appleton, Wisconsin






Joshua Goldberg Joshua Goldberg

Current Position: Software Engineer, Space Telescope Science Institute






Jae Paik border= Jae Paik

Current Position: Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, San Francisco State University






Jill Villarreal Jill Villarreal

Current Position: Research Scientist/Senior Manager at Big Heart Pet Brands






Adam Sheya Adam Sheya

Current Position: Assistant Professor, Psychology, University of Connecticut






Cathy Sandhofer Cathy Sandhofer

Current Position: Associate Professor, Department of Psychology, UCLA






Julie Gros-Louis border= Julie Gros-Louis

Current Position: Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, University of Iowa






John Green border= John Green

Current Position: Associate Professor, Department of Psychology, University of Vermont






Pat Buchanan border= Pat Buchanan

Current Position: Associate Professor, Physical Therapy Program, Des Moines University







William Farrell William Farrell

Current Position: Assistant Professor, Developmental Psychology, Indiana University of Pennsylvania






Jennifer Schwade Jennifer Schwade

Current Position: Research Associate, Department of Psychology, Cornell University




Melissa Clearfield Melissa Clearfield

Current Position: Associate Professor, Department of Psychology, Whitman College







Jana Iverson Jana Iverson

Current Position: Associate Professor, Department of Psychology, University of Pittsburgh






Larissa Samuelson Larissa Samuelson

Current Position: Associate Professor, School of Psychology, University of East Anglia







Richard Andreatta Richard Andreatta

Current Position: Associate Professor, Department of Rehabilitation Sciences & Division of Communication Sciences & Disorders, University of Kentucky






Donald Finan Donald Finan

Current Position: Associate Professor, Audiology and Speech Language Sciences, University of Northern Colorado







Alan Kersten Alan Kersten

Current Position: Associate Professor, Department of Psychology, Florida Atlantic University







Emily Wickelgren Emily Wickelgren

Current Position: Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, Sacramento State







Rosa Angulo-Barroso Rosa Angulo-Barroso

Current Position: Associate Professor, Department of Kinesiology, California State University Northridge






Merry Sleigh Merry Sleigh

Current Position: Associate Professor, Department of Psychology, Winthrop University







Teresa Mitchell Teresa Mitchell

Current Position: Assistant Professor, Eunice Kennedy Shriver Center, University of Massachusetts Medical School








Back to the top