Lindsey Powell 

Principal Investigator  |  ljpowell@ucsd.edu

I study the early development of social cognition and motivation.  How do infants and young children understand others' minds, interactions, and relationships?  What motivates them to attend to and engage with social partners?  How do we develop the abilities to cooperate, communicate, and learn from each other in just the first few years of life? 

Bill Pepe 

Graduate Student  |  wpepe@ucsd.edu

My research examines how children identify people as being affiliated and/or belonging to a group, as well as the resultant attitudes and beliefs they express regarding affiliated dyads, and in/out-group members. 

Kexin (Coxi) Jiang

Graduate Student  |  k3jiang@ucsd.edu

My research examines infants’ ability to track social interactions. I am currently focusing on how past interactions shape their expectations about whether a partner is likely to reciprocate in the future.

Rodney Tompkins

Graduate Student Affiliate  |  rtompkins@ucsd.edu

Website

I am broadly interested in social cognitive development, or how young humans think about and navigate the social world. My current research in the lab aims to characterize children's concepts and evaluations of protectors and protective behaviors.

Tori Hennessy

Graduate Student Affiliate  |  vhennessy@ucsd.edu

My research examines how children actively shape their own learning in social and non-social contexts during early cognitive development. Currently, I’m exploring the influence of children’s individual interests on language production and knowledge.

Katherine Liang

Hi! I'm an undergraduate student majoring in Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience. I am interested in studying how cognitive and social development in children are affected by their upbringing and environment. In my free time, I love walking along the beach and hiking nature trails, followed by cafe hopping in La Jolla and exploring the city!

Elisa Forino

I am an undergraduate majoring in Clinical Psychology. I am super interested in understanding how children come to engage with their environments and learn to navigate social situations. Outside of school, I enjoy watching/playing soccer, trying new cafes, and spending time with friends.

Brianna Hickey

I am an undergraduate student majoring in Clinical Psychology and minoring in General Biology. I am interested in studying the ways children create and interpret social relationships. In my free time, I love running and going to the beach!

Perla Sanchez

I'm an undergraduate student majoring in Developmental Psychology. I am interested in understanding the psychology behind children's behavior, their learning, and their relationships with others. As I hope to work with children in the future, I am eager to deepen my knowledge of child psychology and learn how to create a safe and supportive environment that fosters their growth and development. Outside of school, I enjoy baking, traveling, and spending time with friends and family!

Nisha Shah

I’m an undergraduate student majoring in Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience. I’m interested in child development, specifically how they interact and perceive the world and relationships within it. In my free time, I love to read, bake, and explore new coffee shops!

Harleen Dhanda

I am a visiting scholar from UC Santa Barbara through the UC LEADS program. I am a Psychological and Brain Sciences major and Educational Studies minor. I am interested in child development, specifically early and persistent alcohol and other drug (AOD) use and it’s affects on adolescents’ social cognition. Post-graduation I look forward to working with adolescents in the Fresno County school district and working towards my doctorate to understand how early AOD affects adolescents’ social cognition. Outside of academia, I love to bake, make decorative crafts, and spruce up my plants :)

Brenda Simon

I am an undergraduate student majoring in neurobiology. I am interested in learning about brain development during childhood, specifically their responses in stressful environments as well as the effect of maternal mental health on their development. In my free time I enjoy reading thrillers and crochet!

Cara Smith

I am an undergraduate student majoring in Developmental Psychology. I hope to learn more about children and their mental capabilities and processes. My future goals are to become a child and teen therapist. I have a deep love for children and aspire to help them develop emotional coping skills that will support them through life's challenges. I also have a strong interest in autism advocacy and supporting neurodiverse communities. In my free time, I enjoy spending time with my friends, reading, and scrapbooking.

Annalyn Nguyen

I'm an undergraduate student majoring in Clinical Psychology and minoring in General Biology. I am interested in undertstanding children’s minds, specifically how their early experiences and social interactions affect their mental development. Additionally, I want to understand mental disorders including PTSD, depression, and anxiety to ultimately help children who may experience these and improve their mental well-being as a child psychologist. Some of my hobbies include dancing, going to the beach, and spending time with friends and family!

Jialu Zou

I am an undergraduate student majoring in Cognitive Science with a specialization in Neuroscience. Currently, my goal is to pursue a career in pediatric medicine. I find working with children incredibly exciting and rewarding. I enjoy observing how they interact with their environment and how their curiosity promotes learning. Outside of school and research, I enjoy dancing and spending time with friends.

Estelle Handa

I am an undergraduate majoring in Developmental Psychology. I have a deep interest in studying both typical and atypical development in children, and how their cognitive abilities are shaped by their upbringing and early environments. Outside of school, I love to dance, play tennis and go exploring with my friends - especially thrifting and trying new foods!

Ryan Le

I’m a Social Psychology + Cognitive Science major here at UCSD. I’m interested in exploring the social and cognitive foundations of learning as well as how those foundations inform understanding of social relationships. In my free time I like swimming, tennis, going to the gym, playing video games, and playing the piano!

Madison Wolfe

I’m a Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience major interested in how brain systems support social thinking and decision-making, especially in childhood. My research focuses on how goals and social environments shape perception and choice. Outside of academics, I enjoy the beach, Disneyland, and spending time with friends and family.

Kaisheen Chen

I'm an undergraduate majoring in Social Psychology. I love learning about the ways in which children perceive their surroundings, and how the human brain develops. In my free time, I mainly enjoy playing basketball, spending time with friends, and discovering delicious food.

Zainab Cinar

I am a double major in Psychology and Cognitive & Behavioral Neuroscience, with a strong interest in understanding why we think and behave the way we do. More specifically I am interested in how social behaviors, attitudes, and beliefs form and manifest early in life and how they shape the way we interact with one another. Outside of my academic interests, I enjoy reading, a good cup of coffee, playing sudoku, and spending time with my cat.

Ava Hooshmand

I’m an undergraduate majoring in Developmental Psychology. I’m interested in learning more about how children understand their social world and build relationships, including how they interpret others’ emotions and goals. In my free time, I enjoy playing the guitar, watercoloring, and going to the beach.

Dex

More of a beach dog than an office dog, but here he is doing his best to provide cognitive science with an ambiguous dog-rabbit stimulus.

Sulli

Sulli is a spoiled cat studying how to mess up Coxi’s laptop. She’s always asserting her dominance over Coxi’s lap while she’s working. In exchange, during Zoom studies, Sulli sometimes serves as a cute distraction to capture baby participants’ attention just before they’re about to get upset.

Bella Bean

Bella Bean waking up from her 10th nap of the day!

Crouton

Crouton is a corgi puppy who loves to drink water, dig at the beach, and smell flowers. He's currently working on growing into his ears and paws. When he grows up, Crouton hopes to be a pilot, or whatever will get him closer to birds (paws crossed!).