Research Experience

Ph.D. Dissertation

Study of Autobiographical Memory

Aim 1: Test associations between COVID-related stressors and episodic memory accuracy in preschoolers.

Aim 2: Examine associations of biological stress and maternal reminiscing style with episodic memory accuracy.

Aim 3: Explore potential moderating effects of biological stress and maternal reminiscing style on episodic memory accuracy.

Ongoing Projects

My Role: Behavioral and Sleep Assessor

Parents Advancing Toddler Health

This study seeks to determine which parent coaching programs are the most engaging and helpful for families whose toddlers have sleep and behavior problems.English and Spanish-speaking parents would receive one of three possible parent coaching programs: sleep, behavior, or safety. Over the course of a year, parents would participate in weekly video calls for the parent coaching program for two months, plus four research video calls.

My Role: Physiological Data Processor (EEG & HRA/RSA)

Neurocognitive Development of Infants in South Africa

This project uses EEG measures of brain activity and eye-tracking measures to assess the neurocognitive development of infants in rural South Africa. Infants are enrolled in the project at birth, and we will assess them at ages 6, 15, and 24 months. This study will characterize the patterns of neural and cognitive development in this population, as well as examining whether an early intervention program improves these neurocognitive outcomes.

Former Projects

My Role: Project Coordinator

Hippocampal Development and Sleep-Dependent Memory Consolidation

This study examined whether maturation of memory-related brain structures (specifically, the hippocampus) results in more information being retained without interference, reducing the need for frequent consolidation, which underlies the transition out of naps.

My Role: Research Assistant

Hippocampal Memory Development

This multimodal and longitudinal study examined the structural and functional development of brain regions known to play an important role in memory during childhood.

My Role: Primary Investigator

Consequences of Unsolicited Advice in Psychodynamic Psychotherapy

Therapist and Client Collaboration was coded in the three minutes prior to and after unsolicited advice was offered by the therapist. Changes in therapist-client collaboration and the role of therapist and client attachment styles were analyzed. Findings were published in Counseling Psychology Quarterly.

My Role: First Author

Neural Correlates of Emotion Regulation

This study utilized a pre-existing longitudinal dataset to investigate the early neural correlates of emotion regulation in early- to mid-childhood. Analyses included a region-of-interest investigation and an exploratory whole-brain vertex-by-vertex analysis. Manuscript is published in Developmental Psychobiology.

My Role: First Author

Early Biological and Environmental Correlates of School Readiness

This study investigates the early correlates of school readiness by considering both environmental influences and biological factors. Several measures of SES, maternal caregiving style, and biological stress were tested as correlates of academic competence. Manuscript is currently under review by Early Childhood Research Quarterly