I am a mid-career student with experience in science journalism and mental healthcare studying the influence of social media on child development, with a focus on social contagion, magical thinking, unusual niche cultures, and young people’s susceptibility to maladaptive conformity. I am interested in how these issues are novel in the digital age, as well as how they relate to what is already known about the psychological development of children, adolescents, and young adults.

I am a second-year graduate student and my research has focused on the different domains of creativity, how they develop in young children, and what benefits they have. My research interests also include determining how children differentiate between fantasy and reality, specifically through their beliefs in luck and superstitions, and how those beliefs can affect their day-to-day lives.

I am a graduate from the University of Texas at Austin with a BA in Psychology and a certificate in Applied Statistical Modeling. My research interests revolve around understanding the complexities of cultural differences and how they shape conceptual development, social judgements, and cognitive processes in children.

Anna Havner, Julia Weist, Emma Quayle, Risha Patel, Rebecca Varghese, Julia McMahon, David Floral, Christine Madarang, Rasikapriya Krishna, Irene Kim, Lydia Pandyan, Rahulraja Arunkumar, Katherine Peterson

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