Our Team

I am a cross-cultural researcher studying children’s understanding and explanatory reasoning regarding significant misfortune (e.g., death, illness, natural disasters). My research focuses on using cognitive, social, and evolutionary theories to explain how beliefs and rituals are cross-culturally recurrent and how those beliefs and rituals impact grief, coping, and psychological well-being over the lifespan.

hannahlunkenheimer.com

I am interested in learning and motivation in children and adults. My current research focuses on intrinsic motivation to pursue future learning activities based on past experience. My previous work includes research on temporal cognition, memory integration, bilingualism, conceptual development and generic language.

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.

Young Susan

Older Susan

I am a first-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.

Maya Vemulapalli

I am a first-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.

Aarushi Gupta, Angie Kim, Anna Havner, Aubrey Clayton, Christine Madarang, David Foral, Harsha Ketavarapu, Jude Stewart, Julia McMahon, Julia Weist, Natalie DeMario, Rasikapriya Krishna, Ruba Siddiqi


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Prospective Ph.D. Students

Dr. Woolley will not be accepting a new graduate student for academic year 2025-2026.

Undergraduate Students

We are not currently recruiting new RAs for the Spring 2025 semester. Please check back in the month of April for potential openings this summer.