MaD Lab - People

People

Dr. Adena Schachner, Principal Investigator

Dr. Schachner is an Assistant Professor of Psychology at the University of California, San Diego. She received her Ph.D. from the Department of Psychology at Harvard University in 2012, and subsequently served as a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences at Boston University, funded by a National Research Service Award from the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Schachner's primary interests are in social cognitive development, particularly how children infer mental states (like intentions, goals and preferences) to explain others' actions, and to understand the objects others own and create.

Dr. Schachner's C.V.

Tanushree Agrawal, Graduate Student

Tanushree Agrawal is a PhD student in Psychology at the University of California, San Diego. As a member of the Mind and Development Lab, Tanushree studies social and emotional aspects of music cognition. She is particularly interested in why music is able to evoke incredibly strong emotional responses in listeners, and how such feelings may be prosocial in nature. Tanushree's unconventional academic journey began at the University of Pennsylvania, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts in Cognitive Science and a Bachelor of Science in Economics. She then worked as an Investment Advisor at Citi Private Bank in New York, before switching careers and obtaining her Master of Studies in Musicology from the University of Oxford. Most recently, Tanushree was a visiting research scholar in the Music Cognition Lab as well as the Working Memory Lab at Louisiana State University.

For more information: www.linkedin.com/in/tanushree-agrawal-62243499

Minju Kim, Graduate Student

Minju Kim is a first year PhD student in Psychology at University of California, San Diego. She received her B.A. and M.A. in Psychology from Yonsei University, South Korea, and has happily started her studies in early social cognition at Mind and Development Lab. Minju's primary research interests ranges from early understanding of social synchrony and imitation to early language and music cognition. As much as she deeply adores infants and preschoolers, she loves playing the piano, singing in a cappella groups and enjoying mint chocolate chip ice creams.

Minju's previous works: https://www.linkedin.com/in/minjukimpsychology.

Michelle Lee, Lab Manager

Michelle graduated from the University of California, San Diego, where she majored in Sociology and minored in Psychology. She is now the Lab Manager at the Mind and Development Lab -- feel free to drop by and say hi!

Her developmental research interests include metacognitive awareness (what people know about their own thoughts and knowledge -- "thinking about thinking"), the dynamics of social cognition and prosocial behavior, and how children interact with artifacts and technology.

Her other scholarly interests include improving user experience (How can we make things more usable, pleasant, and easier to process for real people?), explaining scientific concepts in a relatable and understandable way (Because science should matter to everyone -- not just scientists), and understanding how to teach & learn more effectively.