I'm an Assistant Professor of Human Development and Psychology at UCLA in the Graduate School of Education and Information Studies.  Broadly, I am interested in understanding the ways in which experiences in elementary school contribute to children's cognition.

Through my research I examine changes in children’s cognitive skills from early childhood across the transition to elementary school and the contexts that promote this growth. Specifically, employing both behavioral and neurological methods, I examine the development of executive functions, memory, and metacognition between the ages of 3-8. In addition, I work to identify aspects of the classroom and home environment that promote this development. Bringing together these two parallel lines of research, my goal is to understand the ways in which early enrichment and schooling experiences can positively impact brain and behavioral development.