Principal Investigator
Alena G. Esposito, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor | CV | aesposito@clarku.edu
Our research group examines cognitive development, particularly in school-aged children in school contexts. We examine the malleable factors influencing learning and subsequent academic achievement, especially for minority race and language students as well as those growing up in poverty. A context of focus is bilingual education. Within these contexts, we examine how children organize semantic knowledge and build a knowledge base both within and across lessons with the long-term goal of informing educational policy and practice. This investigation entails examining the encoding and manipulation of semantic memory as well as conceptual representation across languages. The work is inherently interdisciplinary and we work with others in the departments of education and language and culture. We use a variety of methods, including experimental behavioral studies, observation, and eye-tracking. Our work takes place in the laboratory, in the community, and in collaborating classrooms.
Current Doctoral Students
Jimin received her BA in Psychology from Smith College and MA in Applied Developmental & Educational Psychology from Boston College Lynch School of Education and Human Development. Grounded in developmental and cognitive frameworks, her research primarily investigates the dynamics between human-to-human and human-to-AI interactions in educational settings, focusing on how these interactions shape students’ perceptions of AI learning tools and human mentors, while also examining students’ sense-making of their mentorship experiences in higher education.
Undergraduate Research Assistants
 Caitriona Andre - candre@clarku.edu Caitriona is an undergraduate majoring in Psychology and minoring in Health, Science, & Society. Currently they work in the lab on the COMET team. They expect to graduate in 2026. |  Anna Cavanagh - acavanagh@clarku.edu Anna is an undergraduate majoring in Psychology and minoring in German. She expects to graduate in 2026. |  Kane Davies - kdavies@clarku.edu Kane is an undergraduate majoring in Psychology and minoring in Philosophy. Currently he works in the lab on the COMET team. He expect to graduate in 2026. |
 Emma Esquivel-Herrera - eesquivelherrera@clarku.edu Emma is an undergraduate majoring in Psychology and Women’s and Gender Studies with a concentration in Latin-American & Latinx Studies. Currently she works in the lab on the METAS team. She expects to graduate in 2027. |  Callie McCarthy - calmccarthy@clarku.edu Callie is an undergraduate majoring in Psychology and Spanish. Currently she works in the lab on the METAS team. She expects to graduate in 2026 |  Vivian Paiz -Mpaiz@clarku.edu Vivian is an undergraduate majoring in Psychology and minoring in Education and Spanish. Currently she works in the lab on the METAS team. She expects to graduate in 2027. |
 Sara Parvin - Sparvin@clarku.edu Sara is an undergraduate majoring in Psychology and minoring in Sociology on the Pre-Med track. Currently she works in the lab on the Eye Tracker team. She expects to graduate in 2026. |  Adin Petricoff - apetricoff@clarku.edu Adin is an undergraduate majoring in Psychology and minoring in Philosophy and Education. Currently he works in the lab on the COMET team. He expects to graduate in 2027. |  Audrey Webb - awebb@clarku.edu Audrey is an undergraduate majoring in Psychology and minoring in Philosophy and Sociology. Currently she works in the lab on the COMET team. She expects to graduate in 2026. |
 Camilla Vitola-Franchi - cvitolafranchi@clarku.edu Camilla is an undergraduate majoring in Psychology and minoring in Philosophy on the Problems and Theories track. Currently she works in the lab on the COMET team. She expects to graduate in 2026 |  Xiaoai (Rachel) Lin - ralin@clarku.edu Rachel is an undergraduate majoring in Psychology Biology. Currently she works in the lab on the Eye Tracker team. She expects to graduate in 2025. |
Staff
Sofia Guzman Farias - sguzmanfarias@clarku.edu Sofia graduated from Clark University in 2025 with degrees in Psychology and Studio Art. Now she works in the lab as a project manager for the METAS Team. |  Chase Burdin - cburdin@clarku.edu Chase is the lab's Game Developer and Web Programmer. They are currently working with the COMET team to help build the math learning game, and updated this website! |
Graduate Alums
Sangmi Park
I received a B.A. in Psychology and M.A. in Child Psychology and Education from Sungkyunkwan University, South Korea. I am broadly interested in understanding how children learn math and how to improve their understandings and facilitate their achievement in math. My current research explores how children understand numerical concepts such as fractions and decimals, how this understanding relates to their math achievement, and how language and cultural factors influence children’s math comprehension. I am also interested in finding ways to improve children’s math performance!
Jayantika Chakraborty | jchakraborty@clarku.edu
I graduated with a BA in Psychology from Loreto College, India, and then pursued an MA in Clinical and Cognitive Psychology from West Bengal State University, India. After my master’s, I have been able to accrue industry experience as a subject matter expert in psychology in an IT-based company. As a graduate researcher, I am broadly interested in understanding the maturational shifts in cognitive faculties across the lifespan and how that affects learning. I am passionate about translational cognitive science research- utilizing quantitative models of cognition to facilitate real-time, qualitative change in learners. Additionally, I also happen to enjoy studying about bilingualism and neuroscience.
Undergraduate Alums
 Julia Orlov – Graduated 2021 |  Taylor Barbieri – Graduated 2021 |  Sharis Carmona Escobar – Graduated 2022 |
 Amelia Green – Graduated 2022 |  Ilaria Fiorenza – Graduated 2022 |  Carly Bernstein – Graduated 2021 |
 Kaela Muñoz – Graduated 2022 |  Andrea Majert Galera – Graduated 2022 |  Kat Miele – Graduated 2021 |
 Maddie Thomas – Graduated 2020 |  Sage Halpert – Graduated 2022 |  Jason Kan – Graduated 2021 |
 Matthew Swanat – Graduated 2020 |  Anastasiya Bondarenko – Graduated 2021 |