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

Sangmi Park | sapark@clarku.edu

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 Research Assistants

SpAM Team

Amelia Green

Amelia is an undergraduate student at Clark University, majoring in Psychology and French (minor in Education). She has joined our lab as a SpAM team member since 2019. She expects to graduate in 2022

 

Kat Miele

Kat is an undergraduate student at Clark University, majoring in Psychology. She joined our lab in 2020 and is working on the SpAM team. She expects to graduate in 2021.

 

Sage Halpert

Sage is a junior undergraduate student at Clark University, expecting to graduate in 2022. She is a Psychology major and an Education minor. Sage joined the lab in the summer of 2020.

 

Anastasiya Bondarenko

Anastasiya is an undergraduate student at Clark University, with an expected graduation date of spring 2021. She is a Psychology major and an Education minor. She joined the lab in the spring of 2020. 

 

Math Team

Julia Orlov

Julia is an undergraduate student at Clark University, majoring in Psychology (minor in Education). She has joined our lab since 2019 and expects to graduate in 2021 (fingers crossed for grad school graduation in 2022!).

 

Carly Bernstein

Carly is an undergraduate student at Clark University, majoring in Psychology, with a minor in Education and Sociology. She has joined the Math team in our lab in 2019. Her expected graduation date is 2021!

 

Bilingual Team

Taylor Barbieri

Taylor is an undergraduate research assistant in our lab, majoring in Psychology. She is currently working on the bilingual team, interviewing teachers in dual-language education settings. She is expected to graduate in 2021!

 

Ilaria Fiorenza

Illaria is an undergraduate research assistant in our lab, majoring in Psychology and Community, Youth, and Education Studies. She is currently working on the bilingual team. She expects to graduate in 2022!

 

Sharis Carmona Escobar

Sharis is an undergraduate research assistant since 2020. Her major is Psychology and she is currently working on the bilingual team. Her expected graduation date is 2022.

 

Kaela Muñoz

Kaela joined our lab as an undergraduate research assistant since 2020. She is currently working on the bilingual team. She is a double major in Psychology and Spanish. She expects to graduate in 2022.

 

Andrea Majert Galera

Andrea is an undergraduate research assistant working on the bilingual team. She joined our lab in 2019. Her major is Psychology, expecting to graduate in 2022!

 

Scheduling Coordinator 

Jason Kan

Jason is an undergraduate student at Clark University majoring in Biology. He joined the lab in the fall of 2020 and is expected to graduate Clark in the spring of 2021 and enter nursing school in the fall of 2021. 

  

Former Lab Members 

Maddie Thomas 

Maddie is a 2020 graduate from Clark University with a double B.A. in Psychology and Theatre Arts. She has been a research assistant in Dr. Esposito’s lab since 2019 and absolutely loves it! Maddie recently moved home to Vermont where she has started working as an adolescent mental health crisis counselor at a residential psychiatric treatment facility for children. She is an actor, playwright, and theatre geek who has been acting virtually with several theatre companies given the pandemic. When she’s not in the lab, you can probably find her cooking, hiking, skiing, reading, listening to podcasts, or playing with her pet guinea pig, Caramel.

 

Matthew Swanat

Matthew graduated from Clark University in the Spring of 2020 as a psychology major. He joined the lab in the fall of 2019.