{"id":326,"date":"2025-10-10T20:12:04","date_gmt":"2025-10-10T20:12:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wordpress.clarku.edu\/aesposito\/?page_id=326"},"modified":"2025-10-24T17:33:15","modified_gmt":"2025-10-24T17:33:15","slug":"people","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/wordpress.clarku.edu\/aesposito\/people\/","title":{"rendered":"PEOPLE"},"content":{"rendered":"

 Principal Investigator<\/strong><\/h1>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Alena G. Esposito, Ph.D.<\/strong>
\nAssistant Professor | CV<\/a> | aesposito@clarku.edu<\/a><\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\n

Current Doctoral Students<\/strong><\/h1>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
Jimin Lee – <\/strong>jmlee@clarku.edu<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Expected Graduation – 2026<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

Undergraduate Research Assistants<\/strong><\/h1>\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t
\"\"
\n
\nCaitriona Andre - candre@clarku.edu
\n
\nCaitriona 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.
\n
\n<\/td>		\"\"
\n
\nEstefany Carranza Sanchez - ECarranzaSanchez@clarku.edu
\n
\nEstefany is an undergraduate double majoring in Psychology and Combined Languages. Currently she works in the lab on the Bilingual team. She expects to graduate in 2028.<\/td>		\"\"
\n
\nAnna Cavanagh - acavanagh@clarku.edu
\n
\nAnna is an undergraduate majoring in Psychology and minoring in German. She expects to graduate in 2026.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"\"
\n
\nKane Davies - kdavies@clarku.edu
\n
\nKane 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.<\/td>		\"\"
\n
\nEmma Esquivel-Herrera - eesquivelherrera@clarku.edu
\n
\nEmma is an undergraduate majoring in Psychology and Women\u2019s 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.<\/td>		\"\"
\n
\nBen Klein - bklein@clarku.edu
\n
\nBen is an undergraduate majoring in Computer Science and minoring in Interactive Media. Currently he works in the lab on the Math team. They expect to graduate in 2026.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"\"
\n
\nJosie Libonate - JLibonate@clarku.edu
\n
\nJosie is an undergraduate majoring in Psychology and minoring in Creative Writing. Currently she works in the lab as an honors student. She expects to graduate in 2026.<\/td>		\"\"
\n
\nCallie McCarthy - calmccarthy@clarku.edu
\n
\nCallie is an undergraduate majoring in Psychology and Spanish. Currently she works in the lab on the METAS team. She expects to graduate in 2026<\/td>		\"\"
\n
\nVivian Paiz -Mpaiz@clarku.edu
\n
\nVivian 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.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"\"
\n
\nSara Parvin - Sparvin@clarku.edu
\n
\nSara 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.<\/td>		\"\"
\n
\nAdin Petricoff - apetricoff@clarku.edu
\n
\nAdin 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.<\/td>		\"\"
\n
\nValentina Ramirez-Coronado - VRamirezCoronado@clarku.edu
\n
\nValentina is an undergraduate majoring in Psychology and minoring in Studio Art. Currently she works in the lab on the Bilingual team. She expects to graduate in 2028.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"\"
\n
\nThea Smith - thesmith@clarku.edu
\n
\nThea is an undergraduate double majoring in Psychology and Interactive Media. Currently she works in the lab on the Math team. She expects to graduate in 2027.<\/td>		\"\"
\n
\nCamilla Vitola-Franchi - cvitolafranchi@clarku.edu
\n
\nCamilla 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<\/td>		<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n
\n

Staff<\/strong><\/h1>\n\n\n\n\n\t
\"\"
\n
\nSofia Guzman Farias - sguzmanfarias@clarku.edu
\n
\nSofia 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.<\/td>		\"\"
\n
\nChase Burdin - cburdin@clarku.edu
\n
\nChase 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!<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n
\n

Graduate Alums<\/strong><\/h1>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Sangmi Park<\/strong><\/p>\n

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!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Jayantika Chakraborty<\/strong> | jchakraborty@clarku.edu<\/a><\/p>\n

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\u2019s, 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.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

Undergraduate Alums<\/strong><\/h1>\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t
\"\"
\n
\nJulia Orlov \u2013 Graduated 2021
\n
\n<\/td>		\"\"
\n
\nTaylor Barbieri \u2013 Graduated 2021<\/td>		\"\"
\n
\nSharis Carmona Escobar \u2013 Graduated 2022<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"\"
\n
\nAmelia Green \u2013 Graduated 2022<\/td>		\"\"
\n
\nIlaria Fiorenza \u2013 Graduated 2022<\/td>		\"\"
\n
\nCarly Bernstein \u2013 Graduated 2021<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"\"
\n
\nKaela Mu\u00f1oz \u2013 Graduated 2022<\/td>		\"\"
\n
\nAndrea Majert Galera \u2013 Graduated 2022<\/td>		\"\"
\n
\nKat Miele \u2013 Graduated 2021<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"\"
\n
\nMaddie Thomas \u2013 Graduated 2020<\/td>		\"\"
\n
\nSage Halpert \u2013 Graduated 2022<\/td>		\"\"
\n
\nJason Kan \u2013 Graduated 2021<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"\"
\n
\nMatthew Swanat \u2013 Graduated 2020<\/td>		\"\"
\n
\nAnastasiya Bondarenko \u2013 Graduated 2021<\/td>		\"\"
\n
\nXiaoai (Rachel) Lin \u2013 Graduated 2025<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"\"
\n
\nAudrey Webb \u2013 Graduated 2025.<\/td>		<\/td><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

 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 Read more about PEOPLE<\/span>[…]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2240,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-326","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.clarku.edu\/aesposito\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/326","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.clarku.edu\/aesposito\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.clarku.edu\/aesposito\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.clarku.edu\/aesposito\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2240"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.clarku.edu\/aesposito\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=326"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.clarku.edu\/aesposito\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/326\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.clarku.edu\/aesposito\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=326"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}