Principal Investigator

Athena Athena Vouloumanos
Is speech a special sound for humans? What is it about language (and humans) that makes language acquisition a uniquely human accomplishment? Dr. Vouloumanos's research addresses these broad questions by exploring the linguistic and cognitive abilities of adults and young infants, including newborns. Her findings have been published in journals such as Science, Cognition, Developmental Science, and the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Graduate Student

Madelaine Madelaine Krehm
Madelaine is a third year doctoral student in the Cognition and Perception program.  Her undergraduate degree is from McGill University in Montreal where she worked with Linda Polka and Karen Mattock on phonetic detail in word learning.  Madelaine is interested in speech perception, language acquisition and the evolutionary origins of language.  She also enjoys collaborating on crosswords with fellow labbies, riding with the NYU equestrian team, and squeezing in art gallery visits when she gets a chance.

Research Coordinator

Annie Annie Chen

Annie received her undergraduate degree in cognitive science at the University of California, Berkeley. After graduation, she worked with Dr. Alison Gopnik and Dr. Liz Bonawitz applying computational methods to understand how children revise their beliefs, and with Dr. Fei Xu studying cognitive development and language acquisition in infants before joining NICCL. She hopes to pursue a career in child oncology. She is very excited to have moved back to the city and is looking forward to meeting you all!

Research Assistants

Bridget Bridget Cichello
Bridget is a New York University senior concentrating in writing and psychology in the Gallatin School of Individualized Study. Her academic interests include identity formation and the ways in which identity interacts with language. In her free time she enjoys reading books she buys from street vendors and going to the beach.

 

Ritam Ritam Ghosh
Ritam Ghosh is currently a senior in the College of Arts and Sciences at New York University. He is majoring in Psychology with a double minor in chemistry and child and adolescent mental health. Academically, Ritam has to be pre-med for his college career and has aspirations of becomign a neurosurgeon in the future. Away from the classroom, his hobbies include watching movies, listening to music, and watching and playing sports while rooting for the Giants and the Yankees. He also enjoys watching Jeopardy, Parks and Rec, as well as most food network shows. Next fall, Ritam will be attending the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey.

 

Sandra Sandra Moy
Sandra is a senior in the College of Arts and Science. She is a psychology major and Public Health and Policy minor on the pre-health track. Born and raised in Brooklyn, Sandra is a New Yorker at heart, but has recently been bitten by the travel bug. She studied abroad in London, England and has since traveled to France, Spain, Italy, and Greece. One of her greatest interests in the field is language acquisition and multilingualism, particularly after visiting these different countries and trying to pick up phrases in each language. Sandra's hobbies include playing piano, taking photographs with her beloved Nikon D40, and listening to classical music and jazz.

 

Casey Pitts Casey Pitts
Casey is a junior at the College of Arts and Sciences. She is a double major in Chemistry and Psychology and is on the pre-med track. She plans to continue her studies into the field of Child Psychiatry. She likes to spend her weekends in Central Park and is a fan of movies and junk food.

 

Jacqueline Tin Jacqueline Tin
Jackie is a Senior at the College of Arts and Science studying Psychology, Business, and Pre-medicine. She's from Brooklyn, NY but loves to travel and learn different languages (Cantonese, Mandarin, and Spanish but definitely more in the future!). She hopes to become a physician and from her experiences in the lab, might eventually specialize in pediatric medicine. Her current interests in psychology include infant communication and the use of gestures. She will be completing an honors thesis on whether infants understand gestures to communicate goals/intentions. In her free time, she likes to catch up with old friends, play sports, listen to music, and read.

 

Fiona MacPhee Fiona MacPhee
Fiona is a senior in the College of Arts and Science. She is a psychology major and Child and Adolescent Mental Health minor. After taking Developmental Psychology during her sophomore year, Fiona has wished to learn more about and assist in infancy research. Since she loved working with children with behavioral disorders over the past summer, she aspires to pursue a career in Child Psychology. Her favorite population to work with is children on the Autism Spectrum, which is why she chose to work in a communication lab with hopes to apply her learning to autism research.

 

Katherine Silva Katherine Silva
Kathey is a junior at CAS majoring in Psychology while minoring in Child and Adolescent Mental Health Studies and is also on the pre-health track. She hopes to go to medical school and pursue a career in either pediatrics or child psychiatry since she enjoys working with children. Currently, developmental psychology has been the most fascinating field of psychology for her since children are so difficult to 'figure out' and their abilities to understand the world are constantly surprising researchers. During time off from school she enjoys snowboarding, going to the beach, watching horror films, and eating food at different restaurant chains with her friends.

 

Ilana
 Ilana Shanks
Ilana is a second year masters student in the General Psychology program. Her primary research interest is cognition. She is planning on continuing her studies to obtain a PhD in child clinical psychology. In her free time, she enjoys reading, cooking and running.

 

Pooja Mehta Pooja Mehta
Pooja is a first year Masters student studying Psychology. She was born and raised in New Jersey and graduated from Temple University in Philadelphia. She now finds herself in New York City, making her a complete East Coast Girl. She loves the JETS and has always done so! Along with studying psychology, she also has a passion for dance and has been teaching Indian Classical dance for over 5 years now. Pooja is excited to be a a new member of the NICCL team and hopes to achieve her best and learn a lot while here.

 

ariana Ariana Godoy
Ariana is a junior at NYU’s College of Arts and Science majoring in Psychology with a pre-dental focus. Her career goal is to be a dentist with a specialty in oral and maxillofacial surgery. She finds great interest in neuroscience, developmental psychology, and the history of medicine and dentistry. When she has free time, Ariana enjoys hanging out with her friends and getting involved in the community.

 

Chris Christopher Cantwell
Chris is a junior in the College of Arts and Science majoring in Psychology and double minoring in Chemistry and Child and Adolescent Mental Health Studies. He is on the pre-med track and plans on pursuing a career in pediatric cardiothoracic surgery. Chris first became interested in Developmental Psychology after studying language acquisition in infants as part of a class on cognition. In his free time Chris loves baking, is an avid yogi, and has a self diagnosed addiction to the Food Network. Chris is very excited to work with Dr. Vouloumanos and the rest of the NICCL staff.

 

Alums