Postdoctoral Researchers
Dr. Kara Weisman is the postdoctoral research director of the Developing Belief Network. She studies intuitive theories, conceptual change, and folk philosophy of mind, with particular attention to the ways these conceptual representations do and do not vary across development, across cultural settings, and across individuals. Before joining the team at UCR, she completed a Ph.D. in psychology at Stanford University and was a postdoctoral researcher in the Stanford anthropology department working on the Mind & Spirit Project, a large-scale collaboration between anthropologists and psychologists studying how cultural models of the mind shape spiritual experiences across a range of cultural and religious settings.
Ph. D., Stanford, 2019
e-mail: karaw@ucr.edu
Personal Website
Dr. Praveen Kenderla is a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the University of California, Riverside. Praveen completed his Ph.D. in psychology at Boston University Psychology and Brain Sciences department with a focus on Developmental Science. Praveen studies the development of executive functions and cognitive systems that contribute to the development of social categorization and its consequences in different social contexts and cultures.
Ph. D., Boston University, 2023
e-mail: praveen.kenderla@ucr.edu
Current Graduate Students
Jiayue Sun is the lab coordinator for the Childhood Cognition Lab. Before joining the lab, she worked as an undergraduate research assistant in a developmental psychology lab at University of California, Santa Cruz, where she earned a B.A. in Psychology and a B.S. in Cognitive Science. She is broadly interested in children's social cognitive development, more specifically how children from different cultural and faith backgrounds learn in the social world, and how different social cues (e.g., parenting style, cultural practices, religious beliefs) influence children's social cognitive development.
Office: Psychology Building 2129
Email: jiayues@ucr.edu
Personal website
Hea Jung Lee is a fifth-year graduate student in the Developmental area of the Psychology Department at UCR. Her research interests include how imagination and fantasy belief may influence children’s understanding of social relationships. She holds a B.A. in Psychology from Wellesley College.
Office: Psychology Building 2129
Email: heajung.lee@email.ucr.edu
Current Research Assistants
Ashley Marin is a third-year graduate student in the Developmental area of the Psychology Department at UCR. She rejoined the lab after being a research assistant during her undergraduate studies and earning her B.S in Psychology and minor in Education from UCR in Spring 2021. Her research aims to explore the bi-directional relationship between early ritual engagement and cognition, including understanding the role of contextual and individual differences in overimitation.
Office: Psychology Building 2129
Email: amari015@ucr.edu
Administrative Staff
Research Administrator
Carole Meyer-Rieth is a graduate of the University of California at Los Angeles (BA, Psychology) with over twenty years of professional experience in academic administrative support, event planning, graphic design, and project management. As a trustee of a private foundation since 2011, Carole is experienced in grants administration and has an ongoing role in local, national, and global philanthropy as a member of Southern California Grantmakers and the Council on Foundations.
Email: carolem@ucr.edu
Current Research Assistants
Alison Garcia
Amy Maatouk
Angelle Mercado
Amber Summers
Angel Tang
Casey Min
Emily Fox
Elena Guerrero Galaz
Frida Rodriguez Becerra
Jieun Baek
Jessica Fu
Jessica Lo Presti
Karen Lam
Misah Edwards
Natalie Hwang
Rifah Sanjidah
Sage Saludares Kuck
Sakina Poonawalla
Vallery Ayala
Past Research Assistants
Jennifer Hoang
Laura Posada
Marlen Gonzalez Duran
Preeti Sivakumar
Anthony Zafra
Taylor Martin del Campo
Bryan Hernandez
Sarah Panameño
Gabriela Morales
Roger Morales
Jamison Cortez
Rasneek Singh