Developing Social Minds
I study the early emergence of the social and emotional abilities that enable us to interact with others and make sense of their social behavior.
My research focuses on the brain processes that underpin social interaction and cognition during infancy and early childhood. I study the development of social brain functions across a range of situations in which infants can glean information from various sources, such as faces, voices, or motion. I also aim to understand how social development varies across infants and what genetic and environmental factors give rise to such individual differences.
About Me
I earned my Ph.D. in psychology from the Max Planck Institutes for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences and Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany. I was then awarded a Sir Henry Wellcome Fellowship at the Center for Brain and Cognitive Development at Birkbeck, University of London. Before joining UVA, I led an independent research group at the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences in Leipzig and received my Habilitation from Heidelberg University’s Institute of Psychology.
I am a Professor of Psychology at the University of Virginia where I direct the UVA Babylab.
