Our Team

Principal Investigator

Dr. Selin Gülgöz is an Assistant Professor of Psychology at Fordham University. Her research interests lie in children’s and adults’ social cognition and conceptual development, with particular focus on children’s reasoning about  social groups. She is particularly interested in how individuals with diverse (and often marginalized) identities construct social categories, how people’s reasoning about social categories is reflected in their attitudes and behaviors toward members of those categories, and how we can learn about the developmental origins of early social cognition by observing these cognitive and behavioral outcomes. Outside of research and teaching, Selin enjoys exploring New York with her husband and their 5-year-old, and reading good fiction.

*Dr. Gülgöz is currently on parental leave and might be slow to respond to email. She will be accepting Ph.D. applications in Fall 2024, but will not be holding meetings with prospective students prior to interviews.*

Faculty webpage | Email

Ph.D. student

Daniel is a third-year graduate student in the Applied Developmental Psychology program at Fordham University. Daniel’s research interests span various lines of inquiry related to gender diversity across the lifespan. He is particularly interested in questions related to children’s gender cognition, as well as identity concealment behavior in childhood and adolescence. Previously, Daniel conducted research as a lab manager for Dr. Kristina Olson at the University of Washington and earned his bachelor’s in psychology at The University of Texas at Austin. In his free time, Daniel enjoys people-watching at Central Park and updating his Spotify playlists.

Ph.D. student

Alison is a first-year graduate student in the Applied Developmental Psychology program at Fordham University. She is particularly interested in exploring how different features of language impact children’s social category and identity representations, and broadly contribute to the development of harmful social stereotypes. Alison graduated from New York University with a bachelor’s in Psychology & Chemistry, where she also conducted research as Lab Manager for Dr. Marjorie Rhodes. Aside from her passion for research, Alison enjoys discovering new music, going on walks with her dog, and spending time with friends and family.

Ph.D. student

Anna will be joining the lab in the fall of 2022 as a first-year graduate student in Fordham's Applied Developmental Psychology program. Anna is a recent graduate from Temple University's Psychology Department, where she worked in Hongling Xie's Peer Social Networks Lab. She has also served as an undergraduate summer research assistant in Felix Warneken's Social Minds Lab at the University of Michigan and in Kathy Hirsh-Pasek's Infant and Child Lab at Temple University. Her main research interests lie in investigating children's understanding of social hierarchies, essentialist beliefs regarding power and morality, and the impact of culture on children's social cognition. Aside from research, Anna loves taking long walks while listening to podcasts, writing short stories, and exploring coffee shops in new cities.