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Our Team




Dr. Selin Gülgöz

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.

If you’re interested in joining the lab as a research assistant, feel free to email Selin. 

Faculty webpage | Email



Daniel Alonso

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.



Alison De Leon Escobar

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.



Anna Stewart

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.





Christine Irlbeck

Research Assistant


Christine Irlbeck (she/her) is a current second-year undergraduate in the honors program at Fordham Lincoln Center. She plans to double major in Psychology and Political Science and is interested in working to improve mental health resources related to gender identity and discrimination in the Chicago Metropolitan area. Outside of research, Christine enjoys hiking, art history, and spending time with family. 





Veronika Kobrinsky

Research Assistant


Veronika (she/her) is a first-year Clinical Psychology graduate student at Columbia University. Her research focuses on the factors influencing the relationship between traumatic experiences, psychopathology, and health-risk behaviors. She is interested in expanding accessibility to evidence-based trauma-informed interventions, especially for marginalized populations. Veronika earned her BS in Psychology from Fordham University in 2022.






Collaborators

Lily Durwood, University of WashingtonMargaret Echelbarger, Stony Brook University; Elizabeth Enright, St. Mary’s College of Maryland; Anne Fast, Western Washington University; Rachel Fine, University of Michigan; Susan Gelman, University of Michigan; Jessica Glazier, University of Washington; Eric Gomez, Google; Emma Gross, University of Michigan; Jeffrey Heer, University of Washington; Arnold Ho; University of Michigan; Jennifer Jipson, California Polytechnic State University; Carol Lynn Martin, Arizona State University; Thekla Morgenroth, Purdue University; Kristina Olson, Princeton University; James Rae, Apple; Steven Othello Roberts, Stanford University; Jennifer Rubin, Foundry 10.

Lab alumni

Marianna Apazidis, Olivia Dean, Matthew Kozakowski, Amelia Marotta, Chloe McGovern, Riley Ng, Alex Pahl, Stephanie Price, Amber Ray, Mariana Rodrigues, Adam Saad, Maggie Schenk, Elena Tycer.