The Team
Dr. Roberta M. Golinkoff, Director
Dr. Golinkoff holds the H. Rodney Sharp Chair in the School of Education at the University of Delaware and is also a member of the Departments of Psychology and Linguistics. She directs the Infant Language Project, whose goal it is to understand how children tackle the amazing feat of learning language. She has also started another line of research on the benefits of play. Although "play" has recently become a 4-letter word, the research suggests exactly the opposite: Children learn best through play and when their learning is embedded in a playful context. Read complete bio here.
Lab Coordinator
Katie Ridge, Lab Coordinator
Katie graduated from Temple University with a B.A. in Psychology. She completed an honors thesis on stimulating parent-child interaction in everyday environments. She is excited to continue to explore her interests in language development as well as other aspects of cognitive development.
Post-Doctoral Researchers
Dr. Megan Johanson
Megan received her Ph.D. in Cognitive Psychology from the University of Delaware. She conducted her dissertation research on the influence of labels and facts on how children form categories. Megan is the project manager on the Preschool Talk Project, which aims to develop a computerized language assessment for young children.
Dr. Brian Verdine
Brian received his Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology from Vanderbilt University. His dissertation was focused on whether people can learn spatial skills and navigation from video games. He directs the Shape-Up Project and is interested in using technology to help educate young children in visual-spatial abilities, which are so important for children’s success in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM).
Graduate Students
Haruka Konishi
Haruka is a third year doctoral student. She has extensive research experience in
cognitive and developmental psychology. She joined our lab in 2010 with an impressive record of research in Japan and publications in books and scientific journals. Right now, she is working on a number of different projects investigating bilingualism, second language acquisition, and infant development. Haruka’s future interests lie in teaching and research in child development.
Jennifer Damonte
Jennifer is a second year Ph.D. student in our lab. She received her B.A. in Psychology and Linguistics from Emory University in 2008. Before coming to our lab, she conducted research in the importance of gesture in language development. She is currently working on the Preschool Talk Project and investigating how children learn verbs.
Yueyue Fan
Yueyue is a second year Ph.D. student in our lab. She received her B.A. in Psychology and Business Administration from Austin College in 2010. Before coming to our lab, she taught Chinese and English as a second language. She is currently working on a project that investigates how children use word endings, such as "-ing" and "-ly", to learn language.
Student Collaborators
We welcome exceptional undergraduate students to work as unpaid interns in our lab during the school year and the summer. We provide an intellectually stimulating environment that helps students learn about research from the ground up. In the summer, we have students from all over the world and the United States come to join us. We collaborate with our students and they often appear on our paper presentations at national and international meetings and even in print with us. If you are interested in working in our lab, please feel free to contact Dr. Golinkoff for a lab tour and interview.
Summer 2011
Not in order:
Temple University: Dani Levine, Justine Hoch, Max Freeman, Kathline Gomes, Melissa Horger, Melissa Hansen
University of Delaware: Dr. Roberta Golinkoff, Sujeet Ranganathan, Hilary Miller, Haruka Konishi, Nadine Itel, Jacquline Baron, Kathrine Pearson, Katherine Head, Maria Marquez, Carolyn Kosko, Xiaole Sun, Angeliki Athanasopoulou, Shuichi Nakata, Rachel Pulverman
Spring 2011
From Top Left: Caitlin Fess, Courtney Hofferbert, Sujeet Ranganathan, Katelyn Morytko, Kathleen Hackett, Shay Blake, Jillian Dunne, Rachel Pulverman, Dr. Roberta Golinkoff, Carolyn Kosko, Kena Cantiveros, Karina Shaoul, Amanda Acca, Ann Martino, Megan Monahan, Allison Mandel
Summer 2010
From Top Left: Meiling Hao, Claire Halberstadt, Lauren Lamack, Dr. Roberta Golinkoff, Sujeet Ranganathan, Cora Picone, Lauren Janeka, Laura Rocek, Kelsey Jefferson
People who couldn't be in the picture: Jocelyn Terranova, Emma Pelton, Emily Carpenter, Hannah Andersen, Christine Neifert, and Allison Rose
Spring 2010
Bottom Row from Left: Dr. Roberta Golinkoff, Amara Stuehling, Aimee Stahl, Meaghan Connell, Charmaine Leyenaar
Middle Row: Kelsey Jefferson, Roberta Miller, Briana Beattie, Lauren Sparacino
Top Row: Emily Carpenter, Kelly Randle, Noelle Renner, Megan Kauffman
Spring 2009
Bottom Row from Left: Loren Cohen, Jessica Lewis, Emily Tynan, Taryn Levenstein, Carrie Deutsch, Lauren Janeka
Middle Row: Charmaine Leyenaar, Catherine Bradley, Weiyi Ma, Celia Gash, Heather Greene
Top Row: Dr. Roberta Golinkoff, Jillian Ferrara, Beth Gage, Aimee Stahl, Caitlin McSweeney, Lulu Song, Melissa Sechler, Yi Song, Erica Hyder, Amanda Sargen
Summer 2008
Top Row from Left: Wilkey Wong, Natalie Brousseau, Dr. Roberta Golinkoff, Lane Neidig, Lulu Song, Kate Bither, Zeke Strober
Bottom Row from Left: Julie Schenk, Andrea Bombino, Laura Rocek, Aimee Stahl, Regine Lai, Weiyi Ma, Danny Parnella
Summer 2007
First Row: Weiyi Ma: Doctoral Student in Education, Katherine Houle: Undergraduate at UD, Sunny Merchant: Undergraduate at UD, Laura Rocek: Undergraduate at Beloit College, Brittany Farr: Undergraduate at Harvard University, Wilkey Wong: Doctoral Student in Education
Second Row: Lulu Song: Doctoral Student in Education, Zeke Strober: Lab coordinator, Dr. Roberta Golinkoff: Director, Solveig Bosse: Doctoral Student in Linguistics