Embedded Files
Lab Director
Lab Director
Dr. Melanie Killen (she/her)
Professor of Human Development and Quantitative Methodology
E-mail: mkillen@umd.edu CV: Killen CV
Education: B.A., Clark University; Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley
Bio: Melanie Killen, Ph.D., is Distinguished University Professor in the Department of Human Development and Quantitative Methodology and Professor of Psychology (Affiliate) at the University of Maryland. She is a Member of the National Academy of Education, and a Fellow of the American Psychological Association, Association for Psychological Science, and Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues. Dr. Killen’s primary research expertise includes the origins of moral cognition, emergence of prejudice and bias, conceptions of social inequalities in childhood, morality and theory of mind, and facilitating social justice in school contexts. Her team developed a school-based program called Developing Inclusive Youth to promote intergroup friendships in childhood. She was an expert witness for the Office of the Attorney General in Massachusetts for a federal school desegregation case. Her research was profiled in CNN AC360’s Kids on Race: The Hidden Picture. Funding for her research is provided by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. Her interests include swimming, gardening, biking, hiking, and sitting at cafés drinking decaf cappuccino with her friends and colleagues
Graduate Students
Graduate Students
Marley Forbes (she/her)
Marley Forbes (she/her)
CV: Forbes CV
Education: Psychological Sciences B.A., University of Connecticut; Doctoral Student, University of Maryland, College Park.
Bio: Marley is a fifth-year PhD candidate in the Department of Human Development and Quantitative Methodology. Her research investigates children's and adolescents' social and moral cognition in intergroup contexts, with a focus on how they make decisions to challenge unfair treatment within peer groups. Marley's current line of research examines how children and adolescents think about their own and others' decisions to confront gender bias within peer groups in science contexts.
Clara Plutzer (she/her)
Clara Plutzer (she/her)
CV: Plutzer CV
Education: B.A. in Psychology, New York University; Doctoral Student, University of Maryland, College Park.
Bio: Clara is a second year graduate student at UMD. Before coming to UMD, she attended NYU and worked on numerous projects investigating children’s cognitive development. Following that, she worked as a lab manager at Vanderbilt University in a developmental neuroscience lab. She is interested broadly in how children reason about status, stereotypes, and social identities. Outside of research, she enjoys going for long bike rides and traveling to new places.
Jonah Brenner (he/him)
Jonah Brenner (he/him)
CV: Brenner CV
Education: B.A. in Psychology, Skidmore College; Doctoral Student, University of Maryland, College Park.
Bio: After graduating from Skidmore College in 2020, Jonah worked as a research coordinator at New York University and as a lab manager at the University of Texas at Austin. Broadly, he is interested in investigating children's beliefs about social groups and exploring intervention approaches to combat racial and gender stereotype development. He's particularly interested in the influence of anti-racist books on children's resource allocation decisions and friendship choices. Outside of the lab, Jonah enjoys playing ultimate frisbee, watching TV, and jamming on the guitar.
Research Assistants
Research Assistants
Ally Bruner (she/her)
Ally Bruner (she/her)
CV: Bruner_CV
Majors: Psychology; Human Development
Research Interests: Role of Critical Consciousness in Mental Health Treatment, Disability Studies and Activism, Parental Inclusivity and its influence on children's social groups, non-dichotomous identity categorization in research.
Student Proposed Innovative Research Experience (SPIRE) Recipient 2025!
Enrolled in Human Development Honors Program!
Shoshana Levy (she/her)
Shoshana Levy (she/her)
Majors: Human Development; Pre-Nursing Track
Research Interests: Peer relations, Theory of Mind, social psychology, behavioral disorders, children's perceptions on antisemitism, child and adolescent moral and social development in a physical and mental health context, children's view on social status and exclusion
Enrolled in Human Development Honors Program!
Jahsey Brown (she/her)
Jahsey Brown (she/her)
Major: Psychology
Research Interests: Social psychology, children's mental health, behavioral disorders, and OCD
Kathryn Wolfthal (she/her)
Kathryn Wolfthal (she/her)
Majors: Psychology; Human Development
Research Interests: Child development, behavioral disorders, biases in the classroom and ways to address them, and the impact of family dynamics on children
Enrolled in Human Development Honors Program!
Atoosa Azizi (she/her)
Atoosa Azizi (she/her)
Major: Psychology
Research Interests: Child Development, Cognitive and Behavioral Development, Neuropsychology, Trauma and Resilience in Veterans and/or children
Rohil Raofield (he/him)
Rohil Raofield (he/him)
Major: Psychology
Research Interests: Substance abuse disorders, neurodivergent outcomes for youth, child mental health, trauma, and Schizophrenia.
Enrolled in Human Development Honors Program!
Kelsey Dela Pena (she/her)
Kelsey Dela Pena (she/her)
📧: kelsdp@terpmail.umd.edu
Major: Psychology, Human Development
Research Interests: OCD in childhood and adolescence, interpersonal factors and their impact on child development, children's mental health
Mai An Le (she/her)
Mai An Le (she/her)
Major: Human Development
Research Interests: Language development and acquisition, educational inequality, performing and visual arts spaces as developmental contexts
Marypearl Jack-Tienabeso (she/her)
Marypearl Jack-Tienabeso (she/her)
Major: Psychology
Research Interests: OCD and its overlap with anxiety disorders and neurodivergence, interpersonal relationships, multicultural psychology, effects of trauma on child development
Page updated
Report abuse