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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
Visiting Scholar
Visiting Scholar
Dr. Einat Elizarov (she/her)
E-mail: natushe2@gmail.com CV: Elizarov CV
Education: Ph.D. in Education and Human Development, University of Haifa
Bio: Einat joined the lab as a Fulbright Postdoctoral Fellow. Her research examines social judgment biases in early childhood, with a focus on how children perceive and respond to socioeconomic disparities. Specifically, she investigates children’s decision-making in resource allocation within inter-wealth peer contexts, using ecologically valid, classroom-based scenarios.
Graduate Students
Graduate Students
Elise Marie Kaufman (she/her)
E-mail: ekaufma1@umd.edu
CV: Kaufman CV
Education: B.S., Vanderbilt University; Ed.M., Harvard University; Doctoral Student, University of Maryland, College Park.
Bio: Elise is a fourth-year PhD student in the Department of Human Development and Quantitative Methodology. Inspired by her years teaching high school, Elise is interested in child and adolescent moral and social development in the school context. She is particularly interested in the relationship between teacher language, behavior, and instructional choices and student moral development, especially in the context of prejudice and bias.
Marley Forbes (she/her)
E-mail: mforbes2@umd.edu
CV: Forbes CV
Education: Psychological Sciences B.A., University of Connecticut; Doctoral Student, University of Maryland, College Park.
Bio: Marley is a third-year PhD student in the Department of Human Development and Quantitative Methodology. Her research aims to explore the development of prejudice and bias through the examination of children’s social and moral reasoning, with the ultimate goal of identifying strategies for effective prejudice reduction. Her current project examines how children think about their own and others' decisions to confront gender bias in a science context.
Clara Plutzer
(she/her)
E-mail: cplutzer@umd.edu
CV: Plutzer CV
Education: B.A. in Psychology, New York University; Doctoral Student, University of Maryland, College Park.
Bio: Clara is an incoming 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)
E-mail: jb1998@umd.edu
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.
Lab Manager
Lab Manager
Nathaniel Pearl (he/him)
E-Mail: npearl@umd.edu CV: Pearl CV
Education: Human Development B.S., & LGBTQ Studies Minor, University of Maryland, College Park
Bio: Nathaniel has been the lab manager of the Social and Moral Development Lab since June 2024. His primary research interests are theory of mind, developing concepts of justice, and interventions to reduce prejudice and bias. Nathaniel is particularly interested in how societal structures and proximity to power through identities such as race, gender, sexuality, and disability status affect empathy and social learning. While outside the lab he enjoys creative writing, building with LEGO, playing video games, and drawing.
Current Research Assistants
Current Research Assistants
Anusha Kumar (she/her)
E-Mail: akumar35@terpmail.umd.edu
CV: Kumar CV
Major: Psychology; Human Development
Research Interests: South Asian American mental health, peer relations, theory of mind, how motivation influences behaviors, behavioral disorders, and social psychology.
Student Proposed Innovative Research Experience Recipient 2024!
Enrolled in Human Development Honors Program!
Alexander Fernandes (he/him)
E-Mail: aferna12@terpmail.umd.edu
Major: Psychology Minor: Neuroscience
Research Interests: Theory of mind, behavioral disorders, and in-group/out-group dynamics that influence mental health
Ally Bruner (she/they)
E-Mail: abruner@terpmail.umd.edu
CV: Bruner_CV
Major: Psychology; Human Development
Research Interests: Impacts of childhood adversity, addiction, emotional regulation in social situations
Student Proposed Innovative Research Experience (SPIRE) Recipient 2025!
Enrolled in Human Development Honors Program!
Hannah Scopp (she/her)
E-Mail: hscopp12@terpmail.umd.edu
Major: Psychology; Criminology/Criminal Justice
Research Interests: The development of criminal thinking in all ages, social psychology, behavioral disorders, the impact and outcomes of nature vs. nurture and how it may lead to criminal-related behaviors.
Lillian Strogach (she/her)
E-Mail: lstrogac@terpmail.umd.edu
Major: Psychology Minor: Human Development; Disability Studies
Research Interests: How children reason their way through conflict with peers based on pre-existing biases they may have; specifically how this may affect the development of their interpersonal relationships
Mazelie Passmore (she/her)
E-Mail: mpassmor@terpmail.umd.edu
Major: Psychology Certificate: Women, Gender, & Sexuality Studies
Research Interests: The formation and development of prejudice, theory of mind, the impact of family dynamics on peer relationships and in-group/out-group dynamics.
Katelyn Crispens (she/her)
E-Mail: kcrispen@terpmail.umd.edu
Major: Psychology Minor: Philosophy; Human Development
Research Interests: Language development, interpersonal relationships, maladaptive behaviors and intervention efficacy
Sam Thompson (he/him)
E-Mail: sthomp26@terpmail.umd.edu
Major: Psychology; Biology
Research Interests: Why do some kids develop aggressive tendencies and unhelpful interpersonal problem solving techniques, and more importantly, how can we give the everyday people who have contact with these kids the tools to help resolve this?
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