Lab Members

Dr. Melanie Killen 

Position: Professor of Human Development and Quantitative Methodology, Director of the Lab
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 Professor of Human Development and Quantitative Methodology, Professor of Psychology (Affiliate) and Distinguished Scholar-Teacher at the University of Maryland. She is 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 origins 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

Kathryn Yee

E-mail: katyee@umd.edu CV: Yee CV

Education: B.A., New York University; Doctoral Student, University of Maryland, College Park.

Bio: Kathryn (Kat) Yee is a sixth-year doctoral student in Human Development and Quantitative Methodology, with a specialization in Developmental Science. Her research investigates the development of social group biases, conceptions of status and inequality, and the implications for children's intergroup behavior. The overarching goal of her research is to inform researchers, parents, and educators in their efforts to help children overcome marginalized group identities and barriers to success. 

Kate Luken Raz

E-mail: klukenraz@gmail.com CV: Luken Raz CV

Education: B.S., University of Washington, Seattle; Doctoral Student, University of Maryland, College Park.

Bio: Kate (They/Them) is a fifth-year developmental science Ph.D. student in the Department of Human Development and Quantitative Methodology at the University of Maryland, College Park. Kate studies children’s understanding of equality in intergroup contexts. More specifically, they are interested in children's social inclusion and exclusion decisions and cross-group friendships, with a particular focus on those involving racial/ethnic and wealth status group membership. Outside of the lab, Kate enjoys cross-stitching and discovering new horror and fantasy podcasts.

Elise Marie Kaufman

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 and thinking.

Marley Forbes

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. She is currently developing a project looking at how children predict, evaluate, and reason about peers who confront gender and racial stereotypes in STEM contexts.

Jonah Brenner

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. 

Clara Plutzer

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.

Nathaniel Pearl

E-Mail: npearl@umd.edu CV: Pearl CV

Education: Human Development B.S., & LGBTQ Studies Minor, University of Maryland, College Park

Bio: Nathaniel (he/him) 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.