Research Team
We were kids once, too. You can roll over most of our images to see us as children!
FACULTY
Dr. Candice Mills, Director
Candice Mills is an associate professor in Psychological Sciences at the University of Texas at Dallas. Dr. Mills earned her bachelor’s degree, summa cum laude, in cognitive neuroscience from the University of Florida, and a Ph.D. in developmental psychology from Yale University.
Dr. Mills’ research explores the development of social cognition: how children evaluate the knowledge and beliefs of others as well as themselves, and what changes over the course of development. Her research incorporates methods and theories from developmental, social, and cognitive psychology, with participant populations spanning from early childhood through adolescence and adulthood. Her previous research in has been published in professional psychological journals as well as discussed in national resources such as the New York Times, Scientific American Mind, and on National Public Radio.
Publications |
|
LAB AFFILIATE
Meridith Grant, Ph.D.
Lab Affiliate in Developmental Psychology
Spring 2007 - Spring 2011. Meridith earned a bachelor of arts in International Relations from Tufts University and a masters of science in Counseling Psychology from the University of North Texas. She joined the Think Lab in Spring 2007 and was a leader in the lab on many projects with both preschoolers and elementary school-aged children. She defended her dissertation in April of 2011 and is currently teaching and working on a number of research projects. |
|
DOCTORAL STUDENTS
|
Fadwa Elashi, B.A.
Doctoral Student in Developmental Psychology
Joined in Fall 2009 as a graduate student. Fadwa began working in the lab in Spring 2008 as an undergraduate, and her senior honors thesis examined stereotypes in children. She has various experiences with children, which include helping improve children’s reading fluency using phonics-based instruction, teaching in the public schools, and organizing numerous youth activities. |
|
Asheley Landrum, B.A.
Doctoral Student in Developmental Psychology
Joined in Spring 2009. Asheley completed her undergraduate education at The University of Texas at Austin before beginning graduate school at the University of Texas at Dallas. Her research in the UTD Think Lab focuses on how children determine whether to trust potential sources of information based upon characteristics such as benevolence and expertise. Currently, Asheley is working on her dissertation which aims to examine children's intuitions about the boundaries of others' expertise. |
|
GRADUATE AND UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH TEAM MEMBERS
Lina Asfoor
Undergraduate Student
Joined in Summer 2012. Lina is majoring in Psychology and Child Learning and Development and comes from a big family, which has nurtured her love of working with children. She has volunteered in plenty of places such as Friday Night Friends and Rashid Paediatric Therapy Centre in Dubai that have allowed her to gain experience in working with children, particularly those with special needs; these experiences have fostered her goals of getting a PhD and pursuing a career in research to better the lives of those who need it. |
 |
Ian Campbell
Undergraduate Student
Joined in Fall 2012. Ian is a senior majoring in good ol' Psychology. He loves talking to people of all ages and has extensive experience working with children—usually in volunteer work at Science Camps or at his local church. He is intrigued by the cognitive processes of children and looks forward to studying the development of critical thinking in their burgeoning young minds. |
 |
Richard Heinrich, B.S.
Masters Student in Psychological Sciences
Joined in Spring 2012. Richard earned his B.S. degree in psychology from Texas Woman's University. As an undergraduate, his main research interests were in regards to language acquisition and semantics. However, as a graduate student, he is interested in persuasion and advertising, group processes, stereotypes, and source credibility. After completing his Masters degree, he hopes to enroll in a doctoral program in psychological science focusing on cognitive and social psychology with a long term goal of studying how people respond to persuasion and authority. |
|
Kayla Klein
Undergraduate Student
Joined in Summer 2011. As a Neuroscience and Biology double major, Kayla hopes to pursue a medical degree after her time at UT Dallas. She enjoys working with children, and is particularly interested in studying how children learn new information. Kayla serves as Academic Affairs Chair on UTD Student Government and as an officer in the Newman Group, and is excited to work with the Think Lab. |
 |
Renee Jonason
Undergraduate Student
Joined in Fall 2012. Renee is a junior double majoring in Psychology and Child Development. She has previous experience working with children as a swim instructor, and her love of children has grown with her young niece and nephew. She is interested in learning what environmental factors encourage children to thrive, and wants to apply this knowledge to improve the lives of underprivileged children. She intends to go to graduate school. |
 |
Amelia Pflaum
Masters Student in Psychological Sciences
Joined in Spring 2010. In December of 2011, Amelia graduated with a dual major in Child Development and Learning and Psychology from the University of Texas at Dallas. She assisted in several research projects and presented at two research conferences during her undergraduate career with the Think Lab. She spends a great deal of time working with children outside of the Think Lab as a Lead Teacher in the School-Age program at the Children’s Courtyard. Her previous experience with children includes working with CISNT (Communities in Schools of North Texas), New Hope Learning Center, and Disability Services of the Southwest. Amelia is currently working towards a Masters degree in psychological sciences with a specialization in developmental psychology. |
|
Rachel Williams, B.S.
Masters Student in Applied Cognition and Neuroscience
Joined in Summer 2011. Rachel is majored in Cognitive Science and minored
in Software Engineering. Rachel wants to study the use of computers and their effectiveness
in education. She completed her undergraduate honors thesis with the lab and is staying on at UT Dallas to complete her Masters degree. She design games to help
children learn better and more effectively. She really loves kids so getting to work with them is amazing. |
 |
|
|
