People in Our Lab 

Principal Investigator

Elida V. Laski
Ph.D., Developmental Psychology, Carnegie Mellon University
Ed.M Early Childhood Education, Boston University

Dr. Laski received her Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology from Carnegie Mellon University in 2008. Prior to earning her Ph.D., she received a Masters degree in Early Childhood Education and worked in public schools for over 5 years, first as a kindergarten teacher, then as a Reading Recovery teacher, and later as a literacy coach for the Boston Public Schools providing professional development to teachers of children in preschool through lower elementary school.

Dr. Laski joined the faculty at Boston College's Lynch School of Education as an assistant professor of Applied Developmental and Educational Psychology in 2009. Upon arriving at Boston College she established the Thinking and Learning Laboratory. Research in the lab focuses on understanding the role of cognitive and social factors in the development of academic concepts, particularly those related to mathematics. Her work explores the mechanisms that promote, constrain, or impede learning and how psychological learning principles can be used to develop and improve educational activities. In 2011, she was nominated for a prestigious James T. McDonnell Scholar Award. In 2013, she was selected to participate in the American Education Research Association Early Career Scholar Mentor Program.

To view her complete CV, visit her department webpage.

Melissa Collins

Melissa is a second year doctoral student in Applied Developmental and Educational Psychology. She received her B.A. in Psychology from Harvard College in 2008 and spent the following three years working first as a research assistant at the Center for Social Development and Education at UMass Boston and then as Research & Evaluation Coordinator for a national early literacy nonprofit, Jumpstart. Melissa is broadly interested in early education and the development of early mathematical thinking. She conducts research exploring how young children learn and how teaching methods and learning environments may affect learning outcomes.

Anna Ermakova

Anna is a second year graduate student in the Applied Developmental and Educational Psychology program. She received her B.S. from Angelo State University and her M.A. from East Tennessee State University. In addition to conducting developmental research in psychology, her experience includes having studied and taught mathematics in both the U.S. and Russia. Anna is interested in cross-cultural differences in math strategies.

Alana Dulaney

Alana is a fourth-year doctoral student in Applied Developmental and Educational Psychology. She received her B.S. in Psychology and a Minor in Music from Santa Clara University. She is generally interested in the development of cognitive processes involved in learning. Specifically, she plans to conduct research investigating the development of working memory and its role in complex learning tasks, such as mathematical problem solving. She is also interested in individual differences in working memory capacity due to differences in attention versus storage.

Qingyi Yu

Qingyi is a fourth-year doctoral student in Applied Developmental and Educational Psychology. She came to Boston College from Peking University in China, where she received her B.S. in Psychology. Her research interests focus on the influence of cultural factors on individuals' cognitive development. 

Katie Mulhall

Katie is a sophomore studying Psychology within both the Lynch School of Education and the College of Arts and Sciences. She is interested in studying cognitive development and individual differences in learning processes. She is also interested in the design of behavioral studies for examining and inferring mental processes to better understand why individuals think and act as they do.

Jessica Shapiro

Jessica is a junior studying Elementary Education and Psychology with minors in History and Special Education. She is interested in studying the most effective methods and techniques of mathematics education. She plans to pursue a Master’s degree in Mental Health Counseling after graduation and possibly go into the field of Student Affairs.