Cognition Across Development Lab
What We Do
We study how individuals learn about the social world around them.
The Cognition Across Development (CAD) Laboratory at the University of Massachusetts Amherst in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences explores the development of social cognition across human and nonhuman primates. Our research examines how young individuals make sense of and cope with the complex social world around them. The goal of our research in the CAD Lab is to better understand how early emerging aspects of cognition and perception help an individual thrive in their particular environment.
News
Recent coverage of the people and the work in the CAD Lab
Interview with Dr. Mandalaywala about why she's so excited to be at UMass!
Coverage of Mandalaywala, Ranger-Murdock, Amodio, & Rhodes, 2018 Child Development
A profile on Dr. Mandalaywala and her experiences as a Puerto Rican-Indian studying Indian monkeys in Puerto Rico.
Our Current Research
Individuals don’t develop in a bubble; they develop in the contexts of families, communities, and cultures. We study how variation in experience shapes cognition and behavior, and are particularly interested in how children adapt to their particular environment. We use methods from developmental and social psychology, behavioral endocrinology, and behavioral ecology to examine how the environment that an individual grows up in shapes their perceptions, beliefs, and biases about the world around them.
Nonhuman primates
In nonhuman primates, we study individuals across the lifespan, to explore how cognitive variation helps individuals thrive, even under less than ideal circumstances. Our current long-term project uses a mix of behavioral observations and cognitive assessments to study the long-term consequences of early life adversity in the rhesus macaques on Cayo Santiago, Puerto Rico.
Child Development
Experiences don’t have to be adverse to shape social cognition, and our research in human development focuses on normative social cognitive development. We examine how parents and the neighborhoods children grow up in shape how they begin to think about others in terms of their gender, race, or social status. Understanding how children come to view certain social categories as special and salient can help us understand the developmental origins of problematic social phenomena, such as stereotyping, prejudice, and inequality.
Who We Are
Tara Mandalaywala
Lab Director
Assistant Professor, Psychological and Brain Sciences
Alix Alto
Lab Manager
Alix graduated with her B.S. (Hon) in Psychology from Northeastern University in 2017. She is fascinated by all facets of intuitive social cognition, most specifically in and surrounding marginalized groups and gender minorities. In addition to her work at the CAD Lab, Alix collaborates with the Affect and Social Cognition Lab, the CORE Lab at Northeastern University, and the High-Level Cognition Lab at Queen’s University Belfast on projects pertaining to perceptions of symbols of inclusion, gender essentialism, and episodic memory.
Claire Ladd
Research Assistant
Claire is from Winchester, MA and majoring in Animal Science and Public Health at UMass Amherst.She loves animals and beings of every kind!
Natasha Dimitruk
Research Assistant
Natasha is a senior psychology major here at UMass Amherst. As she begins to search for post-graduate positions in the developmental field, she believes The CAD lab is an incredible opportunity. She is eager to work with everyone involved, as well as discover the fascinating results in the lab.
Hailey Pensky
Research Assistant
Hailey is a recent UMass Amherst graduate, with a Bachelor's in Psychology. She plans to bring her experience in social psychology research to a future career helping individuals and families in social work.
Tayla Bent
Research Assistant
Tayla is a senior psychology and sociology double major at UMass Amherst and is pursuing a certificate in criminal justice. She excited to learn more about how children perceive their world around them and how this ultimately determines their particular beliefs and biases.
Alyssa Mielke
Research Assistant
Alyssa is a recent graduate of the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where she studied biological anthropology, with a focus on human and primate
evolution.
Edye Benedict
Research Assistant
Edye is a junior psychology major at UMass with an interest in issues of gender identity, attachment/adoption, and anxiety in young children. She has always loved working with kids and hopes to pursue a research career in developmental psychology in order to positively impact the lives of children and families.
Publications
Madrid, J. E., Mandalaywala, T.M., Coyne, S.P., Garner, J.P., Barr, C.S., Maestripieri, D., & Parker, K.J. (2018). Adaptive developmental plasticity in rhesus macaques: 5-HTTLPR interacts with early maternal care to affect juvenile social behavior. Proceedings of the Royal Society B.
Mandalaywala, T.M., Ranger-Murdock, G., Amodio, D.M., & Rhodes, M. (2018). The nature and consequences of essentialist beliefs about race in early childhood. Child Development.
Mandalaywala, T.M., Petrullo, L.A., Parker, K.J., Maestripieri, D. & Higham, J.P. (in press). Vigilance for threat accounts for inter-individual variation in physiological responses to adversity in rhesus macaques: A Cognition x Environment approach. Developmental Psychobiology. DOI:10.1002/dev.21572
Mandalaywala, T.M., Amodio, D.M. & Rhodes, M. (2017). Essentialism promotes racial prejudice by increasing endorsement of social hierarchies. Social Psychological and Personality Science. DOI:10.1177/1948550617707020
Rhodes, M. & Mandalaywala, T.M. (2017). The development and developmental consequences of social essentialism. Invited review for WIREs Cognitive Science, e1437. doi:10.1002/wcs.1437
Petrullo, L.A., Mandalaywala, T.M., Parker, K.J., Maestripieri, D., & Higham, J.P. (2016). Effects of early life experience on cortisol/salivary alpha-amylase asymmetry in free-ranging juvenile rhesus monkeys. Hormones and Behavior. doi: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2016.05.004.
Mandalaywala, T.M. & Rhodes, M. (2016). Racial essentialism is associated with prejudice towards Blacks in 5- and 6-year old White children. Proceedings of the 38th Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society.
Georgiev, A.V., Emery Thompson, M., Mandalaywala, T.M., & Maestripieri, D. (2015). Oxidative stress as an indicator of the costs of reproduction among free-ranging rhesus macaques. Journal of Experimental Biology, 218: 1981-1985.
Mandalaywala, T. M., Fleener, C. E., & Maestripieri, D. (2015). Intelligence in nonhuman primates. In S. Goldstein & J. Naglieri (Eds.), Handbook of Intelligence: Evolutionary Theory, Historical Perspective, and Current Concepts (27-46). New York: Springer Books.
Mandalaywala, T.M., Higham, J.P., Heistermann, M., Parker, K.J., & Maestripieri, D. (2014). Physiological and behavioural stress responses to weaning conflict in free-ranging primate infants. Animal Behaviour, 97: 241-247.
Mandalaywala, T.M., Parker, K.J., & Maestripieri, D (2014). Early experience affects the strength of vigilance for threat in rhesus monkey infants. Psychological Science, 25: 1893-1902.
Maclean, E.L., Mandalaywala, T.M., & Brannon, E.M. (2012). Variance-sensitive choice in lemurs: constancy trumps quantity. Animal Cognition, 15: 15-25.
Mandalaywala, T.M., Higham, J.P., Heistermann, M. & Maestripieri, D. (2011). Infant bystanders modulate the influence of ovarian hormones on female socio-sexual behavior in free-ranging rhesus macaques. Behaviour, 148: 1137-1155.
Higham, J.P., Barr, C.S., Hoffman, C.L., Mandalaywala, T.M., Parker, K.J., & Maestripieri, D. (2011). Mu-opiod receptor (OPRM1) variation, oxytocin levels and maternal attachment in free-ranging rhesus macaques. Behavioral Neuroscience, 152: 131-136.
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