Pinar Aldan earned her B.A. and M.A. in Psychology from Boğaziçi University in Turkey and her Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology from Yale University. She joined the CADLab in the summer of 2025. Her research looks at how people understand social and economic inequalities, and what shapes their willingness to rethink long-held beliefs. Right now, she’s studying: (1) how people of different ages pay attention to and learn from examples that either support or challenge stereotypes, (2) how parents talk to their kids about everyday inequality, and (3) how people make sense of unequal pay in the workplace.

Outside the lab, Pinar loves to travel, knit, cook, and watch indie horror movies.

If you would like to learn more about Pinar, visit her website here.

Dr. Jordan Legaspi, is a recent graduate of the Cognition Across Development Lab, based at UMass Amherst. He is interested in the global development of cognitive heuristics and social bias, with special consideration to how essentialism and stereotyping affect intra- and inter- personal relations.

Dr. Yuchen Tian (she/her/hers) is a recent graduate of the CAD lab, based at Boston University. She studies how adults and children think about leadership, social status, and socioeconomic inequalities. In asking these questions, Yuchen pays particular attention to how culture (e.g., macro-level: U.S. vs. China; micro-level: contact to certain social groups) shapes differences in people’s social thinking. In her dissertation, Yuchen is investigating the development of 4- to 12-year-old children’s beliefs about social mobility across different social groups and in a cross-cultural context.

Before joining the CAD lab, Yuchen received her Master's degree in Developmental Psychology from Cornell University. You can learn more about Yuchen by clicking here.

Sophia is a PhD student in the CAD Lab, based at Boston University. Before joining the lab she received her BA in Psychology from NYU and worked as a lab manager. She’s interested in children’s awareness of disparities and how they reason about observed differences. She hopes her work will develop strategies to better support children with marginalized identities and help them navigate the inequities they face.

Ashleigh is a rising senior at Boston University, majoring in psychology and minoring in deaf studies. Her time as a mentor and ABA behavioral therapist fostered her love for working with children and plans to pursue a graduate degree in developmental neuropsychology. She hopes to become a neuropsychologist and conduct research on ASD, specifically in children. She is so excited to be working with the CAD Lab and learning more about children’s perspectives of our world!

Sam is a recent graduate of Boston University, where he blends his love for language, literature, and science by majoring in Japanese Language & Literature and minoring in Chemistry. On a pre-medical track, he’s driven by a passion for research and knowledge, with plans to go to medical school. Sam is especially fascinated by how children from diverse backgrounds perceive and navigate the world, and he's eager to explore these insights further in the CAD Lab.

Katerina is a recent graduate of Boston University, who majored in Psychology with a minor in Spanish. She has previously volunteered providing free tutoring to children, which sparked her interest in working with kids. Katerina plans to pursue a career in speech pathology, focusing on supporting children’s communication development. She is excited to be part of the CAD Lab, where she hopes to learn more about children’s perspectives on the world around them and how these experiences shape their development.

Kaitlin is a rising senior at Boston University,majoring in Psychology and minoring in Biology. With her passion for working with children and exploring brain-behavior relationships, she plans to pursue a graduate degree in neuropsychology. She is very excited to work with the CAD Lab to explore how children perceive themselves and others within their social world!

Grace is a rising sophomore at BostonUniversity majoring in Psychology and minoring in Anthropology. She is from Chengdu, China (the best city!). Driven by her passion for improving children's wellbeing and experiences, she is interested to learn about how children from different backgrounds perceive the world around them. In the future, she hopes to pursue a PhD in Clinical or Counseling Psychology with a focus on child and adolescent mental health.

Anya is a rising sophomore at Boston University majoring in Psychology on the pre-health track. She is interested in understanding how people develop emotionally and socially, especially during childhood. Anya volunteers with preschool-aged children, and she loves working with kids because of how genuine, curious, and expressive they are. She is excited to learn more about how children think about the world through her work in the lab. In the future, Anya hopes to attend medical school and become a psychiatrist, where she can combine research and clinical work to support young people’s mental health.