# People ## Principal Investigator [### Elizabeth Bonawitz ](/people/elizabeth-bonawitz) [elizabeth\_bonawitz@gse.harvard.edu](mailto:elizabeth_bonawitz@gse.harvard.edu)Professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Education My research bridges two research traditions: Cognitive Development and Computational Modeling. By bridging these methods, I hope to understand the structure of children's early causal beliefs, how evidence and prior beliefs interact to affect children's... ![LBonawitz](/sites/g/files/omnuum10496/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/ccdlab/files/lizkids.jpg?itok=vRz5MUMO) ## Lab Manager [### Isminur Yilar ](/people/isminur-yilar) Lab Manager Isminur is the lab manager of the Bonawitz CoCoDev Lab. She holds an Ed.M degree from the Harvard Graduate School of Education in Learning Design, Innovation, and Technology and a BA from Bogazici University in Early Childhood Education. She is broadly... ![Headshot of Isminur Yilar](/sites/g/files/omnuum10496/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/ccdlab/files/isminury.jpeg?itok=P-qs5bOS) ## Postdocs [### Esra Nur Turan-Küçük ](/people/esra-nur-turan-kucuk) [esra\_kucuk@gse.harvard.edu](mailto:esra_kucuk@gse.harvard.edu)Postdoctoral Research Fellow Esra Nur Turan-Küçük is a postdoctoral research fellow working with Prof. Elizabeth Bonawitz at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Esra received her B.A. with high honors in Psychology from Istanbul Sehir University, where she completed her senior... ![esra](/sites/g/files/omnuum10496/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/2026-06/IMG_0612_2.jpg?itok=bzFHxqK8) [### Igor Bascandziev ](/people/igor-bascandziev) Postdoctoral Research Fellow Igor is a postdoctoral research fellow in the CoCoDev Lab and the CoDaS (Computational Data Science) Group at Rutgers University – Newark. Igor earned his doctoral degree in Human Development and Education from the Harvard Graduate School of Education... ![Igor](/sites/g/files/omnuum10496/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/ccdlab/files/igor.jpg?itok=Am9L3JNq) [### Ilona Bass ](/people/lonnie-bass) Postdoctoral Research Fellow Ilona (Lonnie) is a joint postdoctoral research fellow working with Prof. Elizabeth Bonawitz in HGSE and Prof. Tomer Ullman in FAS Psychology. She received her B.A. with high honors in psychology from Oberlin College in 2014, and her Ph.D. in Psychology... ![CoCoDev Lab Post Doc, Dr. Ilona Bass](/sites/g/files/omnuum10496/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/ccdlab/files/lonnieheadshot.jpg?itok=E69_UC01) ## PhD Students [### Blerim Jashari ](/people/blerim-jashari) Ph.D. Student Blerim is a first-year Ph.D. student in the Harvard Graduate School of Education, with a concentration in Human Development, Learning, and Teaching (HDLT). He is interested in how children learn, the role of social factors (such as learning from others)... ![Blerim Jashari](/sites/g/files/omnuum10496/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/ccdlab/files/211872909_2940707869474753_4605225762873690118_n.jpg?itok=b7-cZLtw) [### Maya Komakhidze ](/people/maya-komakhidze) Ph.D. Student Maya is a second-year PhD student in the Harvard Graduate School of Education, with a concentration in Human Development, Learning, and Teaching (HDLT). She is interested in belief formation and revision, how biases and emotions affect cognition... ![MayaK](/sites/g/files/omnuum10496/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/ccdlab/files/img_2521.jpeg?itok=3DlnIsRc) [### Michelle Wong ](/people/michelle-wong) Ph.D. Student Michelle is a fourth-year PhD student in the Harvard Graduate School of Education, with a concentration in Human Development, Learning, and Teaching (HDLT). She received her B.S. from Duke University where she also worked as a research coordinator for the... ![CoCoDev Graduate Student, Michelle Wong](/sites/g/files/omnuum10496/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/ccdlab/files/michelle_wong_headshot.jpeg?itok=9eQSF6TD) ## Visiting Research Scientists & Scholars [### Dr. Elizabeth Lapidow ](/people/liz-lapidow) Visiting Research Scholar Liz Lapidow is a postdoctoral research fellow with Dr. Stephanie Denison at the University of Waterloo, and a visiting research scholar at the CoCoDev Lab. She completed her Ph.D. in Experimental Psychology from the University of California, San Diego in... ![Elizabeth Lapidow](/sites/g/files/omnuum10496/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/ccdlab/files/liz_lapidow_headshot.png?itok=Nyl1ngXd) ## Lab Alums [### Adani Abutto ](/people/adani-abutto) Adani was previously a Visiting Research Scholar at the CoCoDev Lab at HGSE during his master’s studies in Psychology and Learning Sciences at the University of Munich in Germany. He is now a graduate student at Stanford's Psychology department working... ![Adani Abutto](/sites/g/files/omnuum10496/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/ccdlab/files/adani_headshot.jpeg?itok=Y8-icH93) [### Carole Zhou ](/people/carole-zhou) Previous Project Manager for Studies on "Detecting, Evaluating, and Learning from Rote Teaching Across Development" Carole was a research assistant at Bonawitz CoCoDev Lab. She received her B.S. with magna cum laude in Elementary Education and Child Studies from Peabody College, Vanderbilt University. Subsequently, she finished and received her Master’s in Education... ![Carole Zhou](/sites/g/files/omnuum10496/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/ccdlab/files/carole.jpg?itok=hXNvNPDz) [### Cècile Gal ](/people/c%C3%A8cile-gal)Previous Visiting Research Scholar Cécile was a Visiting Research Scholar a t the CoCoDev Lab at HGSE. She is a postdoctoral research fellow working with Katrina Begus at the Centre for Early Childhood Cognition at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark, where she uses a combination of... ![Cecile Gal](/sites/g/files/omnuum10496/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/ccdlab/files/screenshot_2025-03-26_at_2.55.34_pm.png?itok=OBSPJvHF) [### Dr. Carla Macias ](/people/carla-macias)Previous Ph.D. Student at CoCoDev Carla received her Ph.D. in psychology from Rutgers University where she worked with Dr. Elizabeth Bonawitz. She graduated from the University of Rochester with a BA in Brain and Cognitive Science in 2016. Carla is interested in cognitive development... ![A headshot of Carla Macias](/sites/g/files/omnuum10496/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/ccdlab/files/carla_.jpg?itok=kktJJiFQ) [### Dr. Lauren Leotti ](/people/lauren-leotti)Previous Postdoctoral Researcher at CoCoDev Lauren was a PostDoctoral Research Fellow at CoCoDev. She began her psychology research career in a developmental cognitive neuroscience lab at Georgetown University, working with Chandan Vaidya. In 2009, under the mentorship of Tor Wager, Lauren received... ![Lauren](/sites/g/files/omnuum10496/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/ccdlab/files/lauren.jpg?itok=WCWc3D2J) [### Elfriede Diestel ](/people/elfriede-diestel) Previous Visiting Research Scholar Elfriede is a Visiting Research Scholar at CoCoDev, and a 1st-year Ph.D Student in the department of Education and Human Development at the DIPF | Leibniz Institute for Research and Information in Education in Frankfurt, Germany. She received her BA in... ![Elfriede Diestel](/sites/g/files/omnuum10496/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/ccdlab/files/elfriede_headshot.jpg?itok=pEAxHZed) [### Elise Mahaffey ](/people/elise-mahaffey) Previous Lab Manager at CoCoDev Elise Mahaffey was the lab manager for CoCoDev from 2019-2022 and is now a PhD student at Arizona State University working with Dr. Kelsey Lucca. Her research explores social learning interactions between adults and children, including how children... ![Elise Mahaffey](/sites/g/files/omnuum10496/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/ccdlab/files/elisemahaffey_headshot.png?itok=SLhzqCwF) [### Emily Daubert ](/people/emily-daubert)Previous Postdoctoral Researcher at CoCoDev Dr. Emily Daubert was a Postdoctoral researcher fellow and is now an Assistant Professor of Psychology at the University of Hawai'i, Manoa. Her research aims to understand the role of play in young children’s learning, to uncover mechanisms underlying... ![Dr. Emily Daubert](/sites/g/files/omnuum10496/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/ccdlab/files/emily_daubert_headshot.png?itok=0sVyfLR1) [### Iris Jeffries ](/people/iris-jeffries) Previous Project Manager for studies on "Cognitive Mechanisms of Guided Instructions in the Early Elementary Years" Iris was a language instructor at Harvard University as well as a lab manager in the Bonawitz CoCoDev Lab (HGSE) and research assistant in the Rowe Lab (HGSE). She received a dual degree in Spanish Language & Literature and Spanish Language & Literature... ![Iris Jeffries](/sites/g/files/omnuum10496/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/ccdlab/files/iris.jpeg?itok=7R4U2BxT) [### Jiayi Wang-Zhao ](/people/jiayi-wang) Previous Lab Manager at CoCoDev Jiayi was the lab manager of Bonawitz CoCoDev Lab (HGSE) and Ullman CoCoDev Lab (FAS Psychology). She received her B.A. in Psychology and Japanese from Boston University in 2022. Jiayi's ongoing project investigates how children generate explanations for... ![CoCoDev Lab Manager, Jiayi Wang-Zhao](/sites/g/files/omnuum10496/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/ccdlab/files/jiayi_wang_headshot_1.jpg?itok=U4QaW--t) [### Jinjing Jenny Wang ](/people/jinjing-jenny-wang)Previous Postdoctoral Researcher at CoCoDev Jenny Wang was a Postdoctoral researcher fellow and is now an Assistant Professor of Psychology at Rutgers University New Brunswick. Her research centers around the question: how do basic cognitive structures enable our learning of complex symbolic... ![Jinjing Jenny Wang](/sites/g/files/omnuum10496/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/ccdlab/files/jenny_wang_headshot.png?itok=6H_asb35) [### Jonathan F. Kominsky ](/people/jonathan-f-kominsky)Previous Postdoctoral Researcher at CoCoDev Jonathan was a postdoctoral research fellow in the CoCoDev Lab from 2019 to 2022. He studies how the human mind understands cause and effect: How we extract causal information from the world, how we represent information about causal events and causal... ![Jonathan](/sites/g/files/omnuum10496/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/ccdlab/files/jonathan.jpg?itok=uaONOlZ7) [### Joseph Colantonio ](/people/joseph-colantonio) Previous Postdoctoral Research Fellow Joseph Colantonio was a postdoctoral fellow in the CoCoDev Lab. He received his Ph.D. in Psychology from Rutgers University, Newark in 2023, where he worked with Dr. Elizabeth Bonawitz. He is broadly interested in human learning and curiosity from a... ![Dr. Joseph Colantonio](/sites/g/files/omnuum10496/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/ccdlab/files/joseph.jpg?itok=loF3cuZb) [### Junyi Chu ](/people/junyi-chu) Postdoctoral Research Fellow Junyi was a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the CoCoDev Lab. She completed her Ph.D. work at the Early Childhood Cognition Lab at MIT Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences. She received her B.S. in Cognitive Studies and Child Development with highest... ![Dr. Junyi Chu](/sites/g/files/omnuum10496/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/ccdlab/files/junyi.png?itok=gFV9d-0s) [### Katarina Begus ](/people/katarina-begus)Previous Postdoctoral Researcher at CoCoDev Dr. Katarina Begus was a postdoctoral research fellow at CoCoDev and is now an Associate Professor of Psychology at University of Copenhagen. Her main research interests are curiosity, information seeking, and learning in infancy. Dr. Begus has been... ![Katka](/sites/g/files/omnuum10496/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/ccdlab/files/katka.jpg?itok=h8IpfLGp) [### Kimele Persaud ](/people/kimele-persaud) Previous Postdoctoral Researcher at CoCoDev Dr. Persaud was formerly a postdoctoral researcher at our lab, and currently a professor in the psychology department of Rutgers university. Her research interests center on understanding visual working and long-term memory. Specifically, she employs... ![Kimele](/sites/g/files/omnuum10496/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/ccdlab/files/kimele.jpg?itok=Eo57alPG) [### Koeun Choi ](/people/koeun-choi) Previous Postdoctoral Researcher at CoCoDev Dr. Koeun Choi was a Postdoctoral research fellow at CoCoDev and is now an Assistant Professor of Human Development and Family Science at Virginia Tech. Her work focuses on four aspects including (1) examining the impact of media on learning, (2)... ![Dr. Koeun Choi](/sites/g/files/omnuum10496/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/ccdlab/files/koeun_choi_headshot.png?itok=X164QEFK) [### Lamei Wang ](/people/lamei-wang) [lamei\_wang@gse.harvard.edu](mailto:lamei_wang@gse.harvard.edu)Previous Visiting Research Scientist Lamei Wang was previously a visiting scholar at CoCoDev Lab. She is an Associate Professor of Psychology at Shenzhen University, China. Her research focuses on family and child psychology, especially on parenting and child social-emotional development. ![Lamei Wang](/sites/g/files/omnuum10496/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/ccdlab/files/lamei_headshot.jpg?itok=gB3kMu0k) [### Rosie Aboody ](/people/rosie-aboody) Postdoctoral Research Fellow Rosie was a postdoctoral fellow with joint appointments at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and the MIT Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences. She received her B.A. in psychology with highest honors from UC Berkeley where she worked with... ![CoCoDev Lab Post Doc, Dr. Rosie Aboody](/sites/g/files/omnuum10496/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/ccdlab/files/rosie_headshot.jpg?itok=Cw4gj72i) [### Yang Yang ](/people/yang-yang) Previous Postdoctoral Researcher at CoCoDev Dr. Yang Yang was a Postdoctoral research fellow and at CoCoDev and is now a Research Scientist at the Centre for Research in Child Development at National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. Her research has been focused... ![Dr. Yang Yang](/sites/g/files/omnuum10496/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/ccdlab/files/yang_yang_headshot.png?itok=LGkhWZZb) [### Yue Yu ](/people/yue-yu) Dr. Yue Yu was a Postdoctoral researcher fellow at CoCoDev and is now a research scientist in the Center for Research in Child Development, National Institute of Education, Singapore. He studies learning in young children, especially how early learning is... ![Dr. Yue Yu](/sites/g/files/omnuum10496/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/ccdlab/files/yue_yu_headshot.png?itok=En36ti7y)