Current Members

Ioana Grosu, Ph.D.
ioana.grosu@utoronto.ca

Ioana recently completed her PhD in Linguistics at New York University. Her research primarily focuses on the interplay between possibility reasoning and the language used to express possibilities, with an emphasis on counterfactual constructions (e.g., “If cats had wings, they would fly”). In particular, she is interested in how children acquire possibility reasoning, and the way in which the possibilities children reason over differ from those of adults. She uses a combination of both experimental and corpus-based methodologies to investigate these questions, considering children’s ability to reason over counterfactual questions as well as their spontaneous production of counterfactual conditionals.

Mary Beth Neff, Ph.D.
m.e.neff@ifikk.uio.no
Visiting Researcher

Mary Beth is a visiting research fellow from the University of Oslo in Norway. In her PhD research she investigated why some young children interpret what other people say very literally (e.g., why when you ask a 4-year-old to “keep their eye on the ball,” they might try to literally put their eye on the ball). She explored factors that can drive this “literal phase” to see how it influences 3- to 7-year-old children’s ability to understand metaphors and other types of figurative language.

Julianna Lu
julianna.lu@mail.utoronto.ca
2nd year PhD student in the SCCP program

Julianna completed her MA in Developmental Psychology at the University of Waterloo, where she investigated children’s intuitive number sense and probabilistic reasoning. She has also recently completed her MA in the School and Clinical Child Psychology (SCCP) MA program at OISE. She is interested in counterfactual thinking and its association with rumination. For example, counterfactual reasoning is closely related to various social-cognitive variables, such as emotional states of regret and relief. Julianna is interested in exploring the emotional characteristics of counterfactual thinking and their implications on mental well-being. Outside of academia, Julianna enjoys roller skating, reading, sketching, and going for hikes. 

Patrycia Jarosz
jarosz.patrycia@gmail.com
2nd year MA student in the SCCP program

Patrycia is currently in second year in the Master of Arts in School & Clinical Child Psychology and had completed her undergraduate degree in the Specialized Honours Psychology program at York University. For her honours thesis, she evaluated a specialized autism program developed by the YCDSB and is now interested in factors that influence children’s learning, especially in relation to counterfactual reasoning and episodic memory. During her free time, she loves to volunteer at a daycare. 

Linlong (Lynn) Wu
linlongg.wu@mail.utoronto.ca

Linlong recently graduated from Tianjin Normal University, where he earned his BSc with a major in Bioscience and a minor in Psychology. He is currently enrolled in his 2nd year in the MEd program in Developmental Psychology and Education at OISE. Linlong’s main area of interest lies in exploring the relationship between language, emotion, and children’s development. During his free time, he enjoys playing tennis and visiting the library.

Ariel Burbano
ariel.burbano@mail.utoronto.ca
2nd year MEd student in the DPE program

Ariel is currently a graduate student in the Developmental Psychology and Education program at OISE. Previously, she completed her BSc in Psychology with a minor in Biology at the University of Waterloo. Ariel’s research interests are in cognitive development and decision making. Outside of school, Ariel enjoys spending time with her friends and family outside in the sun. 

Dominic Le
dominic.le@mail.utoronto.ca

Dominic is a third-year undergraduate student studying cognitive science, psychology, and linguistics at the University of Toronto. He aims to learn more about how imagining branching possibilities can affect the way children form ideas about their actively changing environment. In his free time, he writes music, journals about music, and dabbles in being punny.

Darin Lei
darin.lei@mail.utoronto.ca

Darin is a second-year undergraduate student studying cognitive science, psychology, and philosophy at the University of Toronto. He is passionate about exploring the cognitive mechanisms that shape children’s scientific reasoning, problem-solving, and language development. He aims to learn more about the beauty of cognitive development through these areas. In his free time, he trains Jiu Jitsu, practices yoga and meditation, and loves learning languages (currently French, German, and Korean)!

Selina Zheng
selinazhenghanyi@gmail.com

Selina is a third-year undergraduate student at the University of Toronto specializing in Psychology. She is passionate about child development, cognitive psychology, and how parenting styles mediate children’s cognition. She has gained clinical research experience at the Beijing Suicide Research and Prevention Center, where she supported intervention programs for patients with serious mental disorders. She also worked as a Research Assistant in the Developmental Psychopathology Lab, where she contributed to research on child development and differential parenting. These experiences have deepened her interest in developmental psychology and mental health research. Outside of academics, she enjoys photography and playing the piano.

Sophie Akbari
sophieakbari@gmail.com

Sophia is a third-year undergraduate student at Concordia University in Montreal, majoring in Linguistics with a minor in Education. She is working toward a future in Speech and Language Pathology. Her academic interests include cognitive development, with a focus on the diverse factors that influence it and the effects of bilingualism on children’s cognitive growth. In her free time, she enjoys listening to music, painting, and spending time with friends.