Lab Director
Dr. Angeline Lillard
Dr. Lillard is a professor of psychology at the University of Virginia. She has a BA in English Literature from Smith College and PhD in Psychology from Stanford University.
Graduate Students
Eric Smith
Eric is a fifth year graduate student, originally from Carlisle, PA. He earned his BS from Ursinus College in 2006 and his MA from the University of Virginia in 2010. His program of research broadly focuses on how fictional mediums affect us throughout the lifespan, and he employs behavioral and functional neuroimaging techniques in his empirical pursuits. Eric is a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow and a fellow of the International Max Planck Research School's LIFE program.
Emily Hopkins
Emily is a fourth year graduate student, originally from Duxbury, MA. She received her BS in cognitive neuroscience from Brown University in 2007 and her MA from UVA in 2011. Her research focuses on object substitution in pretend play and on how children learn new information and skills during pretend play.
Rebecca Dore
Rebecca is a third year graduate student, originally from Atlanta, GA. She received her undergraduate degree in psychology from Wake Forest University in 2010. Her research focuses on how pretend play and fiction might impact children in a variety of respects, for example by increasing children's theory of mind or causing children to adopt the characteristics of fictional characters. Rebecca also has research in collaboration with UVA social psychologists examining children's perceptions of others' pain based on social categories, like age, race or gender.
Marissa Drell
Marissa is a first year graduate student, originally from Watchung, NJ. She received her undergraduate degree in American Culture with foci in Developmental Psychology and Women's Studies from Vassar College in 2008 and her MA in Psychology from Brandeis University in 2010. She is interested in examining the effects of media on social and cognitive development and exploring the mechanisms that make hands-on, open-ended play experiences important.
Distinguished Majors Program
- Eve Richey
- Nathanael Schwarz
Research Assistants
- Virginia Bell
- Emily Bixel
- Crystal Courtner
- Ashley Dunn
- Lauren Gianforte
- Grace Gillis-Crouch
- Liz Hasseltine
- Grace Kegley
- Denise Nguyen
- Emma Petkofsky
Recent Lab Alumni
Graduate Students- Matthew Lerner - clinical internship, University of Chicago
DMP Students
- Jennifer Peterson
- Leilani Brower
- Eliana Klein