Principle Investigator
Sandy LaTourrette
Dr. LaTourrette is a cognitive scientist studying the development of language, cognition, and their interaction across the lifespan. He received his Ph.D. in Cognitive Psychology at Northwestern University, examining how labeling objects changes the way infants remember and categorize objects. He then completed a NRSA post-doctoral fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania, studying mechanisms of word learning in children and adults. Finally, Dr. LaTourrette served as a Visiting Assistant Professor at Haverford College, teaching courses like Cognition, Communicating Psychology, and Language & Thought. See Sandy’s website and Google Scholar for further details, or visit the Publications tab to access Sandy’s full list of articles!
Postdoctoral Researcher
Wani Qiu
Wani is a postdoctoral researcher studying children’s social cognitive development and how they understand bidirectional processes like teaching and learning. She received her M.Ed. from the Harvard Graduate School of Education and her Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of Southern California, where she was advised by Dr. Henrike Moll. Wani’s work examines questions such as:1) What factors guide young children’s decisions about what and how to teach others?2) In what ways do children benefit from different forms of pedagogy?3) How do children learn object categories in semi-supervised contexts?See Wani’s website (fanxiaowaniqiu.com) for more details!
Lab Manager
Sonia Singh
Originally from the Bay Area, Sonia recently graduated from Haverford College with a B.S. in Psychology and a B.A. in Latin. During her time there, she published a paper on using computational modeling to simulate social category learning, and she completed a thesis investigating children’s trait-based colorist biases. Her research interests span how children use prior knowledge to infer the meaning of new words and how children form social categories. She’s excited to visit LA’s cafes, galleries, and gardens!
Graduate Students
Idella Smolyar
Area: Developmental
First Year PhD Student
Idella graduated with highest honors in Psychology from UCLA in 2024. There, she worked as part of the Language and Cognitive Development lab on multiple projects, including completing an award-winning honors thesis examining how word labels and prosody interact in children’s emotion categorization. Her research interests are in understanding children’s language and cognitive development, specifically how children form their concepts of emotions from the language they use and/or hear when labeling emotions. Born and raised in LA, she enjoys getting to explore and show people everything the city has to offer, from the ocean views to local restaurants and cafes.
Victoria Chang
Area: Developmental
Second Year PhD Student
Victoria is a PhD student in Developmental Psychology. She graduated from College of William and Mary with a major in psychology and minor in data science. After that, she earned her master’s degree in developmental psychology at Columbia University. Her research focuses on child language development and its synergy with the development of other cognitive skills, such as conceptual representations and theory of mind. She is particularly interested in word learning, syntax, and cross-linguistic comparisons. Victoria is advised by Dr. Toby Mintz and co-advised by Dr. Sandy LaTourrette.
Research Assistants
Mysha Amir 
Major: Psychology (B.A.); Master’s in Addiction Science (PDP)
Graduation Year: 2027
Growing up bilingual, Mysha’s interest in language acquisition and child development stems from her childhood quest to learn more languages, raising questions of what aids children in speech comprehension–especially when encountering unfamiliar-accented speech. In her free time, Mysha loves spending time with friends and family, reading a book, or going out for a run on the windy roads of San Fernando Valley.
Iris Zheng 
Major: Cognitive Science
Graduation Year: 2026
Iris has been passionate about exploring language acquisition from her exposures to different languages at a young age and how that impacted her current fluency in Cantonese and Mandarin. Growing up in the Bay Area, she’s also excited to explore all that LA has to offer! In her free time, Iris enjoys visiting art museums, exploring cafes, and crocheting/knitting.
Alex Battcher
Major: Psychology
Graduation Year: 2026
Alex’s passion for child cognitive development grew through hands-on experience working with children as a character performer at Walt Disney World and volunteering with community-based programs like USC’s Joint Educational Project. Originally from Reno/Tahoe, she has always hoped to attend USC and is pleased to be part of the university’s academic and research community. Outside of the lab, she loves to practice yoga, travel to new places, and explore the amazing food that Los Angeles has to offer.
Orr Barr-Yossef 
Major: Psychology
Graduation Year: 2027
Orr’s interest in language acquisition and child development cultivated from her experiences working with kids of all ages, including teaching English at a Korean-speaking preschool. Originally from the Bay Area, Orr loves to explore all of the beautiful places California has to offer. She loves to hike, try new restaurants, and spend time at the beach.
Agustin Montes-Tacuba
Major: Cognitive Science
Graduation Year: 2026
Agustin’s love for child development stems from the differences in Spanish language acquisition between his siblings who all grew up with differences in immersion schools, consistency of speaking, and necessity for speaking. He is an active tutor at 32nd Street elementary school for first graders. Outside of lab, he enjoys running around LA, hiking around SoCal, and finding the best matcha.
Chenye (Mary) Wang 
Psychology (B.A.) from UCI; Teaching English as a Second Language (M.A.) from UPenn
Mary has been fascinated by language from a young age, having grown up speaking both Mandarin and English, while also exposed to three distinct Chinese dialects from different towns. Throughout her childhood, she often found herself helping those around her translate between languages, which sparked her deep interest in how people communicate across linguistic boundaries. In her daily life, she enjoys spending time with animals, and her favorite singer is JJ Lin!
Valentina Bellagamba
Major: Psychology
Graduation Year: 2028
Valentina’s curiosity in child development is grounded in her experiences mentoring young learners, including coaching youth tennis and teaching preschool at Guidepost Montessori. Originally from the suburbs of Chicago, Valentina enjoys exploring Los Angeles, playing tennis, spending time with friends and families, and looking for new opportunities.
Morgan Nguyen
Majors: Cognitive Science, Linguistics
Graduation Year: 2028
Morgan developed a deep interest in language acquisition and child development through personal experiences of navigating communication by growing up bilingual in Vietnamese and English. Originally from Vietnam and raised in Houston, Morgan’s background has shaped a curiosity about how children learn and adapt linguistically in diverse environments. Outside of academics, Morgan enjoys embroidery, dance, and exploring new restaurants and cafes.
Lilith Yan
Major: Psychology
Minor: The Dynamics of Early Childhood (Rossier)
Graduation Year: 2028
Lilith’s interest in early emotional development stems from her lifelong compassion and love for working with children. Growing up with two sisters—including one who is nineteen years younger—gave her firsthand insight into early developmental milestones and sibling dynamics. Her experiences attending a boarding high school in upstate New York sparked a curiosity about how environment shapes adolescent social and emotional growth. She is excited to explore how early emotional experiences influence later developmental outcomes through research. Outside of the lab, Lilith loves to dance, shop, and explore all the amazing food that Los Angeles, and the world, has to offer.