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Associate Professor of Psychology
Director, Child Learning and Development Lab 
 
 
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Vaughn Armour
Thesis Student
Vaughn is a senior from Columbus, Ohio. He is a pre-med psychology major who intends to work as a child and adolescent psychiatrist in the future. Outside of academics, Vaughn leads 3D (Difference for the Developmentally Disabled), writes for the Amherst Student, works at Woodside Children's Center, and captains the Amherst College Ultimate Frisbee team. 
 
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Lucas Bernstein 
Thesis Student
Lucas is a senior from St. Louis, Missouri majoring in psychology and statistics. Outside of the lab, Lucas is the station manager of WAMH (Amherst' student-run radio station), acts in campus theater and film productions, and can be found making music in his band Portmanteau. He also enjoys following baseball, watching indie movies, and taking long walks on the beach.
 
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Yareli Calderon Romero
Thesis Student
Yareli is a senior from New Haven, Connecticut, majoring in psychology. Although she is unsure of her career path, she is interested in art therapy, education, school counseling, school psychology, and working with children. Outside of the lab, Yareli provides childcare for the CHI Think Tank Lecture Series and is a leader for the Amherst Christian Fellowship and Latinx Christian Fellowship. She enjoys journaling, painting, playing squash, and spending time outdoors.
 
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Emma Burd
Research Assistant
Emma is a junior from Maplewood, New Jersey planning to major in psychology and potentially English. She hopes to pursue a career that will allow her to continue exploring developmental psychology and work with children in a clinical setting. Outside of the lab, Emma is an editor for The Amherst Student and tutors individuals who have immigrated and are learning English. In her free time, Emma loves reading classic literature, trail running, and listening to classic rock! 
 
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Oscar Jemison-Blais
Research Assistant
Oscar is a junior for Ann Arbor, Michigan, majoring in psychology, with interests in adolescent psychiatry and medicine, clinical research, and teaching! He likes to write creatively, find new music, play pickup basketball, run in local races, and play Ultimate Frisbee!
 
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Jacqueline Tiros-Lezama
Research Assistant 
Jacqueline is a junior from Brooklyn, New York majoring in psychology and education studies. She hopes to pursue a career in special education or child and adolescent clinical psychology. Outside of the lab, Jacqueline provides childcare and engages in education-related opportunities on and off campus. She enjoys making arts and crafts, journaling, biking, and discovering new songs. 
 
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Willow Vince
Research Assistant
Willow is a junior from Hudson Valley, New York majoring in psychology. Outside of the lab, Willow is the Captain of the Amherst Equestrian Team and competes at a national level across the United States. She also enjoys running, SoulCycle, and baking new recipes. 
 
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Lauren Yuen
Research Assistant 
Lauren is a senior from southern California majoring in psychology. She plans on attending medical school upon graduation and hopefully pursuing psychiatry or pediatrics. Outside of the lab, Lauren is a board member of the Transfer Student Association and a Med-12 on ACEMS. She enjoys volunteering at the local soup kitchen, painting (especially cats!), biking around campus, and making smoothie bowls with Val ingredients.
 
 
 
Previous Thesis Students
Nia Harris, 2014; Rachel Tannenbaum, 2015; Marissa Fierro, 2016; Ashleigh Rutherford, 2016; Danielle Griffin, 2018; Krista Goebel, 2018; Erika DeAngelis, 2019; Rebecca Jordan, 2019; Andrew Floersheimer, 2020; Julia Ruggerio, 2021; Heather Scott, 2021; Sylvia Lanni, 2022; Natalie Hobbs, 2022; Anna Buswell, 2023; Megan Taketa, 2023; Cayla Weiss, 2023; Mary Gum, 2024, Eren Levine, 2024, Justin Ruiz, 2024. 
 
Previous Research Assistants
Aubrie Campbell, 2014; Madeleine Lobrano, 2015; Gabriella Selover, 2017; Donna Kim, 2016; Kramer Peterson, 2017; Andrew Altizer, 2018; Gina Pagan, 2018; Anna Vuong, 2018; DivineAsia Miller, 2019; Denise Noriega, 2019; Lauren Reppert, 2019; Kristen Riley, 2019; Gabby Rose, 2019; Jenna Finklestein, 2020; Madison Forde, 2020; Christina Lee, 2020; Katie Crum, 2021; Grace Haase, 2021; Lauren Simpson, 2021; Gyselle Hennessey, 2022; Kelly Huang, 2022; Anna Madden, 2022; Jenna Wyman, 2022; Chloe Metz, 2023; Shikha Jha, 2022; Eline Laurent, 2022; Thariana Pichardo, 2022; Camila Villagra-Riquelme, 2022; Austin McNab, 2022; Kate Redmond, 2023; Jackeline Fernandes, 2024; Madison Green, 2024, Giulia Miotto Leal, 2024; Ada Chen, 2025.