StarLab at U of T

Research Team

Faculty

Christina Starmans

Christina is interested in how children and adults reason about the social and moral world. Her research draws on methods and ideas from both philosophy and psychology to explore topics such as morality, free will, other minds, ownership, fairness, and knowledge. She completed her graduate and postdoctoral work at Yale University; before that, she was an undergraduate in Philosophy & Psychology at the University of Waterloo.

Lab Manager

Rachel Wax

Rachel is a graduate of the Bachelor of Arts Honours Psychology program at Queen’s University. She is interested in sociocognitive development, emotional development, and developmental psychopathology. She loves working with kids and aspires to become a clinical child psychologist. Outside of the lab, you can find her reading, being active, or spending time with her friends, family, and pets.

Graduate Students

	Inderpreet Gill Email ★ Scholar Inderpreet is a PhD student in Psychology. She is interested in investigating the social-cognitive mechanisms underlying moral judgments and actions, and hopes to explore how infants and young children understand and respond to bullying behaviour. In her spare time, Inderpreet can be found exploring the city, swimming or binge-watching ‘The Office’.
	Alexa Sacchi Email ★ Scholar Alexa is a PhD student in Psychology. Before coming to U of T, she graduated from Rutgers University in New Brunswick, NJ with a BA in Psychology, and worked as a lab manager at Yale University. She is broadly interested in the social cognition of adults and children in the domains of morality, prosociality, altruism, and ownership. In her spare time, she loves going to concerts and trying new vegetarian restaurants.
	Mia Radovanovic Email ★ Scholar Mia is a PhD student in psychology working with Dr. Christina Starmans and Dr. Jessica Sommerville. Mia studies how children generate their own solutions to problems through independent exploration, and how social context affects this process. Her work in the StarLab looks at how children and adults reason about conformity and wealth. Outside of the lab, Mia can be found caring for her houseplants, playing Nintendo, and spending time with her dog (Penny).
	Umang Khan Email Umang is a PhD student in Psychology, interested in how children reason about concepts such as possibility and morality, and how their reasoning compares to that of adults. She graduated from the University of Toronto with a BSc in Neuroscience and Psychology. In her spare time, Umang enjoys binge-watching TV shows, listening to music, and thinking she’s really funny.

Undergraduate Students

	Morgan Garland Morgan recently graduted from U of T with a degree in psychology and physiology. She is interested in developmental and clinical psychology and how development affects future mental health. In her spare time, she can be found figure skating, teaching children how to skate, horseback riding, and reading.
	Jeanne Polochansky Jeanne is an undergraduate Psychology Specialist student aspiring to become a behavioural researcher with a focus on the developmental field and aspects such as morality, creativity, and emotion. Outside of the lab she’s a published writer, a literary editor, and a van Gogh enthusiast who also enjoys helping kids get more involved in the arts.
	Akshara Kumar Akshara is a third-year psychology specialist, minoring in biology. She has been interested in developmental psychology ever since her mother told her stories about her days as a child psychology student. She is interested to find out how decision-making changes as we grow and how emotions and moral judgment influence these changes. In her spare time, you can find her binging international shows like k-dramas and animes. To lessen her guilt, she justifies her time wasted by learning foreign languages like Korean and Japanese!
	Arla Dakli Arla is a third-year undergraduate student majoring in psychology and human biology. She is interested in many different aspects of psychology, especially how individual differences, caused partly by environmental factors, can result in specific outcomes within developmental psychology. Arla loves working with kids, and would like to eventually work as a psychiatrist for children and youth. Outside of school, she is involved in athletics, community engagement, sketching and drawing, and spending time with family and friends.
	Rebekah Weinman Rebekah is a fourth-year undergraduate student majoring in psychology and global health. She is interested in developmental and clinical psychology. In her spare time Rebekah can be found reading, watching movies, exploring the city, and spending time with her friends and family.
	Jaime Sit Jaime is a third year undergraduate student double majoring in global health and biology, with a minor in psychology. She is especially interested in development psychology and how children perceive others and their actions. In her spare time, Jaime can be found reading, listening to music, swimming, and rewatching her favourite TV shows.
	Jessica Sah Jessica is a second-year undergraduate student double majoring in psychology and neuroscience. She is interested in developmental psychology. She hopes to continue her studies into graduate school and work as a child psychologist. She loves working with kids from her experiences volunteering as a swim instructor, tutor, and summer camp leader. In her spare time, she is regularly found reading, baking, and spending time with friends and family.
	Ivy Nam Ivy is a fourth-year undergraduate student specializing in psychology. She is particularly interested in developmental and industrial-organizational psychology, and how morality can affect behaviour. During her spare time, Ivy can be found baking new recipes, reading classic novels on her couch, and doing Pilates!
	Jemima Munyaruganda Jemima is a third year undergraduate student double majoring in health studies and psychology. Her main areas of interest include developmental, social and health psychology. She loves working with children and learning about how they make sense of the world around them. In her spare time, she enjoys spending time with her friends and family, listening to music, and exploring the city.
	Rachel Paterson Rachel is a third year undergraduate student double majoring in psychology and ethics, society, and law. She is interested in the intersections between psychology and philosophy, especially the relevance of these fields to understanding how our moral thinking develops. In her spare time, she can be found playing volleyball, petting her roommate’s cat, or waiting in the never-ending Second Cup line at Sid Smith.
	Grace Deol Grace is a second year undergraduate student specializing in psychology and minoring in physiology. Her research interests lie in developmental psychology, mental health, and mindfulness. In her spare time, Grace can be found reading, doing yoga, volunteering, and spending time with friends and family.
	Amy Qiu Amy is a third year undergraduate student specializing in psychology and majoring in sociology. She is interested in clinical and developmental psychology, mainly focusing on adolescents’ mental health and the influences of social-familial-individual factors. During her spare time, Amy can be found playing with her dog, watching tv, and sleeping.