Meet the Team

Meet the Team

We have a remarkable group of people working in the lab.  Read a little about them and their childhood favorites below! 

Jennifer Van Reet, Ph.D., Principal Investigator

Dr. Van Reet is a professor of psychology at Providence College, specializing in how our minds develop throughout childhood and into adulthood. She started this lab in the fall of 2008 to give her studies a home at PC and to give students interested in learning more about development a place to train. Growing up, she read every Nancy Drew book she could get her hands on. These days, if she was a children’s character, she would be Owl from Winnie-the-Pooh.

2021-2022

Samantha Dietel ’23. Samantha is a double-major in psychology and elementary/special education.

Kelly Drogan ’22. Kelly is doing a senior thesis on children’s hope. She intends to pursue a career advocating for children’s physical, mental, and emotional well-being.

Amanda Imbriano ’22. Amanda is a senior psychology major.

Ann Tarah Joseph ’22. Ann Tarah is a double-major in psychology and global studies. She hopes to pursue a career advocating for and supporting immigrants.

Sophie Riddick ’22. Sophie is a psychology major and member of the Liberal Arts Honors Program. She is doing a senior thesis on risk-taking in pretending.

Selected Alumni

Adriana Acerra ’19. Adriana is pursuing a career in occupational therapy.

Danielle Caddick ’18. Danielle completed her graduate degree in School Psychology.

Danielle Colabatistto ’16. Danielle’s senior thesis explore the role of fantasy in school age children’s math learning. She earned a Masters in School Psychology at Teachers College, Columbia University.

Mikaila Christopher ’17. Mikaila’s senior thesis investigated if children can learn false emotions through pretend play. She is pursuing a degree in school psychology at Tufts University.

Julia Culhane ’20. Julia was the winner of the Clint Anderson Research Prize in summer 2019. Her project on children’s magical problem solving was accepted at a special topics conference on children’s play.

Rosie DeRienzo ’15. Rosie’s senior thesis examined whether children could learn prosocial behaviors from fantastical stories. She earned a degree in Applied Behavior Analysis at Cambridge College.

Emma Duffy ’16. Emma just wrapped up two years in the City Year program in Boston.

Michaela Fahey ’16. Michaela’s senior thesis tested whether preschoolers can learn vocabulary in pretend play. She earned a degree in speech language pathology at the MGH Institute of Health Professions.

Annie Fast ’13. Annie earned her Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology at the University of Washington and works as an Associate Professor at Western Washington University.

Gabriella Galeazzi ’15. Gabbi’s senior thesis explored whether children remember more or less from fantastical stories. She earned a Masters in Counseling at Boston College.

Ana León ’16. Ana’s independent study explored children’s understanding of ownership transfers. She earned a Masters degree in Neuroscience and Education at Columbia University.

Allie Powers ’20. Allie is now pursuing her doctoral degree in occupational therapy.

Jamie Russo ’17.  Jamie is working with City Year in Boston.

Victoria Sanborn ’15.  Victoria’s senior thesis was a critical review of why pretending is difficult for autistic children. She is pursuing a degree in clinical psychology.

Caitlin Shanley ’18. Caitlin completed a year of service with the Jesuit Volunteer Corp and is pursuing medical school.

Kelly Sheehan ’11. Kelly earned her Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology at Northwestern University, working primarily in David Uttal’s lab. After completing a postdoctoral fellowship at the Center on Media and Human Development, she is now a User Research Specialist at Age of Learning, Inc.

Josette Tugander ’19. Josette is pursuing a Ph.D. in psychology.

Emily Ventura ’18. Emily is working as a middle school math teacher.

Arielle Wezdenko ’13. Arielle’s senior thesis found that children’s prosocial behavior is affected by their inhibitory control. She earned a Master’s in School Psychology at Northeastern University.