Dr. Youjung Choi is an assistant professor in the Brain and Cognitive Sciences program at Southern Illinois University, Carbondale. She received her Ph.D. from the Department of Psychological Sciences at the University of Missouri. She proceeded to become a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Psychology at both Yale and Harvard University.
Her research interests focus on the social cognitive development in infants and young children. Her research focuses, first, on how individuals understand others’ minds, and second, on how this understanding and other social capacities (e.g., moral understanding, intergroup cognition, language comprehension) play a role in interpreting social interactions.
Discover more about Dr. Choi on her SIU webpage.
Lab Coordinator
Email: mostafa.ila@siu.edu
Ila Mostafa is a second-year graduate student in the Brain and Cognitive Sciences program. She is interested in studying social development in typically developing children and children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). She received her B.A. in Neuroscience from Augustana College in Rock Island, IL. In her free time, she enjoys reading novels, knitting, and spending time with her cat, Rosie.
Graduate Students
Marie-Claire (MC) Diehl is currently a Graduate Student at SIU. She hopes to achieve her doctorate degree in clinical psychology to work with children using cognitive behavioral therapy. She is excited to join this lab to grow her knowledge in infant social cognition as well as her research skills.
Research Assistants
Caitlyn Kleiss is currently a sophmore majoring in psychology. The social cognitive development lab seemed like a perfect match for her since she loves working with children and wanted to get research experience. In the future, she wants to get a PhD in psychology and pursue a career in academia. She joined the lab last year to gain hands-on research experience. Her time in the lab allowed her to be able to win a REACH award to do her own study this year! Outside of the lab, she is a part of the Honors Program, a Resident Assistants, the Mae Smith Area Council, and she is the Secretary of Psychology Student Association and PSY CHI
Emma Watychowicz is a Sophmore and is majoring in art education and minoring in psychology at SIU. She wants to learn more about how children respond to situations from the Social Cognitive Development lab because she will primarily work with children. For the future, she wants to teach art to children or adolescents. She is also a part of the Honors Program and loves to spend time outdoors!
Brogan Long is a Junior majoring in English Education with an additional license in special education and a minor in political science. He joined the lab to gain experience in human development, He wants to use his interpersonal skills with young people and put them to use in research. He wants to attend graduate school in education, psychology, or social work.
Ellie Quinn is a Senior Majoring in Psychology. She joined the lab because she is passionate about working with and helping children throughout their developing years. She plans to go to graduate school to further her education and become a school psychologist to help children go through their adolescent years.
Teyani Sharkey is a sophomore at SIUC studying psychology. She is a member of the university’s Honors Program and plans to specialize in Clinical Psychology. She also intends to pursue a neuroscience minor. Through participation in the lab, she hopes to strengthen her research skills and expand her experience with the different subfields of psychology. In her free time, she likes to hang with family and friends, enjoy the outdoors, or snuggle up with a good book and her dog.
Zharia is a senior at SIU who graduates in 2025. She is majoring in child and family services with a minor in psychology. For her future, she plans to get her masters in marriage and family therapy. She joined this lab to gain experience with families and see different perspectives they can offer.
Jazmine Watson is a Senior at SIUC. She is majoring in Psychology with a minor in Neuroscience. I joined the SCD Lab to further research children and how they interact with the world, as well as study the brain and its functionality. She has always been interested in the brain and loves working with children, so the SCD Lab was the best choice for her. When she graduates in May of 2025 with her bachelor’s degree, she plans to attend medical school to become a Neurosurgeon. A saying that she tells herself if, “Be the change that you want to see.” She plans on doing just that!
Liz Stolzberg is a freshman here at SIU. She is majoring in Psychology with the dream of becoming a Clinical Child Psychologist! She is super excited to be part of such an awesome research team here in the SCD Lab, especially since she gets to combine her childcare experience with her psychology knowledge, and then extend both areas into research and lab settings. It’s a great way to get field-specific experience in a fun and interesting way!