Melissa Paquette-Smith

Melissa Paquette-Smith

Principal Investigator

Melissa is an Assistant Teaching Professor in the Department of Psychology at UCLA. Prior to teaching at UCLA, she completed her doctorate in Psychology at the University of Toronto. Melissa’s doctorate research looked at how infants process social information in their environment, and how this processing relates to the development of linguistic and social competencies. Before beginning her doctorate work, Melissa received her MA in Psychology as well as a Bachelor of Science in Psychology and Biology from the University of Toronto.

Research Collaborators

Megan Imundo

Megan Imundo

Research Collaborator

Megan completed her PhD in the Bjork Learning and Forgetting Lab. Her research focuses on investigating the conditions that enhance long-term learning of accurate information and those that increase identification and rejection of inaccurate information. When she isn’t doing research, Megan is trying out her latest cookie recipes.

Courtney Clark

Courtney Clark

Research Collaborator

Courtney is a Lecturer in the Department of Psychology at UCLA, where she also earned her PhD in Cognitive Psychology. Her research interests span topics in the science of learning and include work on the role of tests as learning events and examining how students learn from their mistakes. She currently teaches courses related to general and cognitive psychology and strives to implement evidence-based practices into each class.

Katie Silaj

Katie Silaj

Graduate Student Collaborator

Katie is a first-year graduate student in the Castel Memory and Lifespan Cognition Lab. Her research focuses on the application of the value-directed remembering paradigm to real-life settings, and investigating ways to improve classroom instruction. More broadly, she is interested in how we learn and remember information. Outside of the lab, she spends most of her time with her nine-year old pitbull, Cash, and enjoys collecting old records.

Undergraduate Research Assistants

Ashley Kang

Ashley Kang

Undergraduate Research Student

Ashley is a second year undergraduate student studying Psychology as well as Sociology. After graduation, Ashley wants to further study Criminology and become a criminal psychologist in the future. She is passionate for mental health and the advocation for it, especially in marginalized populations. In her free time, Ashley enjoys hanging out with her friends or going to the gym.

Melody Yuan

Melody Yuan

Undergraduate Research Student

Melody is a second-year undergraduate student studying Psychology and Public Affairs, with a minor in Asian American Studies. After graduation, Melody hopes to attend law school. In her free time, she enjoys reading, kayaking, and spending time with friends and family.

Jaquelin Trujillo

Jaquelin Trujillo

Undergraduate Research Student

Jaquelin is a 2nd year Psychology and Applied Linguistics double major. After graduation, Jaquelin hopes to attend grad school for speech-language pathology and pursue research on atypical language acquisition, speech disorders, and their impacts on learning. During her free time, she enjoys running, crocheting, and spending time with friends and family.

Carina Husain

Carina Husain

Undergraduate Research Student

Carina is a second year pre-psychobiology major and hopes to learn more about speech perception in the lab. She has a passion for working with children and hopes to become a future nurse practitioner. She is also a part of Her Campus at UCLA and loves to spend her free time with friends and family, outdoors, and trying new foods and recipes.

Wanning He

Wanning He

Undergraduate Research Student

Wanning is a 3rd year Psychology major with an Education Studies minor. She is interested in developmental, educational pathways affected by different cultural and social backgrounds. After graduation, she hopes to go to graduate school for developmental/ educational psychology and pursue a PhD degree. In her free time, she enjoys painting, photography, cooking, and watching anime.

Doruk Cinalioglu

Doruk Cinalioglu

Undergraduate Research Student

Doruk is a 3rd year undergraduate student studying Cognitive Science. Doruk is interested in cognitive and positive psychology, and wishes to explore the psychology of human performance in different contexts. In his freetime Doruk enjoys reading, comedy shows, podcasts, music, martial arts and playing soccer.

Jocelyn Ortega

Jocelyn Ortega

Undergraduate Research Student

Jocelyn is a second-year undergraduate student at UCLA, majoring in Cognitive Science. She is deeply passionate about mental health advocacy, particularly in supporting underserved populations. Jocelyn is excited to explore how linguistic backgrounds and life experiences shape learning and development. She aspires to pursue advanced studies in clinical psychology, with the goal of providing psychological services that promote the well-being of adolescents and marginalized communities.

Jamie Lau

Jamie Lau

Undergraduate Research Student

Jamie is a fourth year Psychology student minoring in Education Studies and Professional Writing. After graduation, she hopes to explore the field of school psychology and work in the education system as a resource for children and families. She is passionate about creating safe, successful, and supportive school environments for young students. In her free time, Jamie enjoys ice skating, baking, reading, and journaling.

Arianna Zamora

Arianna Zamora

Undergraduate Research Student

Arianna is a third-year undergraduate Psychology and Education double major. After graduation, she is interested in going to graduate school in hopes of becoming a school psychologist. Arianna is interested in understanding how students learn and retain knowledge in the classroom, as well as how education influences mental health in students. In her free time, she enjoys reading, running, and doing nails.

Ashley Yim

Ashley Yim

Undergraduate Research Student

Ashley is a second-year undergraduate student double majoring in Psychology and Statistics and Data Science. She is interested in the various factors that impact the classroom learning experience, with the goal of empowering underrepresented groups in education. In her free time, she enjoys going to the gym, hanging out with friends, and driving along scenic routes.

Click here to see our TLC Lab Alumni page!