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

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

Mary Keushkerian

Mary Keushkerian

Undergraduate Research Student

Mary is a third-year undergraduate student with a major in Psychobiology. With the hopes of attending medical school, she aspires to become either an orthopedic surgeon or a primary care physician. She believes that understanding human psychology is extremely important in becoming a compassionate physician, as the body and mind go hand-in-hand. In her free time, Mary loves to be with her loved ones and play with her 3-year-old Maltese, Max.

Leah Sarokin

Leah Sarokin

Undergraduate Research Student

Leah is a second-year undergraduate student majoring in Psychology. She is interested in how cognition and behavior are impacted by different aspects of one’s learning environment, particularly in adolescence. Outside of the lab, Leah spends her free time tutoring students in the LA area, hanging out with friends, and listening to music.

Esther Sosa-Herrera

Esther Sosa-Herrera

Undergraduate Research Student

Esther is a third-year UCLA student majoring in Psychology with a minor in Education. After graduation, she hopes to go to graduate school for School Psychology or Clinical Psychology. Esther is passionate about mental health, especially when it comes to children and adolescents. During her leisure time, she enjoys roller skating, painting, and watching horror movies

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.

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.

Maddie Deasy

Maddie Deasy

Undergraduate Research Student

Maddie is a third year psychology major and education minor. Maddie has a passion for working with children and hopes to continue this work in the future. She is interested in exploring how different delivery and teaching styles translate to students’ overall understanding of classroom content. When she is not studying or working Maddie enjoys swimming, listening to music, and spending time with her friends and family.

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.

Catherine Kusunoki

Catherine Kusunoki

Undergraduate Research Student

Catherine is a 4th year Psychology major and Education Studies minor. After graduation, she hopes to attend graduate school to go into counseling, specifically educational counseling, or continue research. Her primary focus of research is particularly on underserved communities and is hoping to translate that into her future career. During her free time, she loves to go to the gym and lifting weights, listening to music, gaming, and going to concerts.

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.

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.

Rita Keushkerian

Rita Keushkerian

Undergraduate Research Student

Rita is a fourth-year undergraduate student with a major in Sociology. She hopes to attend medical school in pursuit of becoming a physician. She believes that every doctor should have a firm grasp on psychology in order to become a holistic, caring physician. Her background in sociology helps her understand the various cultural or extrinsic variables which may affect a patient. In her free time, Rita loves to weight lift at the gym, and do photography.

Click here to see our TLC Lab Alumni page!