Curriculum Vitae

Jennifer Amsterlaw, Ph.D.
Post-Doctoral Fellow, Institute for Learning and Brain Sciences

Biography |  Publications |  Contact Dr. Amsterlaw

Educational Background

Ph.D., University of Michigan, Developmental Psychology (2004). Advisor: Dr. Henry Wellman. Dissertation: Development of Children's Beliefs about Everyday Reasoning

M.A., University of Michigan, Developmental Psychology (2000). Thesis: Can a Theory of Mind Be Trained?: Results of a Microgenetic Approach to Training False Belief Understanding

B.A. (summa cum laude), Yale University, Psychology (1994).

Research Interests

• Theory of mind development
• Children’s and adults’ beliefs about thinking processes
• Everyday reasoning and decision-making
• Learning in formal and informal environments
• K-12 education

Research Experience

Postdoctoral Fellow, 2004-present. University of Washington (Seattle), Institute for Learning and Brain Sciences (Dr. Andrew N. Meltzoff).

Graduate Research, 2000-2004. University of Michigan, Center for Human Grown and Development (Dr. Henry Wellman): Microgenetic research on theory of mind development in preschool children.

Graduate Research, 2003-2004. University of Michigan, Program for Improving Health Care Decisions (Dr. Peter Ubel): Research on decision-making processes and biases in medical decisions.

Graduate Research, 2001-2003. University of Michigan, Center for Highly Interactive Computing in Education (Dr. Phyllis Blumenfeld, Dr. Joe Kraicik, Dr. Ron Marx): Activity development and classroom observation for project-based science curriculum in Detroit middle schools.

Undergraduate Research, 1998. Yale University (Dr. Woo-kyoung Ahn, Dr. Susan Gelman (U of M): Data collection and stimuli development for research on categorization processes in children and adults.

Undergraduate Research, 1995-1998. Yale University, Yale Infant Study (Dr. J. Steven Reznick; Dr. Alice Carter): Research assistant for laboratory research on infant cognitive and socio-emotional development.

Teaching Experience

Graduate Student Instructor, University of Michigan, 2000-2001. Advanced Laboratory in Developmental Psychology.

Graduate Student Instructor Mentor, University of Michigan, 2003. Introduction to Psychology.

Guest Lecturer, University of Washington (Seattle), 2004. Cognitive Development: Perspectives on theory of mind development.

Guest Lecturer, University of Michigan, 2002. Developmental Psychology: Theory of mind development in early childhood.

Guest Lecturer, University of Michigan, 2002. Cognitive Methods for Instruction: Microgenetic methods.

Research projects

• Children’s knowledge about ‘good’ and ‘bad’ thinking processes
• Organization of children’s concepts of reasoning
• Beliefs about the effects of emotions on thinking
• Variability and consensus in adult folk theories of rationality
• Relationships between metacognition and thinking in real settings
  

Professional Memberships

• Association for Psychological Science
• Cognitive Development Society
• Society for Research in Child Development

Grants and Awards

Psychology Department Dissertation Grant. University of Michigan, 2003.

Rackham Predoctoral Fellowship, University of Michigan, 2002-2003.

NICHD Research Training Grant, University of Michigan, 2001-2002.

Rackham Regents Fellowship, University of Michigan, 1998-2000.

Jonathan Edwards College Fellows Prize, Yale University, 1998.

Mellon Research Fund Award, Yale University, 1998.