Welcome back to our cogbites interview series, where we interview cognitive scientists by asking them a few questions about their interests in science and what keeps them engaged both in and out of the lab.

As a reminder, you can learn a little about our own team of contributors by reading their bios (either on our author page or at the bottom of each post), but this is a chance to get to know some early-career scientists even better. Our last interview was with Analia Marzoratti, a Ph.D. student in the School of Education and Human Development at the University of Virginia.

This week’s interview is with Lauren Girouard-Hallam, a fifth-year doctoral candidate in Experimental Psychology at the University of Louisville. Lauren is almost done with her program – she will graduate in May 2024! Under the mentorship of Dr. Judith Danovitch, Lauren studies how 3- to 12-year-old children use technology to think and learn about the world around them.

She recently wrote a cogbite about one of her favorite research articles that found that children learn and remember negative information about new social groups after overhearing someone talk about that social group on a video call.  Stay tuned for next Monday’s post, where she’ll write about her own research!

Without further ado, here’s our interview with Lauren:

Why did you decide to pursue cognitive science? 

I was always interested in working with children and finding the answers to questions through research. I initially thought that I would be happy as a pediatric counselor, and I have a master’s degree in applied psychology from NYU. I realized during that program that I missed doing more traditional research, and when I went back to the drawing board, I realized that cognitive development was the perfect fit for me. I love answering questions about how children’s thought processes change as they develop!

What are you currently working on?

Currently, I am working on a set of projects that examine how children think about the internet and internet-based devices. I am particularly interested in how children’s trust in the internet and things that use the internet change as they mature and their experiences online increase. I am writing my dissertation on whether children trust the Google search engine and how that trust is mitigated by factors like their familiarity with internet search, their age, and the kinds of questions they are looking for the answers to.

What’s the most exciting concept in cognitive science?

I think it’s so exciting that we’re rapidly growing in our understanding of how children conceptualize various kinds of technology. We can think about all sorts of cognitive processes from epistemic vigilance to attention to decision-making as being impacted by the technology in our environment. Our world is increasingly digital, and younger and younger children have access to technology, so it’s really interesting to look at when children are inclined to turn to technology as a learning tool or even as a social partner.

What sparked your interest in science communication?

I’ve always been interested in talking about science with non-scientists, but I became much more involved with science communication through ComSciCon, a graduate-student led conference on communicating science with the general public. Through ComSciCon, I’ve become more involved with science writing and science education outreach. Right now, two of my favorite ways to talk about science are through Skype a Scientist and Letters to a Pre-Scientist.

Is there anything else you want us to know about you?

I like being in academia and doing research and talking about my findings, but I am also interested in making sure I’m a whole person with hobbies and interests outside of my work. I love to read fiction novels (my current favorite is Barkskins by Annie Proulx), watch horror movies (I recently loved Talk to Me), travel the world, and go hiking. This summer, I spent a month road-tripping around Western Europe with my wife, and we had the best time exploring parts of the world we’d never seen before.