ABOUT ME
I first became interested in children's concepts of virtual characters during an interview about imaginary companions, in which a child asked me, "Does an imaginary companion count if it's on a video game?" This question has fueled my interdisciplinary research interests in children's concepts of imaginary companions, parasocial relationships, and artificially intelligent entities (e.g., virtual characters).
EDUCATION
RESEARCH INTERESTS
The Development of Social Cognition
How children's concepts of living and non-living kinds can inform the study of children's concepts of virutal agents and artifical intelligence
1998 - 2001
New York University
BFA in Dance, May 2001
Virtual Reality
Children's experiences of and relationships with virtual agents in both non-immersive and immersive virtual environments.
Robotics
Children's concepts of and experiences with social robots, and the role embodied cognition plays in developing concepts of artifically intelligent agents
Real and Imaginary Friendships
How children's real and imaginary friendships can inform the study of children's near and future relationships with artifically intelligent agents
2008 - 2010
University of Oregon
M.S. in Psychology, June 2010
2010 - 2016
University of Oregon
Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology, September 2016