Current Lab Members
Dr. LouAnn Gerken, Director of the Tweety Lab
Dr. Gerken, the director of the Tweety Lab, is a professor of psychology. She is interested in how, as younger infants learn more about their world (primarily their language and musical worlds), their expectations and subsequent learning change. That is, younger infants are able to learn different kinds of information than older infants. She is also interested in how infants seem to have a sense of whether they are learning, which causes them to direct their attention to learning domains where they are making the most progress. In her spare time, Dr. Gerken travels, runs with her dog, and reads novels, preferably murder mysteries set in the 1920’s.
Dr. Megan Figueroa, Research Scientist/Lab Manager
Dr. Figueroa received her BA and MA in English linguistics from Arizona State University in 2010 and 2012, her MA in Linguistics from the University of Arizona in 2015, and her PhD in Linguistics from the University of Arizona in 2018. Her research interests include the acquisition of morphosyntax in monolingual and bilingual children with and without language impairment. Her dissertation was titled: "Who breaked the rule? Rethinking English past tense overregularizations." In her free time, she enjoys reading young adult novels, spending time with her dog, pretending to be a foodie, and cross-stitching nonsense.
Previous Lab Members
Mira Nathan, former undergraduate research assistant
Shashi Armstrong, former undergraduate research assistant
Neida Ahmad, former Lab Manager/research assistant
Joleen Kuzdas, former undergraduate research assistant
Karen Ayala-Miranda, former undergraduate research assistant
Sarah Bosch, former undergraduate research assistant
Dr. Carolyn Quam, former Post-Doctoral Fellow
Lauren Clough, former undergraduate research assistant
Celeste Gallegos, former undergraduate research assistant
Alisa Wang, former undergraduate research assistant
Dr. Kara Hawthorne, former doctoral student
Dr. Andréa Davis, former doctoral student
Sara Knight, former Lab Manager/Research Coordinator
Kimberly Golisch, former undergraduate research assistant
Jeannette Bell, former undergraduate research assistant
Michelle Gernon, former undergraduate research assistant
Lark Yildirim, former undergraduate research assistant
Devin McGrane, former undergraduate research assistant
Erin Huff, former undergraduate research assistant
Omar Aujani, former undergraduate research assistant
Nicole Szivek, former undergraduate research assistant
Kelly McGinn, former undergraduate research assistant
Jessica Brittain, former undergraduate research assistant
Kailey Alyssa Tucker, former undergraduate research assistant
Dr. Colin Dawson, former doctoral student
Juliet Minton, former lab manager
Evelyn Jaramillo, former undergraduate research assistant
Dr. Peter Richtsmeier, former doctoral student
Claire Fischer, former undergraduate researcher
Frances Balcomb, former doctoral student
Nikki Pikaard, former undergraduate researcher
Alex J. Bollt, former undergraduate researcher
Arwen Bruner, former undergraduate researcher
Dr. Tania Zamuner, former doctoral student
Dr. Jessica Maye, former doctoral student
Dr. Allyson Carter, former doctoral student
Other Researchers Associated with the Tweety Lab
Dr. Rebecca Gomez, Director of the Tigger Lab at the University of Arizona
Dr. Mary Peterson, Director of the Visual Perception Lab at the University of Arizona
Chewie Mon, Member of the Visual Perception Lab