​Postdoctoral Researcher

a portrait image of Jesse

JESSE NIEBAUM

  • Center for Mind and Brain
Jesse is interested in the development of cognitive control, especially when and how children and adults decide to exert cognitive control or avoid doing so. He is currently working on projects exploring whether children and adults pay attention to how difficult cognitive tasks are, how hard they are thinking, and whether being aware of difficulty and effort influences decisions about which cognitive tasks to take on. His other projects explore whether children and adults adapt problem-solving strategies to how much mental effort potential strategies require. He’s also a proponent of open science research practices, acting as an ambassador for the Center for Open Science (osf.io/q5bnp). Jesse has a B.A. in Literature from the University of Kansas and an M.A. in Cognitive Psychology from the University of Colorado. He previously worked at the Building Blocks of Cognition Lab at the University of California-Berkeley and spent time as a visiting researcher in the Connected Minds Lab at the University of Amsterdam.
a portrait image of Allison

ALLISON ZENGILOWSKI

In her research, Allison is interested in how people learn, integrating cognitive, motivational, and socio-emotional perspectives for investigations of learning processes in in-person and online environments. Paying particular focus to students’ identities and lived experiences, she often employs qualitative methods in her work. She also has a passion for teaching, conducting research in her courses to help improve her pedagogy. Currently, she is working on projects with Spark Math, a multi-institutional project to develop a comprehensive system of supports for sixth grade math instruction for students from historically disenfranchised groups. Allison earned her B.A. in psychology and peace & conflict studies from Colgate University. At the University of Texas at Austin, she earned her M.Ed. specializing in quantitative methods and her Ph.D. in educational psychology, concentrating in human development, culture, and learning sciences.
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