Jacqueline Stotler, Ph.D. Candidate in Experimental Psychology
Tuesday, Jan 07, 2020
What degree are you pursuing here at FAU?
I am working towards a Ph.D. in Experimental Psychology, with a Developmental Concentration. I am in my second year of a five-year program, earning my master's along the way. I will have my master's in Experimental Psychology in Spring 2020, and ideally will graduate from my doctoral program in Spring 2023.
What lab are you working and who is your advisor?Right now I'm the lab coordinator for the Infant Cognition Lab; my advisor/lab director is Dr. Teresa Wilcox.
What are your research interests?Our lab is interested in infant perception and cognition. We're interested in the development of social cognition, so we're investigating infants' processing of emotional facial expressions, infants' comprehension and production of nonverbal communicative gestures, and infants' ability to use information provided by a social informant versus a mechanical informant. Thanks to a collaboration with Dr. Erik Engeberg in Mechanical Engineering, we're also attempting to assess infants' perception of anthropomorphic (human-like) robotics. Our lab uses eye-tracking technology to measure behavioral responses to static and dynamic stimuli, and we also collect neuroimaging data using fNIRS (functional near-infrared spectroscopy), which allows us to identify areas of the infant cortex that are active in response to stimuli.
What do you like best about being at FAU?I really like the work environment; everyone is very kind!
What career are you interested in after you graduate?I would like to work at a non-profit organization or medical institute conducting research with special populations of infants (at-risk for autism, infants born with drug-addiction, infants with developmental delay, etc.).