Dr. Marissa Greif

Dr. Greif received her Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Toronto (Canada), and her Ph.D. in psychology from Yale University. Her dissertation, advised by Dr. Frank Keil, looked at children’s developing understanding of object function so, in other words, how children learn about what things do. She also worked on projects investigating various aspects of children’s conceptual development. After completing her graduate work, she moved to a post-doctoral fellowship at Duke University. There, she spent two years working with Dr. Amy Needham investigating infants’ growing tool-using and problem-solving skills. At FAU, Dr. Greif is the director of the Children’s Learning Lab and teaches various courses on human development.

Graduate Students:

Rob Freund

Rob is a first year graduate student at Florida Atlantic University, pursuing a PhD in Child Development. His interests lie in understanding social cognitive development in children within the contexts of tool use, particularly gesture and non verbal communication and their effects on tool use and problem solving. Rob received his bachelor’s degree in psychology from Florida Atlantic in the Spring of 2008.

Undergraduate Assistants:

Arpana Rukhaiyar

Arpana Rukhaiyar graduated with a Psychology degree from Florida Atlantic University. She plans on pursuing a M.A. in Marriage and Family Therapy and continuing her education to earn a doctoral degree. She plans on working with families and children at local hospitals and eventually openin

Desirae Ann Frisina

Desirae Ann Frisina is a junior undergraduate student at FAU. Her research interests apply to the area of social and personality development during infancy and childhood. Currently working as a behavior assistant, Desirae hopes to one day become a behavior analyst. Desirae’s long term dream is to change children’s lives everywhere as a Doctor of developmental psychology.

Lab Associates:

 Amy Gardiner

 Amy is a Ph.D. student in Developmental and Evolutionary Psychology. She is interested in how children learn to manipulate objects and use tools by watching others. Her current line of research focuses on children's intentional understanding of others' actions. Amy incorporates an evolutionary perspective into her work whenever possible.