curriculum vitae // request a rec letter

Every day, we look out into the world and see scenes of people in motion, and make sense of these scenes by appealing to their underlying causes. We appreciate that other people have mental lives, including desires, percepts, and beliefs, and we also understand that people are solid bodies, who can exert forces and navigate themselves through a physical world. How do our minds and brains get so much meaning from this input, and how we grow to this knowledge over development?

I am committed to making science more open (transparent, reproducible, and inclusive). Part of this commitment is providing high-quality mentorship to students from all backgrounds. As a first-generation immigrant to the US who stumbled into science, I am aware that without supportive mentors, and a great deal of personal development, I would have stumbled out. Here is a working draft of my mentorship philosophy.

Minjae Kim, PhD (2023 - )

NSF SBE Postdoctoral Fellow

I’m interested in how we explain, evaluate, and draw inferences from people's actions and interactions. How are these processes supported by mentalizing and physical reasoning, and how are they affected by motivation? My research uses multiple approaches (behavioral, neuroimaging, developmental, computational) to explore these questions.

I received my PhD in Psychology & Neuroscience from Boston College, and my BA in Neuroscience from Swarthmore College. I am currently supported by an NSF SBE Postdoctoral Research Fellowship.

Qiong Cao, PhD (2024 - )

Postdoctoral Associate

I’m interested in the representations and computations that underpin reasoning and learning, especially in early childhood. My research spans various age groups and topics, focusing on key questions such as: How do infants and children decide what information to attend to? How do the developing minds interpret unexpected events? And how does explanation influence reasoning and learning?

Currently, I am a Postdoctoral Associate at MIT, co-advised by Josh Tenenbaum and Shari Liu. I completed my Ph.D. at Johns Hopkins, working with Lisa Feigenson. Before that, I obtained my M.A. at NYU and B.S. at Zhejiang University in China.

Joseph Outa [website] (2023 - )

Humans have a remarkable ability to reason and behave flexibly in the physical and social world. This stems from our ability to form abstract representations rooted in intuitive, domain-specific, causal knowledge about objects, agents, and their properties. I am interested in using behavioral and computational methods to study how this knowledge emerges in infancy and childhood.

Tal Boger [website] (2023 - )

I’m officially advised by Chaz Firestone, but also collaborate with the Liu Lab. I am interested in studying how the mind separates content and form, especially as it relates to how we understand the complexity of the world around us.

Keyu (Amber) Liu (2024 - )

I am broadly interested in how children and infants understand, reason, and learn about the world in relation to their social cognitive development. I received my B.A. in Psychology with an additional major in Data Science from Smith College in 2024.

Ziwen Wang (2025 - )

I am officially advised by Marina Bendy and am thrilled to have the opportunity to collaborate with the Liu Lab. I’m interested in understanding how humans intuitively reason about both physical and social events, the role of sensory experience in the processing of these events, as well as the underlying neural mechanisms. I earned my B.A. in Neuroscience and Behavior with a minor in Educational Studies from Vassar College.

Sam Maione (2023 - )

I am interested in applying machine learning to neuroimaging data in order to investigate how the function and structure of the brain may relate to individual differences in underlying mechanisms that give rise to psychopathology. I received my B.S. in Integrative Neuroscience from Binghamton University in 2023, and I aspire to pursue a PhD in clinical psychology after my time in the Liu lab.

Assiya Drissi (2024 - )

I am interested in investigating questions related to domain-specificity of various cognitive abilities, especially in the realms of physical and social principles of the world.

Thalia Mason (2024 - )

I’ve always enjoyed working with kids, and I’m interested in learning more about what elements of learning are intuitive to children and how we can apply this to education and parenting. In the future, I hope to contribute to our understanding of child development and pursue a career as a pediatrician.

Arushi Devgun (2024 - )

I have always been curious about how children interact with the physical world and in social settings. I am interested in the underlying neural mechanisms of these interactions, specifically how children develop the ability to reason with and process external stimuli.

Nardos Eshetu (2024 - )

I am particularly interested in studying the neurological development of children and exploring how brain development shapes behavior and cognitive functions. Additionally, I am fascinated by understanding the impact of environmental influences on children, spanning from infancy through adolescence.

Jitong (Annie) Xian (2025 - )

I am interested in investigating how children develop the ability to perceive, understand, and represent external stimuli, as well as the cognitive and neural computations that underpin these abilities. I would also like to explore the application of computational techniques in cognitive science.

London Lloyd (2025 - )

I am broadly interested in understanding how children learn about the social and physical world around them. Additionally, I am curious about how children develop their own beliefs about the world and how they interpret others’ beliefs.

Zixin (Celine) Li (2025 - )

I am fascinated by how humans intuitively process physical and social information from their environment, effortlessly navigating a complex world and building social connections. I aim to explore the cognitive and neural mechanisms underlying these abilities.

Diganto Ray (2025 - )

I am a biomedical engineering and applied mathematics student interested in psychological and cognitive representations of visual information, and how such representations help people navigate the world.  More broadly, I plan to use analytical skills gained from my education to gain a unique perspective on problems outside of engineering and mathematics.