Meet our team

Dr. Diane Poulin-Dubois, PhD.
Lab Director

Dr. Diane Poulin-Dubois received her Ph.D from Université de Montréal and completed postdoctoral training at McGill and Harvard University. She has been a Full professor at Concordia University since 2001. She currently holds a Concordia University Research Chair in Developmental Cybernetics. Throughout her career, Dr. Poulin-Dubois has been a visiting professor at many universities, including Cornell, Oxford, UBC, and University of Queensland. She has been awarded the Distinguished Scholarship Award from the Faculty of Arts and Science at Concordia University in 2007 and the Concordia University Research Fellowship in 2012. She is the recipient of the 2019 Pickering Award for Outstanding Contributions to Developmental Psychology in Canada and a Fellow of the Association for Psychological Science. Professor Poulin-Dubois is internationally known for her theoretical and empirical contributions on cognitive and language development. Her current research, which is currently funded by NSERC and SSHRC concerns the early acquisition of a theory of mind, selective learning, conceptual categories, the cognitive benefits of early bilingualism and child-robot interactions. She is the author of more than 130 publications.

Mihaela Zlatanovska
Research Coordinator
B.A. Psychology (Honours), Concordia University, 2022

I joined the Cognitive and Language Development research team following the completion of my B.A. in Psychology at Concordia University. As the Research Coordinator, I act as the principal administrative liaison and assist the research team on projects examining infants’ language and cognitive development. I plan on pursuing graduate level studies and hope to work with couples and families.

Elizabeth Dutemple
Ph.D. Clinical Psychology, Concordia University, In Progress
M.A. Clinical Psychology, Concordia University, 2020
B.Sc. Psychology (First Class Honours), McGill University, 2019

I am a third-year Ph.D. student in the research and clinical training stream. My thesis focuses on the socio-cognitive skills and environmental factors that impact a child's readiness for school. Clinically, I work at the Brain Development Behavior clinic at the Montreal Children's hospital and provide Autism Spectrum assessments.

Marilyne Dragon
Ph.D. Clinical Psychology, Concordia University, In Progress                            M.A. Clinical Psychology, Concordia University, 2022
B.A. Psychology (First Class Honours, Dean's Honour List), McGill University, 2020

I am a second-year Ph.D. student in the Clinical Psychology program at Concordia University. I am currently developing the protocol for my doctoral thesis, which will focus on social learning abilities in young children, and more specifically on overimitation and its link with social affiliation. In summer 2022, I defended my master’s thesis, which compared selective social learning and overimitation abilities, as well as their underlying mechanisms, in preschoolers. Broadly, I am interested in the socio-cognitive development of children. During my undergraduate studies at McGill University, my research focused on social psychology, and I completed two Honours theses, both centered around perception accuracy in various relationships.

Victoria Fratino
M.A. Clinical Psychology, Concordia University, in progress
B.Sc. Psychology (First Class Honours, Dean's Honour List), McGill University, 2022

I am a second year Master's student in Concordia's Clinical Psychology Program. During my undergraduate degree at McGill University, I completed two Honours theses and two summer fellowships. During this time, I investigated the perception of triads and the effects of pupil size on the Cone of Direct Gaze. I am interested in the development of social cognition in children, both typically developing, and special populations. My master's thesis will examine the link between bilingualism and executive function in toddlers. 

Alexandra Piuze
M.A. Clinical Psychology, Concordia University, in progress
B.A. Psychology (Honors, Magna Cum Laude), Ottawa University, 2022

I am a first-year M.A. student in the clinical training and research Psychology program at Concordia University. While the ideas for my thesis are still in development, I am interested in studying cognitive and language development in infants and young children, especially involving immersion in a second language. My M.A. research project is currently under development. Broadly speaking, the project would look at the impact of executive function on children who attend full-time daycare centres in a language different from their mother tongue. We would test whether these children benefit from being immersed in another language in full-time daycare centres versus attending full-time daycare in their mother tongue.  I am also broadly interested in behavioural neuroscience in children. I completed my B.A. in psychology at the University of Ottawa, where my honours thesis centred around the neurophysiological consequences of an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest on working memory and response inhibition.

Evangelia Zaharakis
B.A. Psychology (Honours), Concordia University, in progress

I am in the final year of my undergraduate studies, completing an honours thesis project alongside one of the Master's students in the Cognitive Development Lab, which will be focusing on the bilingual cognitive advantage, where the effects of bilingualism on executive function of 20-24 month old children will be examined. I spent 3 years as a Specialized Educator working with speech and language delayed children, witnessing first hand the significance of language skills in the early childhood period. My goal is to pursue graduate studies and publish research broadly focused on the effects of cognitive and language development on childhood socio-emotional phenomena and psychopathology. 

Isadora De Oliveira Silva

B.A. Psychology (Honours, Dean's List), Concordia University, in progress

I am an undergraduate student in the psychology honours program at Concordia University. My research interests include evaluating the effectiveness of interventions with the hopes of improving the health and lives of children with developmental disorders. I am currently working under the supervision of Dr. Diane Poulin-Dubois and assisting Elizabeth Dutemple on her doctoral thesis. I am committed to making a positive impact and hope to pursue graduate studies in Clinical Child Psychology.

Laetitia Pare

B.Sc. Psychology (Honors), Concordia University, in progress

I am currently in my final year of my undergraduate degree in Honours Psychology and will be completing my thesis at the Cognitive and Language Development Lab. I am eager to learn and conduct my research under the supervision of Dr. Diane Poulin-Dubois and postdoctoral researcher Elizabeth Goldman. After completing my bachelors degree, I plan to apply to graduate school to become a speech language pathologist. 

Giuliana Curcio

Science College Student, Concordia University, in progress

I am currently in my second year of undergraduate studies pursuing a Major in Biochemistry and a Minor in Multidisciplinary Studies in Science at Concordia University. My studies in my Minor have given me the opportunity to volunteer in research outside of my Major. I am very fortunate to be assisting PHD student Marilyne Dragon in her study on over imitation in children under the supervision of Dr. Diane Poulin-Dubois. In the future, I hope to pursue further studies in the biological sciences.

Maria Gracia Minuche Cobos

B.A. Psychology (Honours), Concordia University, completed

After completing my Honors thesis with Dr. Diane Poulin-Dubois, Dr. Anna Baumann, and Dr. Elizabeth Goldman, I continued working with the CLD lab throughout the summer for a CUSRA project. I am excited to stay on and continue working as a volunteer on their newest research project! I also plan to apply to graduate school to pursue a career in clinical psychology.

Sandy Liu

B.A. Psychology (Specialization), Concordia University, in progress

I am currently finishing up my undergrad in Specialization Psychology at Concordia University. Over the years, I have taken great interest in the area of childhood development, especially from a cognitive viewpoint, and I am very grateful for the opportunity of partaking in this lab as I hope to learn and grow with the experience that I will gain here.

Ella Telio

B.Sc. Psychology (Specialization), Concordia University, in progress

I am currently a second-year student in a Specialization in Psychology. At the moment, I am volunteering in the Cognitive and Language Development Lab, where I am assisting a student with her master's thesis. In the long run, I aim to earn a Master's in Speech and Language Pathology, so I can both contribute to the field and make a positive impact on children with communication disorders. Additionally, I'm passionate about research, especially in areas related to language acquisition and cognitive development, which aligns with my interests in psychology and speech pathology.