About Us
Welcome to the C.A.P. Lab at Virginia Tech. Our research focuses on brain-behavior relations, with an emphasis on frontal lobe development in infants and children. Please explore our website to learn more about our exciting research program.
Recent Lab News:
Over the past two years, Dr. Martha Ann Bell, Director of the C.A.P Lab, has received a number of awards and honors for her significant contributions to science and training. Dr. Bell has been honored with the University Distinguished Professorship. This preeminent faculty rank is bestowed by the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors and acknowledges “members of the university faculty whose scholarly attainments have attracted national and/or international recognition.” Another acknowledgment of her impact on the field of developmental cognitive neuroscience, Dr. Bell was awarded the Virginia Tech Alumni Award for Research Excellence (AARE) 2020. Additionally, Dr. Bell has been awarded for her exceptional mentorship to young and early-career scholars; the International Society for Developmental Psychobiology Rovee-Collier Mentor Award, and Virginia Tech College of Science Outstanding Graduate Mentor Award were both bestowed in 2020. We offer our sincere congratulations to Dr. Bell for her prestigious accolades!
Congratulations to our current and former graduate students on their most recent accomplishments!
- Senior graduate student Maddie Bruce has accepted a postdoctoral scholar position in the CAN Lab at the University of Utah (PIs Liz Conradt and Shelia Crowell). Maddie defended her dissertation in April 2022 and will join the CAN Lab in June.
- 2nd year graduate student Brie Ermanni had a great masters thesis proposal meeting in April 2022.
- 3rd year graduate students, Mohamed Zerrouk and Jennifer Phillips, have successfully defended their respective theses, and have been awarded the Master’s of Science degree.
- Dr. Tatiana Meza-Cervera, a recent graduate student (May 2021) is now a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Section on Mood Dysregulation and Neuroscience of the Emotion and Development Branch, at the National Institute of Mental Health in Bethesda, MD.
- Dr. Ran Liu, a former graduate student (Dec 2020), is now a Postdoctoral Research Scientist in the Department of Psychiatry at Columbia University Medical Center in New York City.
Research Interests
We study multiple aspects of cognitive development, with an emphasis on individual differences in the development of working memory and inhibitory control. In our research studies, we focus on attention, self-regulation, and temperament as the main sources of these individual differences. Our most current work is longitudinal in nature and examines the relations between cognition and affect (or emotion) across infancy and childhood. We focus on behavior, as well as developmental psychophysiology, including the measurement of brain electrical activity (EEG) and heart rate activity (ECG). This work is funded by the National Institutes of Health / National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NIH / NICHD), the National Institutes of Health / National Institute of Mental Health (NIH / NIMH) and by National Science Foundation / Developmental Sciences (NSF).
People
Lab Members
Director:
Laboratory Coordinator:
- Leslie Patton, M.A.
Research Assistant:
- Cheyenne Williams, B.S.
Graduate Students:
- Jennifer Phillips, M.S. (4th year)
- Mohamed Zerrouk, M.S. (4th year)
- Briana Ermanni, B.S. (3rd year)
- Doug Harrison, B.A. (2nd year)
- Vanessa Diaz Benitez (1st year)
Undergraduate Research Assistants:
- Trisha Ravigopal
- Grace Beaman
- Simran Puri
- Pooja Kalathur
- Marina Scott
Participant Information
Parents:
If you would like to find out more information about our research with infants and children, or if you and your child would like to participate in one of our studies, feel free to contact us:
Leslie Patton (Laboratory Coordinator)
Research Lab Phone: (540) 231-2320
Email: lapatton@vt.edu
Directions:
Please see the Directions to Williams Hall.
Current Research Projects
Current research projects in the CAP Lab (data collection in progress):
- Patterns of Infant Emotional Growth --- The central research question will concern patterns of emotional reactivity and emerging emotional regulation skill during development from infancy to toddlerhood. The first four of six total research visits will consist of infant behavioral observation and neurophysiological recordings (EEG). The last two visits will focus on assessment of toddler behavioral regulation. Pending IRB approval and more information regarding the COVID-19 pandemic, we hope to begin recruiting for initial online visits in the Spring Semester 2022. Funded by NSF.
Plus, our ongoing work (data collection is complete):
- Cognition and emotion from infancy through adolescence --- The final visit of our longitudinal study from infancy through early adolescence. Children have participated during infancy (5 and 10 months), early childhood (2, 3, and 4 years), middle childhood (6 and 9 years) and adolescence.
- Development of inhibitory control during infancy --- Our monthly study of attention and cognition from 5 to 12 months.
- Inhibitory control during toddlerhood --- Our quarterly longitudinal study of cognition and attention at 15, 18, 21, and 24 months.
- Mother-child dyad synchrony --- Physiological and behavioral synchrony between mothers and children during toy play.
Plus, our collaborative work with others:
- Maternal emotion coaching --- Emotion coaching and child outcomes during early and middle childhood. With Julie Dunsmore (University of Houston) and Jungmeen Kim-Spoon (VT Psychology). Funded by NIH/NICHD.
Join Us
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Potential Graduate Students:
**Dr. Bell will not be accepting new graduate students for Fall 2023.**
If you are interested in doctoral study in the field of Developmental Psychology in general or Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience in particular, contact us for details about our Developmental Science graduate program. Our program is committed to training students as research-oriented psychologists using the mentorship model. For information on graduate studies, visit the Developmental Science web site:
Developmental Science Graduate Program
or contact Dr. Bell at mabell@vt.edu
Recent Graduates
- Madeleine Bruce, Ph.D. (2022)
Postdoctoral Fellow, CAN Lab
Department of Psychology
University of Utah
Salt Lake City, UT - Tatiana Meza-Cervera, Ph.D. (2021)
Postdoctoral Fellow, Section on Mood Dysregulation and Neuroscience
Emotion and Development Branch
National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health
Bethesda, MD - Ran Liu, Ph.D. (2020)
Postdoctoral Research Scientist, Department of Psychiatry
Columbia University Medical Center
New York, NY - Alleyne (Ross) Broomell, Ph.D. (2019)
Assistant Professor of Psychology
Western Carolina University
Cullowhee, NC - Tashauna Blankenship, Ph.D. (2017)
Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, Developmental and Brain Sciences
University of Massachusetts - Boston
Boston, MA - Amanda (Watson) Joyce, Ph.D. (2014)
Associate Professor of Psychology
Murray State University
Murray, K - Jess Kraybill, Ph.D. (2013)
Associate Professor of Psychology
Western Connecticut State University
Danbury, CT - Kimberly Cuevas, Ph.D. (Postdoctoral Fellow, 2009-12)
Associate Professor of Psychology
University of Connecticut
Waterbury, CT - Anjolii Diaz, Ph.D. (2012)
Associate Professor of Psychological Science
Ball State University
Muncie, IN - Vinaya (Raj) Rajan, Ph.D. (2012)
Associate Professor of Behavioral and Social Sciences
University of Sciences
Philadelphia, PA - Annie M. Cardell, Ph.D. (2009)
Associate Professor of Psychology
University of Charleston
Charleston, WV - Katherine C. Morasch, Ph.D. (2007) (Postdoctoral Fellow 2007-10)
Scientific Review Officer
Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute
Washington, DC - Denise R. Friedman, Ph.D. (2006)
Adjunct Instructor, Department of Psychology
Virginia Tech
Blacksburg, VA - Hossam M. (Zaki) Said, Ph.D. (2005)
Manager, Ergonomics - Customer Testing Center CTC, Commercial
The Egyptian Company for Mobile Services Mobinil
Cairo, Egypt - Christy D. Wolfe, Ph.D. (2005)
Associate Professor of Psychology
Bellarmine University
Louisville, KY - Annie Papero, Ph.D. (2004)
Head of Lower School
Sayre School
Lexington, KY - Jonathan E. Roberts, Ph.D. (2001)
Professor of Psychology
Director of University Honors Program
Georgia Southern University - Armstrong Campus
Savannah, GA