Join the Lab
The Infant Mind and Cognition Lab at Yale studies logical cognition and its development, with a focus on preverbal infancy and expanding to young children and adults. Our approach combines frameworks and methods from developmental psychology, vision science, psycholinguistics, and philosophy. Primary topics of interest include logical cognition – both in the traditional sense and broadly speaking –, abstract concepts, learning, the interface between perception and cognition, language acquisition, metacognition, comparative cognition, the development of planning and decision-making, and the distinction between discursive and iconic representations in the mind.
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The Infant Mind and Cognition Lab at Yale University is looking for a postdoctoral researcher interested in the origin and development of high-level cognition. Research topics that are central to the lab include, among others, logical concepts, symbolic structures and compositionality in preverbal cognition and early language acquisition, and the interface between perception, language, and thought.
The candidate will have the opportunity to conduct research with infants, young children and adults. Potential research directions are constrained only by shared interests. A strong record in developmental psychology is welcome. We are also open to other backgrounds that can complement the lab’s research, including but not limited to linguistics, philosophy, comparative cognition, and developmental neuroscience.
Funding is available for two years with the possibility of extension through fellowships and grants. The base salary is $68,000 with benefits (listed here).
If interested, please email Dr. Cesana-Arlotti directly the following:
1. Curriculum vitae
2. A cover letter/research statement describing your interests, prior research, research questions you hope to pursue, and areas of overlap with the lab (2 pages max)
3. Contacts of three references
Applications will be considered on a rolling basis.
The position will ultimately be filled through Yale University’s internal Human Resources process; strong candidates will be encouraged to submit their application to Yale after an initial review. Women, LGBTQ, and underrepresented minority applicants are encouraged. Yale University is An Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer.
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Dr Cesana-Arlotti is accepting PhD students to start in August 2025. Interested students should apply by Dec 1st, 2024, through the developmental track in Yale’s psychology PhD program. Candidates should indicate Dr. Cesana-Arlotti as a prospective supervisor and articulate in their materials the match between their background and research interests and the topics of interest of the Infant Mind and Cognition lab.
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The Infant Mind and Cognition Lab at Yale, directed by Dr. Nicolo Cesana-Arlotti, is hiring a full-time lab manager to begin in July 2025. The position – Postgraduate (Postbac) Associate – has a one-year minimum with the possibility of a one or more-year extension. The successful candidate will coordinate the lab research activity and manage multiple research projects. Competitive salary and benefits are offered. Women, LGBTQ+, and underrepresented minority applicants are encouraged. Yale University is An Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. More information about the Lab’s research can be found at: https://www.infantcognition.yale.edu/.
Responsibilities include:
- Coordinate the lab research activity, including day-to-day operation and management of research projects with a team of postdocs, graduate students, and undergraduate research assistants.
- Assist with the research projects of graduate students and postdocs and carry out independent research projects (including experiment design, collecting and analyzing data, and writing up results). A range of participation is possible, from writing up results for manuscripts and grants, to presenting finding at conferences and articles authorship.
- Manage the participant database, maintain lab records, upload and organize data, and manage IRB documentation and reviews.
- Recruit, schedule, and test infant, child, and adult research participants across a variety of settings (e.g., labs, hospitals, daycares, and online) and hours (some evenings and weekends) to accommodate family schedules.
- Establish and maintain research partnerships with local maternity hospitals, daycares and schools, community centers, and museums.
- Hire, train, and supervise undergraduate research assistants.
- Equipment purchasing and upkeep, and budgetary organization, including lab computers, website, lab accounts, and data storage.
- Assist with coordinating lab meetings, talks, conference trips and visits.
- Create a welcoming and positive atmosphere for all visitors and members of the Lab.
Minimum Qualifications:
- Bachelor’s degree or equivalent in Psychology or a closely related field.
- Some previous research experience.
- General computer skills are required (e.g., Microsoft Office, Google Docs).
Relevant Knowledge, Skills & Abilities:
- Experience working with infants, children, and families from diverse backgrounds.
- Strong interest in Developmental Psychology and Cognitive Science.
- Comfort with technical troubleshooting.
- Strong organizational and communication skills, ability to work well with others, high attention to detail.
- Experience with data management software (e.g., REDCap. Qualtrics)
- Experience with online data collection platforms (e.g., Prolific, Lookit)
- Experience with software for designing experiments and performing statistical analyses (e.g., Adobe Creative Cloud, R, Python, MATLAB, JavaScript).
Application Process:
Applicants should send a one-page cover letter and CV to mahham.fayyaz@yale.edu. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis. First consideration will be given to applications received by March 20. Reference letters will be requested after initial application review.
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The IMC Lab is accepting Research Assistants for Spring 2025! Yale undergraduates and students from other institutions eligible for course credit are welcome to apply. Please note that this role requires mostly in-person availability.
Research assistants are responsible for:
Conducting both online and in-person studies involving infants, children, and adults.
Engaging with parents and guardians.
They will be paired with a senior research mentor (either a graduate student or lab manager) who will guide them in developing advanced research skills such as data analysis and literature reviews.
To apply, please complete this form.
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Applications for Summer 2024 are now closed. Please check back in Spring 2025 for opportunities.
Our projects with research assistants opportunities:
Logic in and out of visual perception
Do we use rapid logical computations to understand visual information in our everyday surroundings? In our research, we’re diving into the seamless mental connections between logical inference and visual perception. Imagine you see two objects about to collide: do we use a deductive inference to anticipate the consequences of this event? We are developing a series of infant and adult experiments that test the properties and capabilities of this remarkable vision-logic interface.
Preverbal Logic and Linguistic Logic
How do children develop the ability to make inferences using language? While they can make rich inferences from visual information, they often struggle when similar reasoning is required in a linguistic context. Our research examines when young children begin to draw inferences through language and investigates whether their ability to reason non-linguistically supports the development of linguistic inference skills. We explore whether the cognitive mechanisms guiding these preverbal inferences are the connected with ones that shape linguistic meanings, particularly in young children.
Representation of Possibilities
How do children understand possibilities? For example, do babies predict only a single outcome when observing rolling a dice (e.g., 5)? Or, can they also understand that other options are possible (e.g., 6)? In other words, can they differentiate what actually happened from what might have happened?
Social Inferences
Humans are social animals. To navigate and interact with others in this social world, it is essential to be able to understand others' goals and thoughts through their actions. How early does such social capacity emerge, and how does it relate to, or rely on, the logical capacities infants may or may not have? How do such logical capabilities empower future learning? If you are interested in the interface between logical inference and social cognition through the lens of developmental psychology, come check out the project!