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Lin is an Assistant Professor of Psychology at the University of Chicago. Before moving to Chicago, she was the Evalyn Edwards Milman Assistant Professor at Cornell University. Lin obtained her B.S. in Psychology at Zhejiang University (2011) and her Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (2017). Then she was a Postdoctoral Scholar at Stanford University (2017-2018). Lin’s research has been published in top journals such as Science, PNAS, Psychological Science, American Psychologist, and featured in major media outlets including BBC, NBC, NYTimes, NPR, The Atlantic, and Xinhua Net. Her work has been recognized by the NSF CAREER Award, the Boyd McCandless Award, the Association for Psychological Science Rising Star, and Forbes 30 Scientists under 30.

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Ruohan graduated in 2024 from UC San Diego with a Bachelor of Science degree in Social Psychology and a minor in Biology. During her time at UC San Diego, she worked on her honors thesis in the Language and Development Lab led by Dr. David Barner, investigating children’s understanding of fairness in collaborative contexts and focusing on the contribution of labor and owned objects. Her research interests primarily lie in gender differences in thinking and behavior patterns, the gender pay gap and how it relates to fairness intuitions, and essentialist ideologies and their impact on stereotypes. In her free time, Ruohan enjoys music, literature, jogging, and being in nature.

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Rongzhi is a Postdoctoral Scholar working with Dr. Lin Bian at the University of Chicago. She received her B.A. in Psychology at Swarthmore College (2018), and her Ph.D. in Psychology at the University of California, Berkeley (2023). Her research investigates how children use statistical information to form and update their beliefs. For example, she studies how children use statistical counterevidence to change their most fundamental beliefs about objects, agents, and social groups. She is also interested in exploring the role of statistical evidence in the transmission of social stereotypes and essentialism. Besides research, Rongzhi enjoys bouldering, skiing, surfing, and traveling.

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Molly is a sixth-year PhD student working with Dr. Lin Bian at the University of Chicago. Molly got her Bachelor’s degree from NYU with a major in Psychology and a minor in Chemistry. While at NYU, Molly worked in Dr. Andrei Cimpian’s lab where she studied development of gender stereotypes and their influence on academic achievement and aspirations in young children. After graduating, she worked as the lab manager in Dr. Cimpian’s lab where she continued her research on gender stereotypes. In her doctoral work, Molly plans to expand her research to look into the development of stereotypes about gender in non-binary contexts and how children use gender presentation to make inferences about things like ability and leadership potential.

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Vanessa is a fifth-year PhD student working with Dr. Lin Bian at the University of Chicago. She graduated from Cornell University and received her Bachelor’s in Psychology and Sociology with a minor in Inequality Studies. After graduating, she worked as the lab manager for the Emerging Minds Lab at Arizona State University, where she conducted research on curiosity in infants and young children. Vanessa’s research interests can be found at the intersections of social and developmental psychology and early education. Specifically, she plans to use an interdisciplinary framework to investigate how children’s social biases about power, privilege, and inequality are influenced by their beliefs about social groups.

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Grace is a fourth-year PhD student working with Dr. Lin Bian at the University of Chicago. Grace received her Bachelor’s degree from Northeastern University with a major in Psychology and a minor in Business Administration. During her studies at NU, Grace worked in Dr. John Coley’s lab where she studied “cognitive consturals”, such as essentialism, and how they affect people’s understanding and reasoning about the world. After graduating from NU, Grace obtained a Master’s degree in Education from Boston University. Grace is interested in questions related to gender stereotypes and social biases in educational settings. In her free time, Grace enjoys pour-over coffee, yoga, and traveling.

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Üli is a fourth-year PhD student working with Dr. Lin Bian and Dr. Susan Goldin-Meadow at the University of Chicago. She received her BS in Neuroscience and a minor in Philosophy from UIC, where she researched gender and age differences in facial emotion perception. After graduating, Üli worked as an early education teacher and a post-baccalaureate research assistant at Chicago Booth, studying the impact of childhood socioeconomic status on social evaluations in old age. Broadly, she is interested in children’s development of social biases, nonverbal communication, and person perception. In her doctoral work, Üli plans to study how children may acquire, endorse and respond to gender stereotypes through gesture and face nonverbal modalities.

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Yihan is a second-year doctoral student working with Drs. Lin Bian and Susan Goldin-Meadow at the University of Chicago. Before moving to Chicago, she lived in Canada and got her Bachelor’s degree from McMaster University with a major in Psychology and a specialization in Mental Health. During college, she worked at the McMaster Baby Lab and investigated how the racial composition of children’s living community impacted their interracial attitudes. Broadly, she is interested in children’s reasoning and attitudes about social categories, and how they make inferences about social hierarchies and abilities. Specifically, she plans to study how verbal and nonverbal modalities can play a role in these processes.

Ruochen graduated from the MAPSS-Psychology program at the University of Chicago in 2025 and continues to work in the EAST Lab. She earned her Bachelor’s degree at Beijing Normal University in China. During her undergraduate years, she gained research experience on various topics, including childhood maltreatment, gender objectification, and feminism discussions on social media. These experiences solidified her interest in gender-related issues, leading her to join the EAST Lab. Her current research focuses on how beliefs about women, men, and the power relations between them are formed in early childhood, as well as how these beliefs contribute to perpetuating gender inequality. Additionally, she is a dog person and has a lovely family dog!

Emmanuel is a dual-degree MAPSS-Psychology student at the University of Chicago, where he also majors in Comparative Human Development and minors in Education and Society. His ongoing research explores the impact of hypermasculinity on boys’ help-seeking behaviors and is driven by a broader commitment to understanding how social and cultural forces shape mental health. Emmanuel aspires to become a clinical psychologist specializing in children and young adults, with an emphasis on trauma-informed and equity-centered care. Outside of academia, he enjoys spending time with his three dogs, staying active at the gym, and working on his motorcycle.

Elizabeth is a current MAPSS-Psychology graduate student. She recently received her undergraduate degree in psychology from University of Chicago. Her research interests focuses on how children learn, interpret, and understand gender stereotypes as well as how subtle cues such as language, a child’s relationship with a guardian, and others can shape children’s understanding of gender stereotypes implicitly and explicitly. During her free time, she enjoys baking, exploring new cafes, and doing ballet.

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Kyong-sun is an associate professor at Sungshin Women’s University, South Korea. She is visiting the EAST Lab from 2024 to 2025 as a Fulbright Scholar. Kyong-sun’s research focuses on infants’ and children’s social cognition. She earned her B.A. and M.A. at Yonsei University, South Korea, where she was supervised by Dr. Hyun-joo Song for her master’s degree, and her Ph.D. at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, working with Drs. Renee Baillargeon and Cynthia Fisher. She is delighted to be back in the Midwest and to this wonderful lab for her sabbatical.

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Karson is an Assistant Professor at the University of Hong Kong. He was a visiting scholar in 2024 hosted by Dr. Lin Bian at the University of Chicago when he was on sabbatical leave. He received his bachelor’s degree from University College London and his PhD from the University of Cambridge. Employing interdisciplinary frameworks and diverse methods, Karson’s research examines gender and psychosexual issues in human development. His major research projects tackle topics such as how “nature” and “nurture” act together to shape differences between boys and girls, long-term implications of childhood gender (non)conformity, as well as the intersection of gender and sexual diversity, neurodiversity, and well-being.

Now doctoral student in Psychology, University of Virginia

Now lab manager in Psychology, Emory