Category: Researchers

As a master’s student in the Brain and Cognitive Sciences program with a background in Psychology, I have always been fascinated by how the human mind develops from the very first moments of life. My curiosity about developmental psychology drives me to explore how infants perceive and adapt to the world around them. Spending time with children, especially babies, has deepened my appreciation for their rapid growth and learning. To gain experience in this field, I am joining the Babylab as a volunteer, contributing to the Habituation research, where we use eye tracking to measure different aspects of attention and learning.

Ever since my first lecture in Developmental Psychology during the first year of my Psychology Bachelor’s program, I became fascinated by early development in infants. I am especially interested in how infants explore the world around them and interact with other people, as these early experiences can be crucial in shaping future development in childhood and later in life.

This semester I will be participating in the  ongoing study on infant habituation in the Babylab.

Babies deserve their status as some of the most fascinating creatures to study. What I find most interesting is the connection between brain and behaviour — how cognitive processes shape our actions and how, in turn, our experiences shape cognition. By studying the tiny, yet rapidly growing infant mind, we are able to get a glimpse into how early experiences shape the way we think, see the world, and interact with it right from the start! 

I will be supporting the Babylab’s research on infant habituation, where we investigate how infants adapt to new stimuli through eye-tracking.  

Hello! My name is Diana Valero, and I’m a third-year psychology student specializing in clinical developmental psychology.  I’ve always been curious about how children and infants process new experiences and how their little minds adapt over time. There are so many things to learn about the world when you are an infant, how is it possible that a tiny human being can grow up to be a functioning adult? What are the mechanisms that develop our thinking? 

Research can help us find answers, or at least point us towards the right direction, in understanding the mysteries of the infant mind. This semester, I’ll be helping out at the baby lab with the ongoing research on infant habituation, which investigates how infants respond to new stimuli and what factors influence this learning. I look forward to meeting you all! 

This is me, Jacoline Blankenstijn, a student of psychobiology and psychology with a deep interest in everything related to the brain, development, and behavior. What fascinates me most is the immense number of changes that take place in a baby’s brain. Infancy lays the foundation for everything that follows—the very core of who we become. That’s why the research conducted at Babylab Amsterdam is so valuable and incredibly interesting!

During the final phase of my bachelor’s degree, I am doing an internship here, contributing to the Habituation study. This research helps us understand how babies respond to stimuli, how they learn, and how they differ from one another in these learning processes.

When I first came in contact with Developmental Psychology during my Bachelor of Psychology, I immediately started marveling at all the creative ways psychologists set out to understand the kaleidoscopic minds of babies and children. Understanding children and babies from an adult’s perspective can be challenging. But bridging the gap between our two worlds is absolutely central to ensuring babies and children’s health, happiness and safety- it can also teach us a lot about who we are as adults!

To gather more experience in the field of developmental psychology I’m currently doing an internship at the Babylab where I’m supporting Elin and Rosalie on their research on Habituation, exploring how babies respond and adapt to different stimuli.

As a bachelor’s student in Psychobiology, I am very interested in the brain. During my studies, I discovered that, in addition to the brain, I am also fascinated by the development of (young) children. Besides my studies, I spend a lot of time babysitting, and there is nothing I enjoy more than seeing how much the children develop in the short period I haven’t seen them. To conclude my bachelor’s degree, I am currently doing an internship at the Babylab in Amsterdam, a place that perfectly aligns with my interests. I am working on the Habituation research, where we use eye tracking to measure and investigate forms of attention and learning.

As a bachelor’s student in Psychobiology and Psychology, I am interested in the brain and human behavior. I find it fascinating to study how these two aspects rapidly develop during early childhood. Therefore, for my bachelor’s project, I am participating in the Habituation research, where we are investigating how babies learn and what factors influence this process.

I think human minds are fascinating, especially in the first couple of years of our lives when cognitive abilities develop. There are so many different skills we learn from a very young age that are crucial for us for the rest of our lives. As a research master’s student in developmental psychology and cognition, I’m looking forward to discovering more about infants’ cognitive development. I am part of the ManyBabies 3 project looking into rule learning abilities in infants.

As a Psychology Research Master’s student at the University of Amsterdam, I am specializing in what are my two main interests: clinical and developmental psychology. On the one hand, I am fascinated by the multifaceted manifestations of psychological disorders and their treatment. On the other hand, I am also interested in learning about the origins of the most fundamental aspects of human nature, one of them being social evaluation. As part of my internship project ManyBabies 4, I am, therefore, investigating social evaluation in infants.