Lab Researchers and Personnel

Lab Director

Peter Marshall, Ph.D is an Assistant Professor of Psychology at Temple University. He received his Ph.D from the University of Cambridge in 1997, and worked at the University of Maryland before coming to Temple in 2004. 

Lab Coordinator

Lauren LaFrance graduated in May 2007 with a B.A. in psychology from Temple University. She worked as a research assistant in the Developmental Science Lab as an undergraduate, and is now the Laboratory Coordinator. Lauren's interests are in early childhood education and early intervention.

Graduate Students

Kelly Fisher is a doctoral student in the developmental psychology program at Temple. Kelly has an M.S. in Industrial-Organizational Psychology and a B.S. in Psychology from Missouri State University. Her research interests include biological and contextual influences on learning. Kelly is also examining the relation between parental beliefs about play with Dr Kathy Hirsh-Pasek at the Temple Infant Lab on the Ambler campus. 

Undergraduate Students

Dara Gumbarge is a junior Psychology major at Temple. She is originally from Pottstown, PA.  Dara plans to pursue a graduate degree in clinical psychology, and hopes to specialize in marriage or couples psychotherapy.

Seth McCann is a junior psychology major at Temple. Seth is originally from Easton, PA. For the past two years, Seth has been working with children with disabilities ranging from Down syndrome to Pervasive Developmental Disorders as well as children with behavioral problems. Next year, Seth hopes to begin Temple University’s College of Education 5 year dual masters degree program. Seth also wishes to pursue a graduate degree in Developmental Psychology.

Ben Schimeneck is a junior Psychology major at Temple. Ben is originally from Easton, Pennsylvania. His interests span multiple domains within developmental psychology, including developmental cognitive neuroscience and aspects of early social development.

Jessica Shaffer is a junior Psychology major at Temple. Jessica is originally from Greenbelt, Maryland. Her interest in psychology began in her high school AP Psychology where she was awarded the APA’s Award for Excellence in High School Psychology Students.  Upon graduating from Temple, she is interested in pursuing a career in medicine.

Prerna Sharma is originally from New Delhi, India. However, she lived in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia for 10 years before coming to the U.S in 2002 to attend Temple. She finished a Bachelor’s degree in Biology and is now in the process of obtaining her B.A in Psychology. Prerna is interested in both clinical and developmental psychology.