Carla Macias - 5th year PhD student in the Psych Dept at RU-Newark in Comp/Cog Developmental Lab w/ Elizabeth Bonawitz

1.   How did you become interested in cognitive science/psychology?

I think it was the courses that I was able to take in my undergrad. Luckily, we had a brain and cognitive science department so I had access to cool classes on perception and cognition. Coming into undergrad, I had no idea what I wanted to do or study, so like most freshman, I took a bunch of random courses —Medical Anthropology, Economics, International Relations and Foundations of Cognitive Processes. Eventually when it was time for me to declare my major, I realized that all these classes had something in come—they all explored interactions between people and the world around them. In cognitive science I get to encompass all of these pieces. I get to study the interactions between people and their environment but also the underlying processes driving these interactions and learning outcomes. Eventually, I found out about the McNair scholars program and I got research experience under the advisement of Dr. Celeste Kidd (she is absolutely amazing btw) and that helped me hone in on my interest in cognition (attention and memory).

2. What is the focus of your research?

I am a cognitive psychologist. Broadly, I am interested in cognitive development, particularly how children use their beliefs about the world to guide their attention and memory. I primarily work with preschoolers, and I explore the strategic nature of their working memory system. So to put it plainly, Children are interesting because they learn a lot about the world within their first few years of life and they do so with limited working memory, attention and inhibition. These are cognitive resources essential for learning, yet children are still robust learners. So, the broad question I often ask is, “how might children learn so much with so little? “. One potential explanation is that young learners are strategic in the ways they expend their limited working memory resources, attending to and prioritizing information in working memory that will result in learning at the cost of attending to other things. My research explores whether young learners (and adults) strategically attend to different kinds of information (e.g., surprising versus unsurprising) and whether this impacts learning other information.

3. What aspects of your work do people get really excited about?

While my research is very basic, I’m trying to understand how memory resources are distributed to different kinds of information. For example, are children more likely to attend to and remember surprising information over unsurprising information and how might this impact learning. Interestingly, I think this basic understanding of how working memory resources are distributed to different kinds of information may have implications for how we understand learning from media devices. For instance, if children selectively attend to information that is surprising at the cost of learning other things, how might having access to reliable devices (e.g., computer with stable internet) with endless information impact how children learn. While my current work is basic and foundational – Is WM strategic? Does this come at a cost of learning other things? We can move this topic to something more applied and relevant to everyday learning.

4. Where do you see your research going over the next few years?

I hope to take my basic research and move it to these applied questions such as learning from media.

5. Do you see yourself in industry or academics moving forward?

I see myself in academia exploring questions of attention, memory and learning. I think what is important for me is the freedom to conduct research that I care about. I also have a  passion for mentorship. My experience as a McNair Scholar was so influential and life changing. One goal of mine is to help other underrepresented students  pursue research and higher education if that’s something they desire. Sometimes it is daunting to think about how to make substantial change and I think meaningful mentorship that uplifts and encourages students is one way to make an important difference in the world.

6.  What's it like being a person of color in cognitive science?

It can be pretty difficult sometimes. I think on some level everyone experiences imposter syndrome but as a person of color it is very easy to be in this fixed mindset. This fixed mindset is in part due to the implicit or explicit messages you receive from other academics that suggest you are less than/ or less capable than others. These sentiments can be experienced and felt in the ways people talk to you, give you feedback or divvy up project loads. Unfortunately, it is very easy to internalize these messages and you begin to believe you are not capable, you lack the ability to succeed and you have achieved what you’ve achieved  because of luck. This mindset can be hard to work your way out of and can be detrimental to personal progress and success. What I think has been a saving grace is seeing people like me in my field. Having open, honest, and excited mentors, friends and collogues  helps as well. Sure, it is hard to go to conferences and not see people that look like you, however finding a circle to support you and seeking opportunities to connect with others can be very helpful and beneficial.

7.  Any advice for early career researchers of color?

Mentorship, finding community, and watching how you talk to yourself are the key things to work on. I was called out by a professor this semester for undervaluing my teaching experience in the lab so it is something I am still working on.

8. What changes have you noticed in your field or the field more generally?

Moments like this interview. I know there are some conferences having additional panels on diversity. There’s more talk and conversation around diversity and representation in academia. My hope is that these efforts are sustained and substantial changes are made. It is unclear what these changes will be exactly but hopefully they will be authentic.

9.  Do you see spaces where diversity will change how/what questions cognitive psychology/cog Science is asking?

When you come from a different background with different lived experiences and interactions with systems and institutions you have a different perspective of how the world works. You have different knowledge and perhaps have a different way of remembering. But it also means you will have different questions as a scientist that could push the field forward in meaningful ways. That is why diversity in academia is so important. I read the book, “Between the World and Me” by Ta-Nehisi Coates ( if you haven’t read it you should) and there's a portion of the book that struck me and it was him discussing his constant vigilance of attention – thinking about safe routes home or other things which distracted him from learning during school. This strategic attention for survival concerns, and the states of chronic stress impacted his ability to learn. I say all that, to say this diversity in academia is important but also diversity in research is essential. When we consider learning outcomes and other outcomes in general, we have seriously considered how different factors may be playing a role in the outcomes we observe for different groups and individuals.

10.  How do you protect your time?

I’ve been more intentional about protecting my time since the lockdown in 2020. Before then, I didn’t realize how anxious I was. I found myself either working to avoid it or having trouble working because of it. Sure, this may be a normal consequence of a global pandemic but since then I’ve been intentional about scheduling time for rest, family, and social activities that make me happy. This has helped me tremendously. I’ve come to realize that there will always be work to do, however, you only have one life to live, so you should live it to the best of your ability and that includes taking care of yourself.