Hi! My name is Radhika Santhanagopalan (sun-thaa-naa-go-paa-lun).

​

I was born and raised in Hong Kong. I got a B.S. degree from the University of Michigan, where I hopped around five labs trying to find my research niche. I eventually found the Lee lab, working with Drs. Fiona Lee and Sarah Huff on identity integration in cross-cultural settings. I completed my thesis in the Language and Literacy Lab, working with Drs. Ioulia Kovelman and Neelima Wagley on using neuroimaging methods to understand language acquisition in bilingual and monolingual infants.  

​

I started my Ph.D. in Psychology at Cornell University, working with Dr. Katherine Kinzler in the Development of Social Cognition Lab on projects related to children's social group cognition (i.e., how children reason about social groups) based on nationality, language, gender, and immigration status. After transferring to the University of Chicago, my interests grew to include children's judgment and decision-making abilities, such as their negotiation skills, heuristic judgments, and information avoidance patterns. This led me to pursue a joint PhD with Drs. Katherine Kinzler and Jane Risen in the Department of Psychology and Booth School of Business.