Meet the LearnLabbies

Dr. Ji Son, Lab Director

Dr. Son is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology. Her research focuses on how people learn and generalize their learning to new situations. The central idea behind her work is that learning changes the way we SEE the world! Many of the studies in the Learning Lab examine the role of perception in how students and young children learn abstract ideas, such as math and science. Area: Cognitive development, category learning, perceptual learning, learning and transfer.

Caylor Davis, Lab Manager

I am a graduate of the CSULA Psychology MA program, and received my BA in Linguistics and Psychology from UCLA. I am also a previous lecturer here at CSULA, and particularly enjoyed teaching statistics (Psych 3020). My main research interests involve investigating instructional methods that can improve student learning outcomes in statistics and data science. Some recent projects have included gauging the effectiveness of pairing instruction with guided notes, emphasizing concepts over calculations in instruction, and how to help students read for math. I approach questions related to these ideas through the framework of the Practicing Connections hypothesis, in hopes of helping students gain robust, transferable knowledge, and develop meaningful learning experiences.

Asia Mullins, Graduate Student

I’m a second year graduate student in the Masters of Arts in psychology program at Cal State LA. I earned my BA in psychology from Humboldt State University in 2022. I’m interested in context-dependent learning, specifically how teaching strategies and teacher qualities affect students in the classroom. My research focuses on data visualizations, and improving students’ graph comprehension skills. I want to focus on schools in low-income communities, and how the classroom environment influences the learning of difficult subjects. My goal is to provide more resources to support students who come from low income backgrounds. 

Nataly Castro, Graduate Student

Mildred Bernabe, Research Assistant

I am currently in my senior year at Cal State LA. I am majoring in Psychology and minoring in Management. I acquired my associate degree in Psychology from LACC. I am interested in pursuing a career in I/O (Industrial/Organizational) psychology. I hope to gain skills and experience that I can utilize in my career. 

Lou Rabahi Seaton, Research Assistant

I hold an Associate of Arts Degree in Psychology and in Social and Behavioral Sciences from LACC, and a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Psychology from CSULA. My interests lie in utility value, motivation, anxiety, and learning. Currently, my research centers on exploring how college students perceive various types of utility value in relation to learning statistics, as well as examining changes in their utility value perceptions over time.