Welcoming Alissa Rivero, our new graduate student!

We're excited to welcome Alissa Rivero to the team as a PhD student.

Alissa is a first year Psychology and Neuroscience Ph.D. student in the MAC Lab, and she graduated from Duke in 2025 with a B.A. in Psychology. Alissa's research investigates sociocultural influences on exploration, motivation, and creativity across the lifespan. She is particularly interested in the developmental consequences of prioritizing efficiency over exploration in childhood (i.e., how this can undermine children’s cognitive strengths). Prior to working in the MAC Lab, Alissa was a lab manager for the Tomasello Lab. See her personal website and CV for more information!