Numbers and the Brain

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Lily Goldstein ('24), a Cognitive Science major with a Math minor, researched how attention interacts with number perception in children under the mentorship of Dr. Elizabeth Brannon (Department of Psychology). This research was supported by the College Alumni Society Undergraduate Research Grant.

The Developing Minds Lab primarily studies the primitive number sense that children possess, and how this inherent characteristic interacts with symbolic math ability. I was originally drawn to this topic because I am majoring in Cognitive Science and minoring in Math and considered the lab’s area of study to be the perfect crossover of my two interests. My first project with the lab was investigating a potential cognitive indicator for math achievement. In my second semester working at the lab, I transitioned into studying the way in which attention interacts with number perception.

When I entered Penn as a freshman in the fall of 2020, I had no plans to participate in research. In the midst of the pandemic, the opportunity to do in-person research seemed distant. It wasn’t until the spring of my sophomore year that I discovered that I could do an independent study towards my major. Though I originally began working in the Developing Minds Lab as a way to gain credits towards my major, it quickly became a passion of mine, and I am now entering my third semester of doing research in Dr. Brannon’s lab. Aside from the connections I made within the lab, my deepening involvement in research allowed me to feel more connected with the Penn community as a whole.

The independence I was given in my research allowed me to gain confidence in myself and my abilities.

The most surprising aspect of my research experience was that I had the opportunity to investigate my own questions, rather than solely contributing to the research interests of my advisor. In my previous experience doing research in high school, I simply worked on the projects of the more senior lab members. This was not at all the case when I began doing research at Penn, as my advisor encouraged me to explore my own interests and suggest my own projects. I was also initially surprised by the amount of independence I was allotted in my research. In my first semester, I was able to take charge of online and in-lab testing of subjects, as well as programming my own experiments from scratch. One of the best parts of my research experience thus far has been the trust placed in me by my mentors, and the confidence I have gained as a result. - Lily Goldstein

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