Imagination Lab

The Imagination Lab is located on the third floor of the Psychology Department at the University of Oregon. Our research focuses on the development of imagination in children and its relation to social understanding, creativity, inhibitory control, and narrative skills. In particular, we are interested in children's creation of imaginary companions and the role they play in social and cognitive development.

Lab Member Profiles (alphabetically ordered by last name)

Naomi Aguiar
	Naomi Aguiar is a Master's student in the Imagination Lab. She is interested in exploring how imagination is used by young children as a tool for coping with situational and environmental stress. She is further interested in examining how the implementation of imaginal coping strategies in early intervention programs influences resiliency in at risk children. Currently, Naomi is working on pilot study investigating the nature of imaginary companions created by children who have lived in foster care. For fun, Naomi enjoys both ballet and modern dance, and she seeks opportunities to perform whenever possible.
Candice Mottweiler
	Candice is a first year Masters student. She is currently investigating the relation between elaborated role play and narrative creativity in preschool age children. She is also working on a project exploring imagination as a source of resiliency in foster care children.
Jenna Quillen
	I traveled to Eugene from Montana in order to join Dr. Taylor’s Imagination lab at the University of Oregon. I am in my second year as a Masters student in psychology. I am currently working on my thesis project, which is an exploration of whether there are any relations between mind wandering, creativity, and working memory capacity. My other interests include dissociation, trauma, schizophrenia, dreams, hypnosis, spirituality, and the creative power of the imagination. I am also interested in finding the balance between my studies and raising my very rambunctious two year-old son. Additionally, I have two golden retrievers and two cats, all of whom are high maintenance. If I have free time, I enjoy choosing my own reading material, taking dance classes, and letting my husband teach me to play the guitar.
Alison Shawber
	Alison is a fourth year Ph.D. student interested in the development of imagination and pretend play and how children’s imaginations can influence their real life behaviors and abilities. Her research areas include the characteristics and correlates of children’s role play, the relationship between children's pretend play and personality traits related to social interaction, children’s ability to learn and transfer information from fantasy stories, the neural correlates of children’s motor imagery (using fMRI), and the relationship between children’s real and imagined actions.
Deniz Tahiroglu
	I am a fourth year doctoral student in developmental psychology. I received my B.A. in psychology from Bogazici University- Istanbul/Turkey in 2005. I am interested in the individual differences in theory of mind development and am currently working on a parent-report theory-of-mind questionnaire. I am also interested in basic developmental processes in executive functions and pretend play. My research interests also include imagination in children with autism and the links between children's imagination and dissociation.