Alex Silver is a Postdoctoral Research Associate in the Learning Research and Development Center at the University of Pittsburgh. Broadly, she is interested in how, despite sharing foundational cognitive architecture with many animals, humans are the only species that has developed the ability to interpret and manipulate symbols and design and test theories. Her work asks how our core cognitive abilities support the uniquely human ability to use symbols and develop theories to solve problems, and how environmental factors, including affective experiences and social support, shape children's conceptual development. Her research focuses on mathematical learning as a case study to answer these puzzling questions. She examines how internal factors, such as numerical processing abilities, and external factors, such as the learning opportunities children are exposed to, uniquely and reciprocally contribute to learning in math. Alex received her PhD in Cognitive Psychology from the University of Pittsburgh in 2024. Before joining the Kids' Thinking Lab, Alex received a BA in Psychological and Brain Sciences from Johns Hopkins University and worked as the Lab Manager for the Lab for Child Development at Johns Hopkins. When she isn't in the lab, she loves to be outdoors hiking, kayaking, gardening, and eating ice cream whenever possible.
