Research Team

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Lab Director: Dr. Alison O'Connor
Assistant Professor, PhD 
[email protected]
506-939-0970
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Google Scholar // Research Gate // Twitter
Dr. O'Connor is an Assistant Professor at Mount Allison University. She completed her MA and PhD degrees in Developmental Psychology at Brock University under the supervision of Dr. Angela Evans. Her research is currently funded by Mount Allison University, the Canadian Foundation for Innovation (CFI), the Social Sciences & Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC), and ResearchNB. She provides a breadth of training opportunities for Mount A students interested in developmental psychology.

​Outside of the lab, Dr. O'Connor is an avid hiker, runner, TV show consumer, and lives a peaceful life beside the ocean!

Thesis Student

2025/2026
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Drew is completing his honours thesis this year. His project focuses on looking at why adults lie less as their time horizons shrink and if socioemotional selective theory can explain a decline in lying. 
Drew paints in his free time and recently took part in a semester abroad in New Zealand. He is pursuing his degree in psychology alongside a minor in fine arts. He is working as the manager of a bar and works in the psych department as a TA. He hopes to complete a master's degree and a PhD in industrial/organizational psychology or clinical psychology after graduation. 

Independent Study Students 

2025/2026

Research Assistants 

2025/2026
Madeleine Logelin
Madeleine completed her honours thesis in the lab during the 2024/2025 academic year. Her project utilized eye-tracking software to examine how younger adults detect fraud in emails and text messages. She is currently working as the Lab Manager, testing the fraud detection abilities of older adults.

​She grew up in Dieppe, NB, and loves to try new things. She has a new interest every other week, but mostly sticks to travelling, learning about plants, and video games. Madeleine wants to continue doing research and go to graduate school to become a psycho-assessor. ​
Julia Stubbert ​
Julia completed her honours thesis in the lab over the 2023/2024 academic year. She managed the lab last year and is currently working on publishing alongside Dr. O'Connor. Julia is currently studying Occupational Therapy at Dalhousie University.
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Julia grew up in Sackville and enjoys playing guitar, watching the sunset, fishing, walking in the waterfowl park, and going for drives. Julia has always had a passion for psychology and a desire to help people.​
Anna Bacalu 
Anna is an RA in the lab assisting with data collection.

Anna is in her third year at Mount Allison pursuing a double major in psychology and history. In her free time she enjoys hiking, reading, and travelling. She spent this past summer working hands on in archeology and is excited to also get hands on experience in psychology. In the future she would like to continue her studies in psychology, specifically in the developmental or forensic field.                           
Jessica Landry
Jessica is an RA in the lab for her second year.

Jessica grew up in Montreal, Quebec and spent most of her education in French schools. She enjoys writing novels and going on walks to watch the wildlife. She plans on pursuing an honours degree in Psychology with a minor in Language and the Mind. After graduating from Mount Allison, she would like to pursue a PsyD at UPEI or UdeM as the next step in her long-term goal of becoming a child Psychologist. Jessica's favourite topics in Psychology are child development, psychopathology, and personality. She would also like to freelance as a fictional author using psychological themes!
Kate Whalley
Kate completed her independent study over the winter 2024 semester. Her independent study was about potential age-related differences in lying in relationships. 

Kate likes reading, writing, sewing, costuming, dancing, or really any other artistic activity. She would like to pursue further education in psychology but is unsure about which specific field she’d like to study. Regardless, she is eager to learn and expand her horizons.​

Lab Alumni

Hannah Breneol
Hannah was an RA in the lab and undertook the role of “knowledge mobilizer” where she helped visualize the research completed in the lab.

Devin Lapointe 
Devin completed an independent study project in the lab during the 2024 winter term. This year he will be completing his honours thesis in psychology. In the future, Devin hopes to become a clinical psychologist following his degree at Mount A. 

Emilie Barro
​Emilie was an RA in the lab and managed our lifespan lab website from 2023/2024. This year she will be completing her honours thesis in psychology. 

Mintra Taylor
Mintra completed an independent study project in the lab during the 2023 Fall semester.

​Mary Lyons
Mary completed her honours thesis in the lab over the 2023/2024 academic year. Mary also completed an independent study in the lab during the 2023 winter semester. Mary has now graduated and is pursuing her JD degree at UNB Law. She is also currently in the process of publishing her honours thesis. 
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Beckett Elliott 
Beckett was an RA in the lab from 2023/2024. After his graduation from MtA, he has begun working with the Developmental Disabilities Association in Vancouver. 
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Madison Harrison​
Madison was an RA in the lab throughout the Fall 2023 term. She has now graduated from Mount Allison with a BSc and is now pursuing a BEng. 

Jessica Frias 
Jessica completed her honours thesis in the lab over the 2022/2023 academic year. She recently published her honours thesis in the Journals of Gerontology. This year, Jessica will be continuing her MSc degree in Development, Disorders, and Clinical Practice at the University of York in the UK. 
Are you a Mount A student interested in working in the lab? Email Dr. O'Connor ([email protected])