Chi (Zoe) Ngo
Max Planck Institute for Human Development
Memory enables us to access the specific events that make up our past, and at the same time, amass knowledge that guides predictions for possible futures. My research investigates how children develop these foundational and complementary memory skills from age 4 to age 8. I target three building blocks of an adaptive memory: (i) remembering complex events, (ii) preventing confusion between similar experiences, and (iii) generalising based on past experiences. We investigate how each of the three components develops, how their developments relate to each other, and how brain maturation explains memory growth.
I currently hold a postdoc position at the Center for Lifespan Psychology at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, where I investigate memory and brain maturation in early childhood. My research is supported, in part, by the German Research Foundation and the Jacobs Foundation research fellowship. Prior to my postdoc training, I earned a PhD in the Brain and Cognitive Sciences programme in the Psychology department at Temple University, under the mentorship of Drs. Nora Newcombe and Ingrid Olson. My doctoral work on episodic memory development was funded by the National Research Service Award from the National Institutes of Health, and the American Psychological Association Dissertation Research Award.