Research in the lab focuses on understanding developmental changes in value-guided learning, memory, and exploration from childhood to early adulthood. We use behavioral studies, computational modeling, and fMRI to address questions about how and why learning processes change over time and through experience, and what the consequences of those changes are for goal-directed behavior.
Nussenbaum, K. & Hartley, C.A. (2024). Understanding the development of reward learning through the lens of meta-learning. Nature Reviews Psychology. link.
Nussenbaum, K. & Hartley, C.A. (2019). Reinforcement learning across development: What insights can we draw from a decade of research? Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience. pdf.
Nussenbaum, K. & Hartley, C.A. Reinforcement learning increasingly shapes memory specificity from childhood to adulthood. preprint. data & code.
Nussenbaum, K.*, Martin, R.E.*, Maulhardt, S., Yang, Y., Bizzell-Hatcher, G., Bhatt, N.S., Scheuplein, M., Rosenbaum, G.M., O’Doherty, J.P., Cockburn, J., & Hartley, C.A. Novelty and uncertainty differentially drive exploration across development. (2023). eLife. pdf. data & code.
Nussenbaum, K., & Hartley, C.A. (2021) Developmental change in prefrontal cortex recruitment supports the emergence of value-guided memory. eLife. pdf. data & code.