Nicole Coates
From an early age, I was fascinated by how people think and why they behave the way they do. That curiosity was also personal: I was born at 27 weeks and grew up aware of how remarkable brain development is. Although I did not yet know how to study these questions scientifically, I was drawn to understanding the mind.
When I entered UC Davis, I initially pursued Neurobiology with the goal of becoming a neurosurgeon. I was deeply interested in the brain and imagined a career caring for patients and their families during difficult moments. My direction shifted, however, during my second year when I joined the Human Memory Lab directed by Andy Yonelinas. Working in the lab introduced me to research as a way to study the mind systematically. I became fascinated by every part of the process—from designing experiments to analyzing and writing up the results—and quickly realized that research was the path that best aligned with my interests.
Around the same time, I discovered cognitive science, a field that integrates ideas from psychology, philosophy, linguistics, neuroscience, and computer science to study how minds work. The interdisciplinary nature of the field immediately resonated with me. I switched my major and spent the remainder of my undergraduate years exploring questions about cognition and learning.
After graduating, I worked as a lab manager in the Infant Cognition Lab directed by Lisa Oakes. In addition to managing research projects, I had the opportunity to mentor undergraduate researchers and gain insight into how developmental scientists investigate the earliest stages of learning. Watching infants and young children engage with the world reinforced a question that had been growing for me: how do humans build models of the world from the patterns and structure they observe? Children are remarkably curious and capable learners, and studying how they reason about the world provides a powerful window into the foundations of human cognition.
To strengthen my preparation for doctoral training, I pursued a master’s degree at San José State University, where I focused on developing my research skills and building a stronger foundation in graduate-level coursework. During this time, I also spent considerable time refining my research interests. Broadly, I am interested in how people—especially children—discover structure in their environment and use it to reason, predict, and learn.
