She received her undergraduate degree in Philosophy and Psychology from Indiana University. She completed her doctorate in Cognitive Psychology at Northwestern University in 1998 and has been at Emory ever since. She is coordinator of the joint major in Psychology and Linguistics, the director of the Psychology Summer Study Abroad Program, and the director of the graduate program in Cognition and Development at Emory. She is currently serving as Treasurer of the Cognitive Development Society and Chair of the APA Division 7 Program Committee. Her research focuses on the origins and development of verbal and non-verbal symbol use in young children, and the role of comparison in conceptual development. She is co-author of the forthcoming Intro textbook Psychology: Scientific Thinking in Everyday Life (Allyn & Bacon).