Seokyung Kim

Seokyung is a fourth-year PhD student in the Developmental Science track, working with Professors Stephanie Carlson and Daniel Berry. She is primarily interested in studying children's and adolescents' decision-making strategies during task persistence, with a particular focus on their exploration (seeking out new possibilities) and exploitation (sticking with familiar, rewarding choices) approaches. Her research also examines how executive function, metacognition, and temperament interact and contribute to individual differences in decisions related to task persistence.

Building on these interests, Seokyung's current work centers on preschoolers' persistence strategies. She is developing and testing multiple interventions to help preschoolers make strategic decisions when persisting toward a goal. This research is built upon her prior study showing that preschoolers often struggle to adapt their persistence strategies effectively. Her studies use a novel problem-solving task that requires balancing exploration and exploitation approaches to reach a goal within limited attempts.

Looking ahead, Seokyung aims to extend her persistence research into educational settings, with the aim of helping children and adolescents make more effective and personally fulfilling decisions in their daily lives.