Nicolás Alessandroni, PhD

FRQSC Postdoctoral Fellow, Psychology
Part-Time Faculty, Psychology

Contact information

Email:

nicolas.alessandroni@concordia.ca

Websites:

ResearchGate
ManyManys 1 Project: Reversal Learning Across Taxa

ORCID:

0000-0002-6595-0969

Biography

Nicolás Alessandroni is a postdoctoral fellow at the Concordia Infant Research Laboratory, directed by Dr. Krista Byers-Heinlein. He is also a course instructor for PSYC 333 - Fundamentals of Lifespan Development in the Department of Psychology. Currently supported by funding from the Fonds de Recherche du Québec – Société et Culture, Nicolás is investiating how Open Science, Big Team Science, and infant studies can work together to advance our understanding of human development. Nicolás also plays an active role in several large-scale networks, such as ManyBabies and ManyManys, and takes a leadership role in ManyManys 1, a project aimed at comparing reversal learning across different animal taxa.

He earned his PhD in Psychology from the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (Spain) in 2021, with research centered on the relationship between object use and the early development of conceptual thinking from an ecological-enactive approach to cognition. In 2023, he was honoured with the prestigious Doctoral Dissertation Award by the Jean Piaget Society (USA).

His research has been featured in leading journals such as Nature Human Behavior, Royal Society Open Science, Developmental Science, Infancy, Infant Behavior & Development, Psychological Research, Adaptive Behavior, Memory Studies, Philosophical Psychology, Theory & Psychology, and Collabra: Psychology.

Teaching activities

PSYC 333
Fundamentals of Lifespan Development

Research activities

Research focus areas

Ecological Psychology and Material Engagement.
Tool Use and Cognitive Development in Early Childhood.
Early Communication, Interaction, and Social Cognition.
Comparative Cognition and Learning.
Open Science and Big Team Science.

Selected publications

Alessandroni, N., Altschul, D., Baumgartner, H. A., Bazhydai, M., Brosnan, S. F., Byers-Heinlein, K., Call, J., Chittka, L., Elsherif, M., Espinosa, J., Freeman, M. S., Gjoneska, B., Güntürkün, O., Huber, L., Krasheninnikova, A., Mazza, V., Miller, R., Moreau, D., Nawroth, C., … Prétôt, L. (2024). Challenges and promises of big team comparative cognition. Nature Human Behaviour. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-024-02081-6

Malafouris, L., Aston, A., & Alessandroni, N. (2024). Rethinking the “we” in “we” intentionality: Intention-sharing with —and not simply about —things. Philosophical Psychology, 1–31. https://doi.org/10.1080/09515089.2024.2381523

Alessandroni, N., Malafouris, L., & Gallagher, S. (2024). An ecological approach to conceptual thinking in material engagement. Europe’s Journal of Psychology, 20(2), 84–103. https://doi.org/10.5964/ejop.13227

Alessandroni, N., & Madureira Ferreira, J. (2024). Materiality and cognitive development: Contemporary debates and empirical studies in early childhood. Europe’s Journal of Psychology, 20(2), 79–83. https://doi.org/10.5964/ejop.14433

Alessandroni, N., Altschul, D., Bazhydai, M., Byers-Heinlein, K., Elsherif, M., Gjoneska, B., Huber, L., Mazza, V., Miller, R., Nawroth, C., Pronizius, E., Qadri, M. A. J., Šlipogor, V., Soderstrom, M., Stevens, J. R., Visser, I., Williams, M., Zettersten, M., & Prétôt, L. (2024). Comparative cognition needs big team science: How large-scale collaborations will unlock the future of the field. Comparative Cognition & Behavior Reviews, 19, 67-72. https://doi.org/10.3819/CCBR.2024.190001

Baumgartner, H., Alessandroni, N., Byers-Heinlein, K., Frank, M., Hamlin, J. K., Soderstrom, M., Voelkel, J. G., Willer, R., Yuen, F., & Coles, N. A. (2023). How to build up big team science: A practical guide for large-scale collaborations. Royal Society Open Science. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.230235.

Alessandroni, N. (2023). The road to conventional tool-use: Developmental changes in children’s material engagement with artifacts in nursery school. Infancy, 28(2), 388–409. https://doi.org/10.1111/infa.12522

Alessandroni, N., & Malafouris, L. (2023). Blurring ontological boundaries: The transactional nature of material engagement. Adaptive Behavior, 31(2), 127–131. https://doi.org/10.1177/10597123221098002

Vietri, M., Alessandroni, N., & Piro, M.C. (2022). Intentional understanding through action coordination in early triadic interactions. Integrative Psychological & Behavioral Science. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12124-022-09677-5

Alessandroni, N., & Byers-Heinlein, K. (2022). Ten strategies to foster open science in psychology and beyond. Collabra: Psychology, 8(1), 57545. https://doi.org/10.1525/collabra.57545

Prezioso, E., & Alessandroni, N. (2022). Enacting memories through and with things: Remembering as material engagement. Memory Studies, 16(4), 962-983. https://doi.org/10.1177/17506980221108475

Alessandroni, N. (2021). Object concepts and their functional core: Material engagement and canonical uses of objects in early childhood education. Human Arenas, 4(2), 172-195. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42087-020-00119-5

Alessandroni, N., Moreno-Núñez, A., Rodríguez, C., & Del Olmo, M. J. (2020). Musical dynamics in early triadic interactions. A case study. Psychological Research, 84(6), 1555-1571. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00426-019-01168-4

Alessandroni, N., & Rodríguez, C. (2020). The development of categorization and conceptual thinking in early childhood: Methods and limitations. Psicologia: Reflexão e Crítica, 33, article 17. https://doi.org/10.1186/s41155-020-00154-9

Alessandroni, N., & Rodríguez, C. (2019). On perception as the basis for object concepts: A critical analysis. Pragmatics & Cognition, 26(2/3), 321-356. https://doi.org/10.1075/pc.19027.ale