Phd in PSYCHOLOGY AND COGNITIVE SCIENCE

email: francesca.bellagamba@uniroma1.it
phone: 068174963

From Scopus (February 2024) H- index: 11 | Total citations: 643 | ORCID ID: orcid.org/0000-0003-0312-2081

Degree and postgraduate qualifications
• 2000-2001 Fulbright Fellowship, Research Scholar, Department of Psychology, University of Utah, USA, collaboration with Alan Fogel.
• 2000 Ph.D., Developmental Psychology, University ‘La Sapienza’, Rome, Italy.
• 1997 Short Term Visiting Scholar, Department of Psychology, Emory University, USA, collaboration with Michael Tomasello
• 1995 M.S. Psychology, University of Rome ‘La Sapienza’, summa cum laude.

Academic and professional posts
• 2005-present: Associate Professor, Department of Dynamic, Clinical Psychology and Health Studies, Faculty of Medicine and Psychology of Sapienza University of Rome
• 2002-2005: Researcher, Department of Psychology, University of Bari, Italy

Teaching
Currently: ‘Developmental models of social and cultural cognition’ (Master Course: Applied Dynamic and Clinical Psychology, Sapienza University), ‘Methods and techniques for observing behaviour’ (Master Course: Pedagogia e Scienze dell’Educazione, Sapienza University of Rome)
Current research Interests
Prof. Bellagamba is a specialist in theory and methods in cognitive development and processes of parent-infant interactions. Over her career, she investigated theory of mind in typical and atypical development, emergence of a sense of self, and the development of self-control in early childhood. In her studies, she used different research methods, and conducted both cross-sectional and longitudinal research.
Francesca Bellagamba is currently involved as scientific coordinator of the Sapienza Unit, in an extensive longitudinal research, with Elsa Addessi (Principal Investigator, ISTC-CNR), Flavia Chiarotti (Istituto Superiore di Sanità), Amy Galloway (Appalachian State University, USA), Claire Farrow (Aston University, UK) and Associazione Culturale Pediatri. The research project, was funded twice by the Italian Ministry for Education, University and Research (PRIN 2017 and PRIN 2022), and aims at investigating the development of independent eating behavior in a sample of 195 typically developing Italian infants, starting from 4 months of age and up to the fourth year of life, in order to document the short and long-term influence of complementary feeding methods on achieving the main stages of motor, linguistic and cognitive development.
Recently, she joined an international group (CAFÉ consortium) of cross-disciplinary collaborative researchers leaded by Rachel Barr (Georgetown University, USA) based on a shared interest in improving the quality of media measurement tools and in developing a comprehensive assessment of infant’s early media exposure in a cross-cultural perspective.

Selected competitive research fundings:

-2024 ‘Infant nutrition, cognition, and health’, Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellowships awarded to Dr. Henriette Zeidler, Supervisor (Euro 172.750). (https://www.uniroma1.it/it/pagina/sapienza-marie-sklodowska-curie-fellows-2023)

-2023 ‘Early social experiences and their influence on infants’ cognition and health’, Seal of SapiExcellence awarded to Dr. Henriette Zeidler, Supervisor, Sapienza Grant (Euro 50.000).

-2022 ‘Long-term impact of complementary feeding approach in preschool children: developmental outcomes, eating behaviour and food sustainability’, PRIN 2022, Co-investigator, PI: Elsa Addessi (Euro 212.367), 2022S8PEY7.

- 2022 ‘Parents’ and Teachers’ Role in the Development of Executive Functions and Theory of Mind in Preschool Children: A Comparison Between Monolingual and Bilingual Children’, Sapienza Grant. Collaborator, PI: Mara Morelli. RM1221815CA437EA.

-2021 ‘Concepts in interaction with others and with ourselves: abstractness in social interaction, metacognition and mind wandering’, Sapienza Grant. Collaborator, PI: Anna Maria Borghi (Euro 67.287), RG12117A5D1EB0B3.

- 2020 ‘Traincrease - From Social Interaction to Abstract Concepts and Words: Towards Human-centered Technology Development’, H2020. Collaborator, PI: Anna Maria Borghi, Proposal no. 952324.

- 2020 ‘Effetti dell’alimentazione complementare a richiesta sullo sviluppo psicomotorio nei primi 2 anni di vita: uno studio su bambini nati pretermine’, Sapienza Grant. Collaborator, PI: Barbara Caravale (Euro 4.000), RP120172B334EA04.
-2019 ‘Affective meanings and their function in the psychological regulation of individual and social action. An integrated analysis of modes of acquisition and dynamic of their use in interpersonal, social and clinical contexts’, Sapienza Grant. Collaborator, PI: Alessandro Gennaro (Euro 33.787), RM11916B504626E7.
-2018 ‘Understanding how complementary feeding method longitudinally affects developmental outcomes in young children’, PRIN 2017, Co-investigator, PI: Elsa Addessi (Euro 483.177), 2017WH8B84.
-2018 ‘Inner grounding of abstract concepts: the role of interoception and social metacognition’, Sapienza Grant. Collaborator: PI: Anna Maria Borghi (Euro 33.800), RM11816428832AC7.
-2017 ‘Abstract concepts, language and sociality’, Sapienza Grant. Collaborator, PI: Anna Maria Borghi (Euro 34.500), RG11715C7F1549F7.
-2016 ‘Theory of mind and psychopathology: Individual, relational and neurophysiological risk factors of feeding disorders in 0-3 children. A study on the effectiveness of different intervention strategies’, Sapienza Grant. Collaborator, PI: Silvia Cimino (Euro 34.000), RG116154CA613A7B.

Memberships:

International Society for Infant Studies (ICIS)
Associazione Italiana di Psicologia (AIP)