Team

Biography

I am a Professor of Cognitive Development, at the University of Surrey, UK, where I direct the Cognition, Genes & Developmental Variability Lab. I completed my PhD at the University of Bristol in 2001. I then took on a lectureship position at the University of Reading. I then moved to the UCL Institute of Education in 2008, before joining the University of Surrey in 2018. The broad aim of my ‎research is to characterise typical and atypical development of cognitive functions within the context of the developing ‎brain. This includes a focus on the relationship between spatial thinking and Science and Mathematics achievement. I was awarded the 2024 Impact and Engagement award from the Developmental Psychology section of the British Psychological Society. My research has been funded by the Economic and Social Research Council, the British Academy, the Leverhulme Trust, the Nuffield Foundation, Wellcome, the Education Endowment Foundation, the Waterloo Foundation, Autour des Williams, the Williams Syndrome Foundation, and Fondation Jerome Lejeune.

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Biography

Angelina Orav is a Research Assistant in the School of Psychology at University of Surrey. Her academic background is in developmental psychology, clinical practice, and education research, with a particular focus on child development, learning processes, and the translation of research into educational settings.

She holds an MSc in Developmental Psychology and Clinical Practice from University College London, completed in collaboration with the Anna Freud National Centre for Children and Families, and a BSc in Psychology with Education from UCL (Graduate Basis for Chartership, British Psychological Society). Her training combines quantitative and qualitative research methods with applied clinical experience in NHS Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS), including neurodevelopmental assessments, service evaluation, and short-term psychological interventions with children, young people, and families.

At Surrey, Angelina works on the Bee Spatial project, an applied research study investigating the role of spatial thinking in primary mathematics learning. The project is delivered in partnership with schools and educational organisations and examines the feasibility, implementation, and outcomes of a structured spatial skills intervention embedded within the Year 3 mathematics curriculum. Her role involves coordinating school recruitment and timelines, supporting study design and data collection, developing teacher-facing materials and questionnaires, and contributing to data analysis, multi-stakeholder coommunication, reporting, and dissemination.

Her broader research interests include developmental mechanisms underpinning learning and behaviour, bidirectional child–environment processes, and interdisciplinary approaches that combine cognitive, developmental, and educational psychology.

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