Vittoria Volpi
PhD student

I am a PhD student in Cognitive Science under the supervision of Dr. Maria Dolores de Hevia, with my doctoral studies funded by Université Paris Cité.
I completed my undergraduate studies in Cognitive Science at the University of Trento, followed by a master’s degree in Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuropsychology at the University of Padua. Since the beginning of my studies, I have been passionate about understanding how the brain encodes and processes numbers and mathematics, with a focus on infants, toddlers, and children. My research employs behavioral methods to explore the cognitive foundations of numerical understanding and how formal education helps us build mathematical knowledge.
Ongoing project
I am currently conducting a longitudinal study on pre-verbal quantification systems, following infants from a few hours after birth until their first year of life. The aim of the research is to understand how two numerical systems, the Approximate Number System (ANS) and the Object Tracking System (OTS), develop and interact with each other, as well as with Visual Working Memory. The study utilizes behavioral methods based on looking times to investigate these cognitive processes.
Thesis Funded by ED 158 – Brain, Cognition, Behaviour – 3C