Begüm Özdemir Demirci joined the Faculty of Psychology at Maltepe University in 2022. She received her Master's degree in Developmental Psychology from Bogazici University and her Ph.D. in the same field from the University of Toronto. Her research interests include the interaction between language and cognition, reasoning and knowledge acquisition processes in children and adults.
EDUCATION
Doctor of Philosophy (2020): Developmental Psychology & Education, University of Toronto
Master of Arts Psychology (2011): Bogazici University
Undergraduate (2007): Philosophy, Middle East Technical University
RESEARCH, TEACHING, or OTHER INTERESTS
Developmental and Educational Psychology, Experimental and Cognitive Psychology, General Psychology, Neuropsychology and Physiological Psychology
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Scopus Publications
Scopus Publications
The role of logical reasoning, belief-content and the type of inference in belief revision Barış Özdemir, Begüm Özdemir Pragmatics and Cognition, 2024 Prior research shows mixed findings regarding individuals’ belief-revision strategies. The current research is aimed to test (a) whether individuals’ reasoning across abstract vs real-world content shows similarity, and (b) whether individuals’ syllogistic reasoning predicts their belief-revision strategies. Experiment 1, testing 76 participants (50 females), provides evidence for the similarity in reasoning across abstract and real-world content (p < .05). In Experiment 2, testing 84 participants (58 females), we find no significant effect of reasoning performance on belief-revision strategies (p > .05). Individuals seem to revise the conditional statement in the AC and DA inferences, especially when the content poses a threat. In contrast, individuals prefer to revise the categorical premise in the MT inferences, especially when the content poses a threat. These findings suggest that in the face of inconsistency individuals’ decision about which of their prior beliefs they should revise is influenced by the structure and content of the belief-contravening problem rather than their reasoning ability.
A follow up investigation of placental pathology, responsive parenting, and preschool children’s executive functioning and language development Sahar Borairi, Begum Ozdemir, Jennifer Jenkins, Prakesh S. Shah, John Kingdom, Patricia Ganea Child Neuropsychology, 2024 Despite documented effects linking underlying placental diseases and neurological impairments in children, little is known about the long-term effects of placental pathology on children's neurocognitive outcomes. In addition, maternal responsivity, known to positively influence early postnatal cognitive development, may act to protect children from putative adverse effects of placental pathology. The current study is a follow up of medically healthy, term born, preschool age children, born with placental pathology. A sample of 118 children (45 comparison children with normal placental findings, 73 born with placental pathology) were followed when children were 3-4 years old. In comparison to children born to mothers with normal placentas, placental pathology was associated with poorer performance in the executive function involving cognitive flexibility, but not inhibitory control or receptive language. Maternal responsivity was observed to be marginally protective on the impact of placental pathology risk on cognitive flexibility, but this was not seen for either inhibitory control or receptive language.
