Sara Valencia Botto is a PhD candidate in the cognition and development program at Emory University, where she researches social-cognitive development in early childhood. Her recent publication on sensitivity to evaluation in toddlers has been featured in various outlets, including ABC News, the Huffington Post and other major international newspapers.

By exploring the developmental origins of reputation, Botto's research investigates when and how humans, unlike many other animals, care about what other people think. She designs experiments for children of 14 months to five years and studies when and how they begin to alter their behavior to garner positive evaluations from others. Her goal is to understand why humans come to care about their reputation as well as the factors that contribute to inter-individual differences.