63rd Annual STS (2003-2004)
Finalists
Allyson Molly Goldberg

NEW YORK
Allyson Molly Goldberg, 17, of Croton-on-Hudson, studied the impacts of body temperature and time of day on cognitive performance; and the effects of body temperature on daytime naps for her Intel Science Talent Search project in behavioral and social sciences. Ally's two groups of human subjects each underwent an active heating or cooling condition and a control condition. Analyses of cognitive performance and naps for all conditions suggested that time of day exerted the greater influence on performance, and that the quality of sleep during naps is compromised by lower body temperatures. She thinks her findings will help scientists better understand circadian rhythms and could be used to promote effective daytime sleep. First in her class of 85 at Croton-Harmon High School, Ally is class and Student Faculty Congress vice president and captain of the cross country and track teams. She has served as a dance counselor/choreographer at a children's theater camp and as layout editor for a literary magazine. A member of the organic agriculture garden club, she has also built her own canoe. The daughter of Marshall and Sheryl Goldberg, Ally may one day be a pediatrician or teach biology.