Welcome! We conduct basic research with children to better understand typical and atypical social and cognitive development.
Social attention study: How do children follow other people's eye gaze?
We study children's ability to look where others are looking. This ability not only helps them find important things in their environment, it also helps them understand what others see and what others might be thinking. In this study, we show children pictures of a person looking either toward or away from an object and measure how long it takes the child to find the object.
We study children's ability to look where others are looking. This ability not only helps them find important things in their environment, it also helps them understand what others see and what others might be thinking. In this study, we show children pictures of a person looking either toward or away from an object and measure how long it takes the child to find the object.
Social cognition study: How do children figure out other people's thoughts?
We also study children's ability to imagine what other people are thinking. Without this ability, children would have a hard time understanding why people behave the way they do, especially when others want or believe something different from what they might want or believe. In this study, we show children short cartoons of a kid who thinks her pet cat is in one box, when really it is in another box, and then ask the child to predict where the kid will search for her pet.
We also study children's ability to imagine what other people are thinking. Without this ability, children would have a hard time understanding why people behave the way they do, especially when others want or believe something different from what they might want or believe. In this study, we show children short cartoons of a kid who thinks her pet cat is in one box, when really it is in another box, and then ask the child to predict where the kid will search for her pet.