Our Research
Our lab researches how children think about information in the world around them and how children seek out and evaluate information throughout their development. We evaluate children's thinking though short games and fun stories which tap into each child’s reasoning skills. Our current projects investigate the following topics:
- How children think about people, fictional characters, books, and computers as information sources (some projects in collaboration with Jonathan Lane, Ph.D. at Vanderbilt University)
- How children use and learn labels to make sense of the world
- How children think about ownership and property
- How children come to understand gratitude, generosity, sharing, and debt
- How children evaluate scientific explanations (in collaboration with Candice Mills, Ph.D., at the University of Texas at Dallas) - a project funded by the National Science Foundation
- How children perceive economic value and learn about ownership from their parents (in collaboration with Susan Gelman, Ph.D., at the University of Michigan)
- How children share information with others (in collaboration with Jason Scofield, Ph.D. at the University of Alabama)
Our research takes place at schools, daycares, and after-school programs. We also have opportunities for children to participate in research in our lab on the University of Louisville Belknap campus - click on the "parents" link on the left for more information.