Faculty of Arts
Research project description
We seek to uncover the principles, cues, and heuristics that guide how people think about the social world. Our research explores how children and adults understand other people's thoughts and emotions, as well as concepts like ownership, rights and responsibilities, and belonging. We also examine how people distinguish fantasy from reality and determine whether events are possible or impossible. Our recent work suggests that children and adults often make these judgments by inferring past events (historical reasoning) and by thinking about how things could have turned out differently (counterfactual reasoning).
Fields of research
- Developmental Psychology
- Cognitive and Conceptual Development
- Heuristics
- Judgment and Decision-Making
Qualifications and ideal student profile
Prospective graduate student researchers must meet or exceed the minimum admission requirements for the programs connected to this opportunity. Visit the program pages using the links on this page to learn more about minimum admission requirements. In addition to minimum requirements, the research supervisor is looking for the following qualifications and student profile.
- Interest in topics at the intersection of psychology and philosophy
- Strong writing & verbal communication abilities
Faculty researcher and supervisor
- Ori Friedman
Professor
View faculty profile →
View the UW Child Cognition Lab website →
Graduate programs connected to this project
Important dates
How Children and Adults Understand the Social World is an open and ongoing research opportunity. Expressions of interest can be submitted for any term.