Research Questions
Q. When can children coordinate decisions in groups?
A. By age 3. Communication predicts their success. (Rivero, Vasil, & Tomasello, under review)
Q. Would young children exploit if they cared more about the goal?
A. Currently investigating this question with Ben Pitt, Carolina Deus, and Dorsa Amir! We think so.
Q. How do adults influence children's effort after instructions go away?
A. Currently investigating this question with Julia Leonard, Mike Tomasello, and Dorsa Amir! We think that children who build a block set with a directive adult will persist less after pictorial directions go away compared to those who build with a questioning adult or alone.
Q. How do children learn differently from adult versus peer instruction?
A. Currently investigating this question with Mike Tomasello! We think that instruction from peers may constrain children's exploration less than instruction from adults.
Q. Why do children 'reset' more than adults? What are the differences between children's and adults' creativity?
A. Currently investigating this question with Dorsa Amir! We think resetting might be a heuristic for exploration.
