Current Directions in Social Cognition Research from a Developmental Perspective

Social cognition asks how we come to understand other minds — their beliefs, desires, perspectives, and how those capacities develop from childhood into adulthood — and this seminar tracks where that field has moved in the last five years, well past its 1980s roots in perspective-taking research. You'll read and lead discussion on recent empirical and conceptual papers covering things like cross-cultural epistemology, mental state talk, episodic foresight, and counterfactual reasoning, with a term project of your own alongside regular homework and a presentation. It assumes you already have grounding in developmental and cognitive psychology, and is meant to push you toward formulating your own research questions rather than just surveying a literature.