DEPARTMENT of PSYCHOLOGY
2018-2019 COLLOQUIUM SERIES
presents
L. Starling Reid Keynote Speaker
Amanda Woodward
William S. Gray Professor of Psychology and
Dean of Social Sciences, University of Chicago
“Action and Infant Cognition”
In the study of early cognitive development, there is considerable debate not only as to what infants understand, but also how best to characterize the nature of their knowledge. In this talk, I will engage this broad question in considering infants’ knowledge about others’ intentional actions. Drawing on recent findings from our laboratory, I will make two claims: (1) Young infants’ analysis of meaningful structure in others’ actions is grounded in information derived from their own actions; and (2) This fact does not mean that infants’ understanding of others’ actions is concrete, low-level, or cognitively uninteresting. In fact, infants’ action knowledge is generative. As an example, I will discuss recent findings on the role of action in children’s memory for events. Our findings suggest that children’s engagement in action fuels their thinking and learning about actions.
Friday, April 19, 2019
3:30 p.m.
Darden Auditorium
Coffee at 3:15pm.
Reception will be held after the talk
in the Darden Auditorium Lobby