Our Research

Our research projects look at a variety of aspects of children’s cognitive and social development. Here are some brief descriptions of a few of our studies:

• The Nonobvious Properties Study explores how 18-month-olds learn and reason about the parts of an object that make it work – like the wheels on a car, or the beads in a rattle.
• The Desired Toys Study tests whether 18-month-olds choose to play with those toys that other people prefer.
• The Preferences Study looks at 2-year-olds’ ability to recognize when another person likes the same things they do.
• The Function Study explores the social influences on how 2- and 3-year-olds use objects.