Research

Your Kid Trusts Humans More Than the Internet (NYT Parenting)

Study Finds One More Element Needed to Make Educational Apps Most Effective (UVA Today)

Learning from Touchscreens

Children are drawn to touchscreens and educational apps have flooded the market, yet little is known about how children learn from touchscreen media. I study how learning from touchscreen compares to learning from more traditional methods, such as books and puzzles. I have also explored how children think about learning from touchscreens, and whether they recognize that tablets and smartphones can be used for educational purposes.

Effects of Prosocial Media

Much of children's media focuses on positive and prosocial themes, like sharing and helping others. Do children recognize the moral lessons of their favorite shows and stories? And do these prosocial messages affect their subsequent behavior? We study whether prosocial media leads children to act more kindly or empathically. We are especially interested in whether prosocial books and television shows lead to different effects in young children.

Understanding Fiction

Even very young infants prefer agents who help others to agents who harm others. But what do children think about people who are sometimes kind and sometimes mean? I study how children assess morally ambiguous characters within stories.