PSYC 512 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.