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ABOUT

We are scientists who study human belief formation.

We develop theories by drawing on our diverse backgrounds—in psychology, cognitive science, computer science, artificial intelligence, neuroscience, and linguistics—to understand how people attend, learn, and act in the world.  

People form their beliefs based on just a subset of all of the potential information available in the world. Everyday, people make decisions about what to read, what to watch, who to talk to, where to look, and what to click. We study how they make these decisions, and how these decisions interact with cognitive processes to determine human beliefs.

We are learning scientists. We draw inspiration from classic learning theories in education and psychology, like those by Jean Piaget, Maria Montessori, and Lev Vygotsky. We build computational models inspired by these classic theories that allow us to make specific predictions and generate testable competing hypotheses about learning dynamics (for example, the relationship between the learning context and learning outcomes).

We employ a combination of computational methods with behavioral experiments to study the acquisition and elaboration of human beliefs, starting in infancy but continuing through adulthood. We use eye-trackers to measure visual fixations to screens during passive viewing, and touchscreens to study touch-based exploration. We also employ computer-based learning experiments with both children and adults.  

 

Our results are quantitative theories about how data interacts with learners’ growing knowledge. These formal theories can function as the “back-end” for learning technologies, in addition to informing parenting, educational, and clinical practices. They can also help predict how new technologies may interact with human belief formation processes. More broadly, they help explain why people hold the beliefs that they do, sometimes even in the face of contradictory evidence. 

 

SCIENTISTS​

Celeste Kidd
Holly Palmeri
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Sam Cheyette
Louis Marti

CELESTE

KIDD

Primary investigator

HOLLY

PALMERI

Lab manager

SHENGYI

WUI

Project manager

SAM

CHEYETTE

Graduate student

LOUIS

MARTI

Graduate student

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Sarah Stolp

EVAN

ORTICIO

Graduate student

SARAH

STOLP

Graduate student

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David O'Shaughnessy
Adam Conover

CAROLYN

BAER

Postdoctoral scholar

DAVID 

O'SHAUGHNESSY

Postdoctoral scholar

ADAM

CONOVER

Research scientist

Brian Bi
Iris Vold
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BRIAN

BI

Undergraduate student

IRIS

VOLD

Undergraduate student

SHRUTI

SATRAWDA

Undergraduate student

GEETA

SHAKAR

Undergraduate student

PRAGYA
KALLANAGOUDAR

High-school student

ALUMNI

Becca Canale
Tania Cruz
Madeline Pelz
Shirlene Wade
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BECCA

CANALE

Lab manager alum

Aslin lab manager

Yale

TANIA

CRUZ

Lab manager alum 

Ph.D. student

U. Delaware

MADELINE

PELZ

RA and lab manager alum

P.h.D. candidate

MIT BCS

SHIRLENE

WADE

Defended Ph.D. 2020

Data scientist

DIsney+

EMILY 

SUMNER

RA and postdoctoral alum
Research scientist
Toyota Research Institute

Victor Dai

VICTOR

DAI

Undergraduate alum

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