My Child the Scientist

Thoughts about cognitive development from the eyes of an expectant father

by Dave Sobel

I Want my Jetpack!

I've been to two conferences in the last year. At one, a number of developmental psychologists asked me whether modeling was important. At another, a number of computational modelers presented models of development that really missed the point. Why are these fields seem so disparate?

A note about blankets

An update from my last entry. I found a blanket that comes so close to claiming it promote development, that I felt compelled to mention it.

Why are we so afraid of being average?

This Entry is not about The Sexual Paradox

I received a book mysteriously. This isn't a review of it, but rather of the book that I was reading at the time.

The Biggest Lie I was Told about Becoming a Parent

How do children learn to decieve? In order to do so, they have to know something about mental states. When does this develop? Classic ideas in developmental psychology suggest that the ability emerges during the preschool years. But, recent evidence suggests that it might be much earlier.

The Philosophical Baby Daddy

Thoughts on Alison Gopnik's new book, The Philosophical Baby.

Expertise and Scientific Thinking

How much does what we tell children matter over what they observe themselves?

Parents and Experts

Children discover a great deal of knowledge on their own, but most of what they learn is from other people. How do they do it? Do parents matter?

75 Days Later

The voice I use to talk to the cats is not the same voice I use to talk to Lisa—it's happier, higher pitched, and has lots of modulation. None of this seemed irregular to me until Lisa became pregnant and I started having conversations with her belly. What's important is that I talked to her belly in pretty much the same voice that I use to talk to the cats.