Babies: Not As Dumb As They Look

Psychologists have long assumed that babies are, for lack of a better term, dumb. William James said that babies perceive the world “as one great blooming, buzzing confusion,” and many scientists and philosophers have argued that the only way babies acquire knowledge is via slow, direct experience. Recent research, however, has revealed that even very young babies have surprisingly advanced knowledge about the world and sophisticated, specialized mechanisms for learning new things. This talk will present an evolutionarily-informed approach to what babies know and how they learn, and will discuss examples of domains — such as understanding the physical world, understanding other people, and dealing with the biological world — in which babies are smarter than they seem.
About The Speaker
Adar Eisenbruch received a PhD in Psychological and Brain Sciences from the University of California, Santa Barbara, completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard University and was an Associate Researcher at Future Laboratories.
Join us on Thursday, July 16 at 8:00 PM EDT via Zoom
(download the app for easy access).
This event is on a “pay what you want” basis.










When: Thu., Jul. 16, 2020 at 8:00 pm - 9:30 pm
Psychologists have long assumed that babies are, for lack of a better term, dumb. William James said that babies perceive the world “as one great blooming, buzzing confusion,” and many scientists and philosophers have argued that the only way babies acquire knowledge is via slow, direct experience. Recent research, however, has revealed that even very young babies have surprisingly advanced knowledge about the world and sophisticated, specialized mechanisms for learning new things. This talk will present an evolutionarily-informed approach to what babies know and how they learn, and will discuss examples of domains — such as understanding the physical world, understanding other people, and dealing with the biological world — in which babies are smarter than they seem.
About The Speaker
Adar Eisenbruch received a PhD in Psychological and Brain Sciences from the University of California, Santa Barbara, completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard University and was an Associate Researcher at Future Laboratories.
Join us on Thursday, July 16 at 8:00 PM EDT via Zoom
(download the app for easy access).
This event is on a “pay what you want” basis.
Buy tickets/get more info now