To support the people we care about is intrinsic, it is not instrumental. It's not something we do because we're hoping to… — Alison Gopnik Copy Share Image
Overall, female scientists have fewer resources than male scientists, just as poor people have less access to health care. But if you… — Alison Gopnik Copy Share Image
Something like reading depends a lot on just having people around you who talk to you and read you books, more than… — Alison Gopnik Copy Share Image
Historically, absolute IQ scores have risen substantially as we've changed our environment so that more people go to school longer. — Alison Gopnik Copy Share Image
I think universities are trying to figure out how we could use what we know about learning to change our education system,… — Alison Gopnik Copy Share Image
Imaginary friends are one of the weirder forms of pretend play in childhood. But the research shows that imaginary friends actually help… — Alison Gopnik Copy Share Image
You read a bunch of books and you get a bunch of how-tos, and you take a bunch of classes and you… — Alison Gopnik Copy Share Image
What, of course, we want in a university is for people to learn the skills they're going to need outside the classroom.… — Alison Gopnik Copy Share Image
When nobody read, dyslexia wasn't a problem. When most people had to hunt, a minor genetic variation in your ability to focus… — Alison Gopnik Copy Share Image
Young children seem to be learning who to share this toy with and figure out how it works, while adolescents seem to… — Alison Gopnik Copy Share Image
Some people say that parents don't matter, and that's not true at all. The irony is that we pay attention to all… — Alison Gopnik Copy Share Image
People talked about being a parent, or being a mother or a father. We don't talk about "wiving" our husbands or "friending"… — Alison Gopnik Copy Share Image
In most places and times in human history, babies have had not just one person but lots of people around who were… — Alison Gopnik Copy Share Image
If you just got enough expertise and enough special techniques and read up enough, then you could shape a child into the… — Alison Gopnik Copy Share Image
We do nothing for children between the ages of zero and five. And we seem to be quite happy to have children… — Alison Gopnik Copy Share Image
The thing that is most important is having people who are involved and engaged with the kids and also are not stressed… — Alison Gopnik Copy Share Image
Philosophers and psychologists have long puzzled over the question of how we know as much as we do despite our limited experiences. One way… — Alison Gopnik Copy Share
Adults often assume that most learning is the result of teaching and that exploratory, spontaneous learning is unusual. But actually, spontaneous learning is more… — Alison Gopnik Copy Share
Adults tend to think they have much free will. Kids younger than six are less sure. They may be more realistic! — Alison Gopnik Copy Share
From an evolutionary perspective children are, literally, designed to learn. Childhood is a special period of protected immaturity. It gives the young breathing time… — Alison Gopnik Copy Share
There is a tension between our desire to get our kids to turn out a particular way versus letting them develop to be their… — Alison Gopnik Copy Share
“Instead, it may be that experience itself has changed our brains so that we perceive and interpret the world in a certain way. Once… — Alison Gopnik Copy Share
Caring for children has always been one of the deepest and most satisfying things that a human being does, and yet it is hard… — Alison Gopnik Copy Share
Imaginary friends are one of the weirder forms of pretend play in childhood. But the research shows that imaginary friends actually help children understand… — Alison Gopnik Copy Share
“Like their parents, the Korean children used more verbs than the English-speaking kids, while the English-speaking kids used more nouns. But in addition, the… — Alison Gopnik Copy Share
“We decided to become development psychologists and study children because there aren't any Martians. These brilliant beings with the little bodies and big heads… — Alison Gopnik Copy Share
Each new generation of children grows up in the new environment its parents have created, and each generation of brains becomes wired in a… — Alison Gopnik Copy Share
I'm the oldest of six children and I had my own first baby when I was 23. So I've always been interested in babies,… — Alison Gopnik Copy Share
“Literature is the equivalent of the climate scientist’s computer simulations: set up some new starting conditions, run the whole complicated process and see what… — Alison Gopnik Copy Share
The brain knows the real secret of seduction, more effective than even music and martinis. Just keep whispering, 'Gee, you are really special' to… — Alison Gopnik Copy Share
