Being a developmental psychologist didn't make me any better at dealing with my own children, no. I muddled through, and, believe me,… — Alison Gopnik Copy Share Image
What happens when children reach puberty earlier and adulthood later? The answer is: a good deal of teenage weirdness. — 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
I think, at the end of the century we'll have a generation of parents and a generation of children who won't have… — Alison Gopnik Copy Share Image
“We decided to become development psychologists and study children because there aren't any Martians. These brilliant beings with the little bodies and… — Alison Gopnik Copy Share Image
Teaching is a very effective way to get children to learn something specific - this tube squeaks, say, or a squish then… — 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
Scientists learn about the world in three ways: They analyze statistical patterns in the data, they do experiments, and they learn from… — 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're in a culture where everything is either consumption or production, so child care is either a very, very bad-paying form of… — 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
Even the very youngest children already are perfectly able to discriminate between the imaginary and the real, whether in books or movies… — Alison Gopnik Copy Share Image
Children are the most amazing thing in the universe, as far as I'm concerned. If you're worrying about how it's going to… — 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
Scientists and philosophers tend to treat knowledge, imagination and love as if they were all very separate parts of human nature. But… — Alison Gopnik Copy Share Image
“Like their parents, the Korean children used more verbs than the English-speaking kids, while the English-speaking kids used more nouns. But in… — Alison Gopnik Copy Share Image
From an evolutionary perspective children are, literally, designed to learn. Childhood is a special period of protected immaturity. It gives the young… — Alison Gopnik Copy Share Image
I wanted to answer big questions about humanity, about how it is that we understand about the world, how we can know… — 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.… — 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 Image
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 Image
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 Image
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 Image
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 Image
“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 Image
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 Image
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 Image
“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 Image
“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 Image
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 Image
