A theory not only explains the world we see, it lets us imagine other worlds, and, even more significantly, lets us act… — 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
Our babies are like penguins; penguin babies can't exist unless more than one person is taking care of them. They just can't… — 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
One of the things I say is from an evolutionary point of view: probably the ideal rich environment for a baby includes… — Alison Gopnik Copy Share Image
Animals are certainly more sophisticated than we used to think. And we shouldn't lump together animals as a group. Crows and chimps… — 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… — Alison Gopnik Copy Share Image
Knowing what to expect from a teacher is a really good thing, of course: It lets you get the right answers more… — 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
If you just casually look at a baby, it doesn't look like there's very much going on there, but they know more… — Alison Gopnik Copy Share Image
Ours is an age of pedagogy. Anxious parents instruct their children more and more, at younger and younger ages, until they're reading… — 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
