Can children distinguish paintings by professional artists from paintings by non-artists?

Previous research has found that adults with no expertise in visual arts prefer paintings made by abstract expressionist masters over paintings by children or nonhumans, and judge them as “better” works of art. Do children also recognize and prefer artwork made by professional abstract artists? If children are told that an artist made the image, does that affect their preferences?

What do children believe counts as art?

Past research suggests that people appreciate an image less if there is no apparent creative intent behind it (for example, if they learn that it was made by accident). Do children make the same types of judgments?

Research has also shown that children tend to focus more on the subject matter depicted in an image, rather than how it was made, when judging a picture as good or bad. If this is true, then what do children believe counts as art?

How does the help offered by a parent change children’s approach to problem solving?

Parents and other adults often provide children with help while they are engaged in difficult tasks. However, little is known about what younger and older children do with that help (e.g. do they take the advice they are given by adults, or do they ignore it?). This study explores how children, aged 1-5 years, solve a challenging puzzle when they work on it alone, and after they get help from a parent.

What leads to generous and selfish behaviors in children?

Young children know that sharing is better than selfishness, yet they often have a hard time allocating resources fairly. This study examines some of the factors that may lead to this gap between thinking and motivation.

Can verbal cues help children inhibit irrelevant information?

Children’s everyday experiences show them that, when dropped, objects fall straight down. This research asks: how can we help children think beyond this belief when presented with conflicting evidence?

Do young children know that property can change owners?

Children claim toys as soon as they can talk. Learning to share, and understanding when property can be given away, takes children a long time. This study examines how children - aged 2.5 to 5 years - learn the rules of ownership.

How do children decide what is, and what is not, real?

Many children learn about people from books and stories--but how do they know if the character is real or fictional? This study looked at children’s developing understanding of the difference between pretend characters and historical figures.

How do children learn to be face-recognition ‘specialists’?

During the first year of life, infants seem to lose the ability to tell the difference between faces they see frequently (i.e.: primary caregivers) and less frequently (i.e.: animal faces). This study asked: How do children develop the ability to recognize faces, and how might being exposed to one face type more than another affect children’s face processing abilities?

How do children learn stereotypes about groups of people?

This study asked: are stereotypes learned, or an inevitable consequence of the way our minds are wired? This study explored the conditions that affect children’s formation of stereotypes.