Toddler Knows Best
New research indicates that 3-year-old children help "paternalistically"—indicating that they know better than others what's best for them. Much like Bloomberg and his soda ban or state laws requiring...
View ArticleAre Kids Racist?
Do you remember a time your child made a racist comment and you shrunk away in horror? Or do you believe your child is unaware of race, a true product of Dr. King’s dream? Most White parents tend to...
View ArticleMonday, Bloody Monday
If you take a look at the images from Monday’s bombing in Boston, two things pop out immediately. The first beckons most of your attention—the blood, the missing limbs, the physical and psychological...
View ArticleWhy Children Suck at Lying
A few months ago a video of 3-year-old John, whose face was covered in sprinkles went viral. John became an internet sensation and guest on the Ellen Degeneres show not because he liked sprinkles,...
View Article“Hey, That’s My Idea!”
This blog explains why understanding that ideas are more valuable that labor, may be necessary to understanding that copying is bad.
View Article"Eeeww, gross!"
Seeing young children eat their own snot disgusts us and makes us wonder why it doesn't disgust them. As adults we don’t just find objects or smells disgusting, we feel disgust thinking about people’s...
View ArticleKnowing What We Know
In a particularly great episode of the Cosby Show, Olivia tells Bill how babies are born. Her logic is impeccable—if completely wrong—yet she lacks the ability to recognize how wrong she is. Clever...
View ArticleThe Earth is Round…Except for the Edges
If you ask your child what shape the world is, she’s likely to say that the world is round. This answer typically makes parents and teachers proud, but is it true?
View ArticleThe Mysterious Allure of the Frilly Pink Dress
If your preschool-aged children are anything like the preschool-aged children I know, you likely see many a girl running around in a pink, frilly, princess dress and many a boy in a superhero costume....
View ArticleChildren’s Understanding of Death and the Afterlife
A friend’s 4-year-old daughter recently learned that her neighbor’s beloved cat passed away. This was Amy’s first experience with death and she took it hard. Most surprisingly, though less so to...
View ArticleWhen Praise Backfires
You know that moment when you pick your kid up from a play date and your child shows you his artwork? If you’re like most other adults, you see this child’s picture and promptly retort “That is the...
View ArticleSelling Bridges to Babes
We tell children a host of lies—from the existence of Santa and the Easter Bunny to tales of children who misbehave and receive their just deserts. Do children just believe it all? Are they that gullible?
View ArticleWhen Does Bilingualism Help or Hurt?
While many of us share the intuition that learning two languages is better, or believe we’ve been told that from the media or scientific studies, the actual evidence is mixed.
View ArticleNonverbal Communication in Infancy
Non-verbal communication is one way that we humans interact with one another and express feelings or concerns. Infants, even before they know how to verbally express a thought or feeling, begin to...
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