Publications

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Below are a list of publications that have come out of the lab. You will need a pdf reader in order to access many of them. Please limit use of these papers for personal or academic reasons only. If there is not a link to the paper, please email Prof. Sobel to request a copy. 

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2021

McLoughlin, N., Finiasz, Z., Sobel, D. M., & Corriveau, K. H. Children’s developing capacity to calibrate the verbal testimony of others with observed evidence when inferring causal relations. Journal of Experimental Psychology.

Sobel, D. M., Letourneau, S. M., Legare, C. H., & Callanan, M. Relations between parent–child interaction and children’s engagement and learning at a museum exhibit about electric circuits. Developmental Science.

Letourneau, S. M., Meisner, R., Sobel, D. M. Effects of Facilitation vs. Exhibit Labels on Caregiver-Child Interactions at a Museum Exhibit. Frontiers in Psychology.

Sobel, D. M., Blankenship, J. Perspective taking as a mechanism for children’s developing preferences for equitable distributions. Scientific Reports.

Benton, D. T., Rakison, D. H., Sobel, D. M. When correlation equals causation: A behavioral and computational account of second-order correlation learning in children. Journal of Experimental Psychology.

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2020

Sobel, D. M., & Finiasz, Z. How children learn from others: An analysis of selective word learning. Child Development.

Sobel, D. M. Young children’s sensitivity to priors in causal inference reflects their mechanistic knowledge. PsyArXiv.

Luchkina, E., Morgan, J, Williams, D. J., & Sobel, D. M. Questions can answer questions about the mechanisms of preschoolers’ selective word learning. Child Development.

Weisberg, D. S., Choi, E., Sobel, D. M. Of blickets, butterflies, and baby dinosaurs: Children’s diagnostic reasoning across domains. Frontiers in Psychology.

Stricker, L. W., Sobel, D. M. Children’s developing reflections on and understanding of creativity. Cognitive Development.

Letourneau, S., & Sobel, D. M. Children’s descriptions of playing and learning as related processes. PLOS-One.

Callanan, M., Legare, C. H., & Sobel, D. M.* with 11 others (2020). Exploration, explanation, and parent–child interaction in museums. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 85, 1. *Equal Senior Authorship

Sobel, D. M., Luchkina, E., Tummeltshammer, K. Reliability When Learning Novel Words. Language and Concept Acquisition from Infancy Through Childhood: Learning from Multiple Exemplars.

Luchkina, E., Xu, F., Sobel, D. M. Morgan, J. L. Sixteen-month-olds comprehend unanchored absent reference. OSF Preprints.

Sobel, D. M., Luchkina, E., & Tummeltshammer, K. S. (2020). Mechanisms for Evaluating Others’ Reliability When Learning Novel Words. In J. Childers (Ed.), Learning Language and Concept Acquisition from Infancy through Childhood (pp. 179-198). Cham, Switzerland: Springer Nature Publishing.

Medina, C., & Sobel, D. M. (2020). Caregiver–child interaction influences causal learning and engagement during structured play. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology.

Luchkina, E., Corriveau, K. C., & Sobel, D. M. (2020). I don’t believe what you said before: Preschoolers retrospectively discount information from inaccurate speakers. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 189, 104701.

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2019

Willard, A., Busch, J. T. A., Cullum, K. A., Letourneau, S. M., Sobel, D. M., Callanan, M., & Legare, C. H. (2019). Explain this, explore that: A study of parent–child interaction in a children’s museum. Child Development.

Sobel, D. M., & Letourneau, S. M. (2019). Children’s Developing Descriptions and Judgments of Pretending. Child Development, 90, 1817-1831.

Haber, A. S., Sobel, D. M., & Weisberg, D. S. (2019). Fostering children’s reasoning about disagreements through an inquiry-based curriculum. Journal of Cognition and Development, 20, 592-610.

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2018

Luchkina, E., Sobel, D. M., & Morgan, J. (2018). Eighteen‐month‐olds selectively generalize words from accurate speakers to novel contexts. Developmental Science, 21, e12663.

Heck, I. A., Chernyak, N., & Sobel, D. M. (2018). Preschoolers’ compliance with others’ violations of fairness norms: The roles of intentionality and affective perspective taking. Journal of Cognition and Development, 17, 568-592.

Sobel, D. M. (2018). Causality. In Bornstein, M. (Ed.), Sage Encyclopedia of Lifespan Human Development (pp. 322-323). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publication Inc.

Erb, C. D., Moher, J., Song, J., & Sobel, D. M. (2018). Numerical cognition in action: Reaching behavior reveals numerical distance effects in 5-to 6-year-olds. Journal of Numerical Cognition, 4, 286-296.

Sobel, D. M., & Letourneau, S. M. (2018). Preschoolers’ understanding of learning through play and instruction. Child Development, 89, 961-970.

Sobel, D. M., & Letourneau, S. M. (2018). Curiosity, exploration, and children’s understanding of learning. In M. Saylor, & P. Ganea (Eds.), Active learning from infancy to childhood: Social motivation, cognition, and linguistic mechanisms (pp. 57-74). New York: Springer.

Erb, C., Moher, J., Song, J., & Sobel, D. M. (in press-b). Reach tracking reveals dissociable processes underlying inhibitory control in 5- to 10-year-olds. Developmental Science

Luchkina, E., Sommerville, J. A., & Sobel, D. M. (2018). More than just making it go: Toddlers effectively integrate causal efficacy and intentionality in selecting an appropriate causal intervention. Cognitive Development, 45, 48-56.

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2017

Sobel, D. M., Erb, C. D., Tassin, T. & Weisberg, D. S. (2017). The development of diagnostic reasoning about uncertain causes. Journal of Cognition and Development, 18, 556-576.

Erb, C. D., Moher, J., Song, J. H., & Sobel, D. M. (2017). Cognitive control in action: Tracking the dynamics of rule switching in 5-to 8-year-olds and adults. Cognition, 164, 163-173.

Legare, C. H., Sobel, D. M., & Callanan, M. (in press). Causal learning is collaborative: Examining explanation and exploration in social context. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review.

Letourneau, S., Meisner, R., Neuwirth, J. & Sobel, D. M. (2017). What do caregivers notice and value about how children learn through play in a children’s museum? Journal of Museum Education, 42, 87-98.

Macris, D. M., & Sobel, D. M. (in press). Evidence diversity and explanation influence how children resolve counterevidence. Journal of Cognition and Development.Honorable Mention for the 2017 Editor’s Choice Award

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2016

Sobel, D. M. & Austerweil, J. (2016). Coding choices affect performance on a false belief measure. Cognitive Development, 40, 9-23.

Sobel, D. M., & Letourneau, S. M. (2016). Children’s developing knowledge of and reflection about teaching. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 143, 111-122.

Chernyak, N., & Sobel, D. M. (2016). Equal but not always fair: Value-laden sharing in preschool-aged children. Social Development.

Chernyak, N., & Sobel, D. M. (2016). “But he didn’t mean to do it”: Preschoolers’ defiance of unjustified punishments. Cognitive Development, 39, 13-20.

Erb, C. D., Moher, J., Sobel, D. M., & Song, J. (2016). Reach tracking reveals dissociable processes of cognitive control. Cognition, 152, 114-126.

Sobel, D. M., & Jipson, J. (2016). Relating research and practice: Cognitive development in museum settings. New York: Psychology Press.

Sobel, D. M., Letourneau, S., & Meisner, R. (2016). Developing Mind Lab: A University-Museum partnership to explore the process of learning. In D. M. Sobel & J. Jipson (Eds). Relating research and practice: Cognitive development in museum settings. New York: Psychology Press.

Jipson, J., & Sobel, D. M. (2016). The interaction between research and practice in museum settings: An introduction and synthesis. In D. M. Sobel & J. Jipson (Eds). Relating research and practice: Cognitive development in museum settings. New York: Psychology Press.

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2015

Sobel, D. M. (2015). Can you do it?: How preschoolers judge others have learned. Journal of Cognition and Development.  

Tenenbaum, E. J., Sobel, D. M., Sheinkopf, S. J., Malle, B. F., & Morgan, J. L. (2015). Attention to the mouth and gaze following in infancy predicts language development. Journal of Child Language.

Van Reet, J., Green, K. F., & Sobel, D. M. (2015). Preschoolers’ existing theory of mind knowledge influences whom they trust about others’ theory of mind. Journal of Cognition and Development.

Sobel, D. M. & Letourneau, S. (2015). Children’s developing understanding of what and how they’ve learned. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 132, 221-229.

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2014

Sobel, D. M., & Legare, C. (2014). Causal learning in children. WIRE-Cognitive Science, 5, 413-427.

Sobel, D. M., & Weisberg, D. S. (2014). Tell me a story: How children’s developing domain knowledge affects their story construction. Journal of Cognition and Development, 15, 465-478.

Buchanan, D. W., & Sobel, D. M. (2014) Edge replacement and minimality as models of causal inference in children. In J. Benson (Ed.), Advances in Child Development and Behavior Volume 46 (pp. 183-213). Waltham MA: Academic Press.

Erb, C. D., & Sobel, D. M. (2014). The development diagnostic reasoning about uncertain events between ages 4-7. PLOS-One, 9, 1-6.

Knutsen, J., Frye. D., & Sobel, D. M. (2014). Theory of learning, theory of teaching, theory of mind: How socio-cognitive development influences children’s understanding of learning and teaching. In O. Saccaro & B. Spodek (Eds.), Contemporary Perspectives on Early Childhood Education. (pp 269-290). College Park, MD: Information Age Publishing.

Tummeltshammer, K. S., Wu, R., Sobel, D. M., & Kirkham, N. Z. (2014). Infants monitor the reliability of potential informants. Psychological Science, 25, 1730-1738.

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2013

Sobel, D. M., & Kushnir, T. (2013). Knowledge matters:  How children evaluate the reliability of testimony as a process of rational inference. Psychological Review, 120, 779-797.

Sobel, D. M., & Macris, D. M. (2013). Children’s understanding of speaker reliability across linguistic domains. Developmental Psychology, 49, 523-532.

Erb, C., Buchanan, D. W., & Sobel, D. M. (2013). Variability indicates complexity in children’s inference about causal mechanisms. Cognition, 129, 494-500.

Tenenbaum, E. J., Shah, R. J., Sobel, D. M., Malle, B. F., & Morgan, J. L. (2013). Increased focus on the mouth among infants in the first year of life: A longitudinal eye-tracking study. Infancy, 18, 534-553.

Weisberg, D. S., Sobel, D. M., Goodstein, J., & Bloom, P. (2013). Young children are reality-prone when thinking about stories. Journal of Cognition and Culture, 383-407.

Yang, D. J., Bushnell, E. W., Buchanan, D. W., & Sobel, D. M. (2013). Infants’ use of contextual cues in imitation and generalization of effective causal actions. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 116, 510-531.

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2012

Sobel, D. M., & Kirkham, N. Z. (2012). The influence of social information of children’s statistical and causal learning. Advances in Child Development & Behavior, 43 (Guest Editors F. Xu & T. Kushnir, Rational Constructivism in Cognitive Development), 321-350.

Sobel, D. M., Sedivy, J., Buchanan, D. W., & Hennessey, R. (2012). The role of speaker reliability in children’s inferences about the meaning of novel words. Journal of Child Language, 39, 90-104.

Fernbach, P. M., Macris, D. M. & Sobel, D. M. (2012). Which one made it go?: The emergence of diagnostic reasoning in preschoolers. Cognitive Development, 27, 39-53.

Weisberg, D. S., & Sobel, D. M. (2012). Young children discriminate improbable from impossible events in fiction. Cognitive Development, 27, 90-98.

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2011

Sobel, D. M. (2011) Domainspecific causal knowledge and children’s reasoning about possibility. In C. Hoerl, T. McCormick & S. Beck (Eds.). Understanding Counterfactuals/Understanding Causation: Issues in Philosophy and Psychology (pp. 123-146). New York: Oxford.Download

Buchanan, D. W., & Sobel, D. M. (2011). Mechanism-based causal reasoning in young children. Child Development, 82, 2053-2066.

Buchanan, D. W. & Sobel, D. M. (2011). Children posit hidden causes to explain causal variability. Proceedings of the 33^st Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society. Boston, MA.

Cook, C. & Sobel, D. M. (2011). Children’s understanding of the fantasy/reality status of hypothetical machines. Developmental Science, 14, 1-8.

Griffiths, T. L., Sobel, D. M., Tenenbaum, J. B., & Gopnik, A. (2011). Bayes and blickets: Effects of knowledge on causal induction in children and adults. Cognitive Science, 35, 1407-1455.

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2010

Sobel, D. M., Buchanan, D. W., Butterfield, J., & Jenkins, O. C. (2010). Interactions between causal models, theories, and social cognitive development. Neural Networks, 8-9, 1060-1071.

Sobel, D. M., & Corriveau, K. H. (2010). Children monitor individuals’ expertise for word learning. Child Development, 81, 669-679.

Sobel, D. M., & Sommerville, J. A. (2010). The importance of discovery in children’s causal learning from interventions. Frontiers in Developmental Psychology, 1, 176-183.

Buchanan, D. W. & Sobel, D. M. (2010). Causal stream location effects in preschoolers. Proceedings of the 32^st Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society. Portland, OR.

Buchanan, D. W., Tenenbaum, J. B., & Sobel, D. M. (2010). Edge replacement and nonindependence in causation. Proceedings of the 32^st Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society. Portland, OR.

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2009

Sobel, D. M. (2009). Enabling conditions and children’s understanding of pretense. Cognition, 113, 177-188.

Sobel, D. M. (2009). Integrating top-down and bottom-up approaches to causal learning. In S. Johnson (Ed.), Neoconstructivism: The new science of cognitive development (pp. 159-179).New York: Oxford.

Sobel, D. M., & Buchanan, D. W. (2009). Bridging the gap: Causality at a distance in children’s categorization and inferences about internal properties. Cognitive Development, 24, 274-283.

Sobel, D. M., & Munro, S. A. (2009).Domain generality and specificity in children’s causal inferences about ambiguous data. Developmental Psychology, 45, 511-524.

Sobel, D. M., & Sommerville, J. A. (2009) Rationales in children’s causal learning from others’ actions. Cognitive Development, 24, 70-79.

Sobel, D. M., Sommerville, J. A., Travers, L. V., Blumenthal, E. J., & Stoddard, E. (2009). Preschoolers’ use of others’ beliefs to make causal inferences from probabilistic data. Journal of Cognition and Development, 10, 262-284.

Butterfield, J., Jenkins, O. C., Sobel, D. M., & Schwertfeger, J. (2009). Modeling aspects of theory of mind with Markov Random Fields. International Journal of Social Robotics, 1, 41-51.

Vander Wyk, B., Hudac, C., Carter, L., Sobel, D. M., &. Pelphrey, K. (2009). Action understanding in the Superior Temporal Sulcus region. Psychological Science, 20, 771-777. 

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2008 and Earlier

Buchanan, D. W. & Sobel, D. M. (2008). Children’s developing inferences about object labels and insides from causality-at-a-distance. Proceedings of the 30^th Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society, Washington, DC.

Sobel, D. M. (2007). Children’s knowledge of the relation between intentional action and pretending. Cognitive Development, 22, 130-141.

Sobel, D. M., & Kirkham, N. Z. (2007). Bayes nets and blickets: Infants’ developing representations of causal knowledge. Developmental Science, 10, 298–306.

Sobel, D. M., & Kirkham, N. Z. (2007). Interactions between causal and statistical learning. In A. Gopnik & L. E. Schulz (Eds.), Causal Learning: Psychology, Philosophy, and Computation (pp. 139-153). New York: Oxford University Press.

Sobel, D. M., Li, J., & Corriveau, K. H. (2007). “They danced around in my head and then I learned them”: Children’s developing conceptions of learning events. Journal of Cognition and Development, 8, 345-369.

Sobel, D. M., Yoachim, C. M., Gopnik, A., Meltzoff, A. N., & Blumenthal, E. J. (2007). The blicket within: Preschoolers’ inferences about insides and causes. Journal of Cognition and Development, 8, 159-182.

Sobel, D. M. (2006). How fantasy benefits young children’s understanding of pretense. Developmental Science, 9, 63-75.

Sobel, D. M., & Kirkham, N. Z. (2006). Blickets and babies: The development of causal reasoning in toddlers and infants. Developmental Psychology, 42, 1103-1115.

Sobel, D. M., & Kushnir, T. (2006). The importance of decision demands in causal learning from interventions. Memory & Cognition, 34, 411-419.

Sobel, D. M., & Munro, S. A. (2006). When Mr. Blicket wants it, children are Bayesian. Proceedings of the 28^th Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society, Vancouver, CA.

Mitroff, S. R., Sobel, D. M., & Gopnik, A. (2006). Reversing how to think about ambiguous figure reversals: Spontaneous alternating by uninformed observers. Perception, 35, 709-718.

Sobel, D. M., Capps, L. M., & Gopnik, A. (2005). Ambiguous figure perception and theory of mind understanding in children with autistic spectrum disorders. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 23, 159-174.

Sobel, D. M. (2004). Children’s developing knowledge of the relation between mental awareness and pretense. Child Development, 75, 704-729.

Sobel, D. M. (2004). Exploring the coherence of young children’s explanatory abilities: Evidence from generating counterfactuals. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 22, 37-58.

Sobel, D. M., Tenenbaum, J. B., & Gopnik, A. (2004). Children’s causal inferences from indirect evidence: Backwards blocking and Bayesian reasoning in preschoolers. Cognitive Science, 28, 303-333. 

Gopnik, A. Glymour, C., Sobel, D. M., Schulz, L. E., Kushnir, T, & Danks, D. (2004). A theory of causal learning in children: Causal maps and Bayes nets. Psychological Review, 111, 3-32.

Sobel, D. M., & Kushnir, T. (2003). Interventions do not solely benefit causal learning: Being told what to do results in worse learning than doing it yourself. In R. Alterman & D. Kirsh (Eds.), Proceedings of the 25^th Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society (pp. 1100-1105). Boston, MA.

Sobel, D. M. & Lillard, A. S. (2002). Young children’s understanding of pretense: Do words bend the truth?  Developmental Science, 5, 87-97. 

Sobel, D. M., & Lillard, A. S. (2001). The impact of fantasy and action on young children’s understanding of pretense. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 19, 85-98.

Gopnik, A., Sobel, D. M., Schulz, L. E., Glymour, C. (2001). Causal learning mechanisms in very young children: Two, three, and four-year-olds infer causal relations from patterns of variation and covariation. Developmental Psychology, 37, 620-629.

Gopnik A., & Sobel, D. M. (2000). Detecting blickets: How young children use information about causal powers in categorization and induction. Child Development, 71, 1205-1222.

Lillard, A. S., & Sobel, D. M. (1999). Lion Kings or puppies: The influence of fantasy on children’s understanding of pretense. Developmental Science, 2, 75-80.