The youngest children have a great capacity for empathy and altruism. There's a recent study that shows even 14-month-olds will climb across a bunch of cushions and go across a room to give you a pen if you drop one. Alison Gopnik altruismbunchcapacity share on social
Putting together philosophy and children would have been difficult for most of history. But very fortunately for me, when I started graduate school there was a real scientific revolution taking place in developmental psychology. Alison Gopnik childdevelopmentaldifficult share on social
One of the best ways of understanding human nature is to study children. After all, if we want understand who we are, we should find out how we got to be that way. Alison Gopnik childfindhuman Change image and share on social
Teaching is a very effective way to get children to learn something specific - this tube squeaks, say, or a squish then a press then a pull causes the music to play. But it also makes children less likely to discover unexpected information and to draw unexpected conclusions. Alison Gopnik childconclusiondiscover share on social
Childhood is a fundamental part of all human lives, parents or not, since that's how we all start out. And yet babies and young children are so mysterious and puzzling and even paradoxical. Alison Gopnik babychildchildhood Change image and share on social
From an evolutionary perspective children are, literally, designed to learn. Childhood is a special period of protected immaturity. It gives the young breathing time to master the things they will need to know in order to survive as adults. Alison Gopnik adultbreathechild share on social
I've had three of my own children and spent my professional life thinking about children. And yet I still find my relation to my children deeply puzzling. Alison Gopnik childdeeplyfind Change image and share on social
One of the most distinctive evolutionary features of human beings is our unusually long, protected childhood. Alison Gopnik beingchildhooddistinctive Change image and share on social
Scientists and philosophers tend to treat knowledge, imagination and love as if they were all very separate parts of human nature. But when it comes to children, all three are deeply entwined. Children learn the truth by imagining all the ways the world could be, and testing those possibilities. Alison Gopnik childdeeplyentwine share on social
I'm afraid the parenting advice to come out of developmental psychology is very boring: pay attention to your kids and love them. Alison Gopnik adviceafraidattention Change image and share on social