Current Research

Johannes’ current projects

  • What are the principles governing the construction of episodic memories and imaginations? (with Josh Myers)

  • What is the cognitive architecture of episodic cognition?

  • Does episodic construction support role-filler independence? (with Kevin Harris, Alon Hafri, & Buddhika Bellana)

  • What is the role of episodic memory in human social bonds?

  • What cognitive structures support human long-term relationships?

  • What cognitive processes support representations of ‘uniqueness’?

Laura’s current projects

  • Do people think we can have moral obligations to ourselves? What role do these beliefs play in our moral-psychological lives? (with Fan Yang)

  • How do young children understand belief and belief revision? (with Pearl Li)

  • Do people think it’s morally wrong to have bad thoughts? (with Susan Gelman and Ethan Kross)

  • Are cognitive control mechanisms employed in belief-regulation? (with Chandra Sripada, Alex Weigard, Mike Angstad, and Walter Sinnott-Armstrong)

  • Can we give a theory of the doxastic attitudes, as a class?

  • Do young children have an intuitive theory of belief?

Other current lab projects

  • Johannes, Laura, & Caleb are studying the folk concept of belief

  • Johannes & Josh are studying whether episodic construction is a compositional process

Johannes & Laura’s work has been funded by:

  • York University

  • The Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada

  • The Society for Research in Cognitive Development

  • The John Templeton Foundation