Research
Her research focuses on social and cognitive development across life
span. Her work seeks to: (1) understand the origins of individual
differences in theory of mind; and (2) identify what consequences
variation in theory of mind has for social, behavioral and academic
adjustment; (3) develop training programs designed to promote theory
of mind.
Main research topics include:
Main research topics include:
- Theory of mind and social relationships: are individual differences associated with social behaviors and social relationships? What mechanisms underly these associations?
- Do people spontaneously take another's person perspective? Are there individual differences in this spontaneous perspective taking? If so, what do they mean?
- Promoting theory of mind: is it possible to promote children’s and older adults’ theory of mind? What are the more efficient strategies to do so?
- Theory of mind in aging: does theory of mind change across aging? What are the predictors and consequences of these changes?
- Theory of mind and pragmatics: is theory of mind associated with the ability to understand pragmatic utterances such as metaphors, irony and jokes?
- Theory of mind and synchronization: can theory of mind be enhanced through synchronized movements? If so, why is that?