Foundations of Learning and Knowledge

WELCOME TO THE FOLK LAB

University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB)
Psychological and Brain Sciences Department

Here in the Foundations of Learning and Knowledge (FOLK) Lab, we're interested in how children come to navigate the social world. 

CURRENT RESEARCH THEMES

We study how babies, children, and adults think about:

ACTIONS AND MINDS

When we observe others acting in the world, we can often infer their goals, beliefs, and experiences. 

What are the developmental origins of our abilities to reason about others' minds? How do we overcome differences between our own and others' minds?

Representative papers:
Woo, Liu, and Spelke (2024, Dev. Sci.)
Woo, Chisholm, and Spelke (2024, Cognition)

SOCIAL BEINGS

From birth, children depend on others to learn new skills and knowledge and to achieve their goals

What representations form our early-emerging knowledge of the social world? How do we come to identify individuals who may teach us and help us achieve our goals?

Representative papers:
Woo et al. (2022, Annual Rev. of Dev. Psych.)
Woo and Spelke (2023, Child Dev.)
Woo, Liu, Gweon, and Spelke (2024, Open Mind)

SOCIAL INTERACTIONS

A social interaction can involve multiple individuals, each with their own goals, beliefs, experiences, etc. There can be a lot to track. 

As adults, we make sense of others' social interactions. How do babies and children come to make sense of the minds of social agents?

Representative papers:
Woo et al. (2023, Dev. Sci.)
Woo et al. (2023, TiCS)


CONTACT INFO

Join The Team 

If you're interested in joining as a grad student or a postdoc, you can find out more here.