If you think back to yourself 10 years ago, did the preferences you had, values you held, and your personality change? Most people would answer yes. Looking back on our past selves, it's easy to acknowledge how much we've grown. 

However, when thinking about our future selves, we often believe we will stay the same. This cognitive bias is known as the "End of History Illusion" (Quoidbach, Gilbert, & Wilson, 2013). In one line of work, I investigate whether children also show the End of History Illusion - reporting more change in the past than predicted change in the future. To find out the answer, read the paper here! 

I am currently expanding on this line of work, investigating whether there is a "beginning of history illusion" in adults and whether this illusion extends to those we see as extensions of the self, such as immediate family members.

In a separate line of work, I investigate how children view change in others. Specifically, which psychological traits do children believe are most likely to persist or change into adulthood?

When we hear about cases of harm, more often than not we hear about the event after it occurred. Especially when we only know about the outcome, we may not have enough information to determine whether the harm was caused on purpose or by accident. In these cases, withholding moral judgment may be the best option. When intent information is lacking, I'm interested in whether children can identify the missing information, express their uncertainty, and withhold their moral judgments. 

If someone is considered immoral can we ever see them as good? Previous work has found that, when revising their moral character beliefs, adults require more evidence to perceive improvement than decline (Klein & O'Brien, 2016). This phenomenon is the "Moral Tipping Point". In this new line of work, I investigate whether children can use new behavior to revise their moral character judgments.

On the news, you may have heard about extremely virtuous acts that go beyond the social norm, like donating a kidney to a stranger or saving a stranger from drowning. We know very little as to why some individuals are more altruistic than others.

Despite children having little autonomy in their day-to-day lives, they can sometimes choose what they do (or do not) eat. In this line of work, I'm exploring various cognitive and personality factors that may separate independent vegetarians (i.e., children who choose to go vegetarian on their own) from family or non-vegetarians. This work is in collaboration with Dr. Matti Wilks.