Infant and Early Childhood Cognition

How infants understand the world

The course introduces cognitive development through children's understanding of objects, agents and causality. Its starting point is the question of how very young children make sense of what they see.

Research skills in focus

A strong thread is experimental design, taught as a critical skill rather than a formality. The course connects developmental findings to philosophical questions about where knowledge comes from, how appearance differs from reality, and how we come to know other minds.

Writing and presenting

Students practise written communication for cognitive science research through critiques of published journal articles, a literature review, and a proposal for new research. They also present a journal paper as a poster.

• Children's reasoning about objects, agents and causes.
• Critical reading of experimental design.
• Writing a literature review and a proposal for new research.