• How are children's causal theories shaped by new evidence?
  
• When are children's theories revised in light of new evidence?
  
• What role do theories play in children's interpretation of new evidence, children's spontaneous exploration & free play, explanations, and induction.

Liz Baraff Bonawitz
Cambridge, MA 02139 USA

PAPERS

Bonawitz, E.B. & Schulz, L.E. (in review) Why Learning is Hard.

Bonawitz, E.B., Chang, I., Clark, C., & Lombrozo, T. (2008) Ockham's razor as inductive bias in preschoolers causal explanations. Proceedings of the 7th International Conference of Development and Learning. Monterey, CA.

Bonawitz, E.B., Fischer, A., Schulz, L.E. (2008) Training a Bayesian: Three-and-a-half-year-olds' reasoning about Ambiguous Evidence. Proceedings of the Thirtieth Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society. Washington, DC.

Schulz, L., Bonawitz, E.B., & Standing, H. (2008) Word, thought, and deed: The role of object labels in children's inductive inferences and exploratory play. Developmental Psychology

Bonawitz, E.B., Lim, S., & Schulz, L.E. (2007) Weighing the Evidence: Children's theories of Balance affect play. Proceedings of the Twenty-Ninth Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society. Nashville, Tennessee.

Bonawitz, E.B., & Schulz, L. (2007) Children's Rational Exploration. AAAI Fall Symposium on Computational Approaches to Representation Change During Learning and Development. Washington DC .

Shafto, P., Kemp, C., Bonawitz, E.B., Coley, J.D., & Tenenbaum, J.B.. (in press) Reasoning About Causal Transmission. Cognition.

Schulz, L., Bonawitz, E.B., & Griffiths, T.L. (2007) Can being scared give you a tummy ache? Naive theories, ambiguous evidence and preschoolers’ causal inferences. Developmental Psychology, Sep Vol 43(5) 1124-1139.

Schulz, L., & Bonawitz, E.B. (2007) Serious fun: Preschoolers play more when evidence is confounded. Developmental Psychology, Jul Vol 43(4) 1045-1050.

Bonawitz, E.B., Griffiths, T.L., & Schulz, L. (2006) Modeling Cross-Domain Causal Learning in Preschoolers as Bayesian Inference. Proceedings of the Twenty-Eighth Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society. Vancouver, Canada. 2006 [Talk Slides PDF] [Received Marr Prize for Best Student Paper]

Goodman, N.D., Baker, C.L, Bonawitz, E.B., Mansinghka, V.K., Gopnik, A., Wellman, H., Schulz, L.E., & Tenenbaum, J.B. (2006) Intuitive Theories of Mind: A Rational Approach to False Belief. Proceedings of the Twenty-Eighth Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society. Vancouver, Canada.

Coley, J.D., Shafto, P., Stepanova, O., & Baraff, E. (2005) Knowledge and Category-Based Induction. In Ahn, W., Goldstone, R. L., Love, B. C., Markman, A. B., & Wolff, P. (Eds.) Categorization inside and outside the laboratory: Essays in honor of Douglas L. Medin. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

Shafto, P., Kemp, C., Baraff, E.R., Tenenbaum, J.B., and Coley, J. (2005) Inductive Generalizations of Novel Disease: Causal Generalizations over Foodweb Relations. Proceedings of the Twenty-Seventh Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society. Stresa, Italy.

Griffiths, T.L., Baraff, E., & Tenenbaum, J.B. (2004) Using Physical Theories to Infer Hidden Causal Structure.  Proceedings of the Twenty-Sixth Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society. [Marr Prize for Best Student Paper, Honorable Mention, Cognitive Science. Chicago, IL]

Baraff, E. (2002). The Effects of Time Constraints on Expert and Novice Reasoning about Music. Northeastern University Honors Thesis.

PAPERS - In Preparation

Bonawitz, E.B. & Schulz, L. (in preparation) Balancing theories and evidence in children's exploration, explanations, and learning.

Bonawitz, E.B, & Lombrozo, T. (in preparation) Simplicity and Probability in Childrenís Causal Explanations.

Bonawitz, E.B., Ferranti, D., & Schulz, L. (in preparation) Causal learning in toddlers: Observention and Intervention.

Bonawitz, E.B., Fischer, A., & Schulz, L. (in preparation) Evidence, Mechanisms, and Information processing in 3-year-olds reasoning from ambiguous evidence.

Goodman, N.D., Bonawitz, E.B., Baker, C.L, Mansinghka, V.K., Gopnik, A., Wellman, H., Schulz, L.E., & Tenenbaum, J.B. (in preparation) Ideal Observers in Theory of Mind

Cheries, E. W., Baraff, E. R., & Carey, S. (in preparation). Second-guessing a spatiotemporal priority in infants' encoding of individuals. To be submitted to Infancy.

Griffiths, T., Bonawitz, E.B., & Tenenbaum, J.B. (in preparation) Using Physical Theories to Infer Hidden Causal Structure

SELECTED TALKS & POSTER PRESENTATIONS

Bonawitz, E.B. (2008) The Rational Child: Reasons behind kids quicky behaviors. Lecturer at Museum of Science Life Cycle Adult Workshop, special session on The science of kids, February, 2007. Boston, MA.

Bonawitz, E.B. (2007) Can Being Scared Cause Tummy Aches? Naive Theories, Ambiguous Evidence and Preschoolers Causal Inferences. Symposium Chair: What Makes us Sick? Naïve Theories and Biological Reasoning. Society for Research in Child Development. Boston, MA.

Bonawitz, E.B, & Lombrozo, T. (2007) Simplicity and Probability in Childrenís Causal Explanations. Cognitive Science Society.

Standing, H., Bonawitz, E.B., & Schulz, L. (2007) The Role of Word Labels in Children's Causal Inductions and Exploratory Play. Cognitive Science Society.

Bonawitz, E.B. (2006) Bunnies, Boxes, and Balances: The role of theories, evidence, and free play in children's causal learning. Brown Conference on Causal Reasoning. Providence, RI.

Bonawitz, E.B. (2005) Evidence, Theories, and Spontaneous Play in Preschoolers: How Little Scientists Become Smart Scientists. Northeastern University Categorization and Reasoning Lab.

Bonawitz, E.B., Griffiths, T.L., & Schulz, L. (2005) Theories, Evidence, and Preschoolers Causal Judgments. Cognitive Development Society, San Diego, CA. (Handout)

Baraff, E.R., Cheries, E., and Carey, S. (2005) The Role of Spatiotemporal Relations in Infants Encoding of Individuals. Society for Research in Child Development. Atlanta, GA. (Handout) (See Poster)

Baraff, E. & Tenenbaum, J.B. (2004). The Role of Theory of Mind Inferences in Bayesian Word Learning. Presentation given at the First Joint Conference of the Society for Philosophy & Psychology and The European Society for Philosophy & Psychology. Barcelona, Spain. (SEE POSTER)

Baraff, E., & Coley, J.D. (2003) Thinking About Music: Novice and Expert Inductive Reasoning. 25th Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society. Boston, MA.

Coley, J.D. & Baraff, E. (2003). Effects of Time Pressure on Expert and Novice Category-Based Induction. Presentation given at the 44th Annual Meeting of the Psychonomic Society. Vancouver.

Baraff, L. & Coley, J.D. (2002). Expert and Novice Inductive Reasoning in Fast and Slow Conditions. Northeastern University College of Arts & Sciences Experiential Education Expo, May 2002. (SEE POSTER) (See picture of Liz and John at Expo)

Baraff, L., & Jacobson, J. (2002). Revisiting Jewish Musicality in America. Northeastern University College of Arts & Science Experiential Education Expo, May 2002. (See Abstract) (See picture of Josh and I working on Project.)

PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES

Conference reviewing:
Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society (COGSCI). (2004-Present)
International Coference on Development and Learning (2008)

Organizing symposia, workshops, and conferences:

Symposium Chair: Learning by Doing: The Role of Exploratory Play in Cognitive Development . Cognitive Development Society. October, 2007. Santa Fe , NM .

Symposium Chair: What Makes us Sick? Naïve Theories and Biological Reasoning. March, 2007. Society for Research in Child Development. Boston, MA.

TEACHING EXPERIENCE

Fall 2005: TA for 9.85, Infant and Childhood Cognition; Angus MacDonald Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching

Fall 2006: TA for 9.85, Infant and Childhood Cognition; Walle Nauta Award for Continuing Dedication to Teaching

Spring 2008: TA for 9.012, Cognitive Science

AWARDS

Elizabeth Munsterberg Koppitz Child Psychology Graduate Fellowships (2008-2009) Dissertation Fellowship from the American Psychological Foundation

Walle Nauta Award for Continuing Dedication to Teaching (2007) MIT Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences

CogSci Student Travel Award (2007) From the Robert J. Glushko and Pamela Samuelson Foundation

AAAI Student Travel Award (2007) Computational Approaches to Representation Change During Learning and Development.

Marr Prize for Best Student Paper (2006) Cognitive Science Society for Modeling Cross-Domain Causal Learning in Preschoolers as Bayesian Inference.

Angus MacDonald Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching (2006) MIT Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences

Marr Prize for Best Student Paper Honorable Mention (2005) Cognitive Science Society; Second author on T. Griffiths Using Physical Theories to Infer Hidden Causal Structure.

National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship Honorable Mention (2005, 2004)

Sullivan Scholarship: Multidisciplinary Research Award (2002) Northeastern University

Faculty Undergraduate Research Institute (FURI) Fellowship (2002) Northeastern University

Provost Research Grant (2001) Northeastern University

Faculty Scholar Senior Award (2002) Northeastern University

National Society of Collegiate Scholars {University of Delaware Scholarship Winner (1999), Chapter Founder at Northeastern University (2000), Chapter President at Northeastern University (2001)}

MEDIA FEATURES AND ADDITIONAL EDUCATIONAL OUTREACH

Life Cycle Adult Workshop (February, 2008) The Rational Child: Reasons behind Kids' Quirky Behaviors, Museum of Science, Boston MA

National Geographic Television & Film- Mind: The Gap (Air Date, Spring 2008) Research Consultant, Technical Assistant, Child Studies Coordinator

Museum of Science – Staff Science Training Talks (May, 2006; December, 2006; May, 2007, November 2007, May 2008) Early Childhood Cognition Lab and the Museum of Science Discovery Center Collaborative Debriefing on the Science of Cognitive Development

Museum of Science – Innovators Day Discovery Center Exhibit (December, 2006)

Early Childhood Cognition BCS Graduate Student Poster Fair (February, 2006; February, 2007) Early Childhood Cognition Lab Studies of Causal Reasoning in Children.

Research Mentored Undergraduates:
Ronnie Bryan, 2002-2004, now Ph.D. student at Caltech, Computation and Neural Systems.
Anne Chin, 2002-2004.
Carrie Niziolek, 2003-2005, now Ph.D. student at MIT, Speech and Hearing Sciences.
George Marzloff, 2004
Nune Martirosyan, 2004
Anna Wexler, 2005
Catherine Yao, 2005
Ezra Cetinkaya, 2005
Anagha Deshmane, 2006
Darlene Ferranti, 2006, now Research assistant at MIT, Early Childhood Cognition Lab
Elanna Levine, 2006
Wendy Weinerman, 2006
SueJean Lim, 2006-2008
Irene Headen, 2006-2007
Clifton Dassuncao, 2006
Anuja Khettry, 2006
Christopher Watson, 2006
Holly Standing, 2007, now PhD MD student at Oxford
Michael Obilade, 2007-2008, now PhD student at University of Illinois
Liza Renee Lizacano, 2007-2008
Adina Fischer, 2007-2008, now PhD/MD at Dartmouth
Isabel Cheng, 2007-2008
Yunji Wu, 2007
Catherine Clark, 2008
Stephanie Brenman, 2008
Danbee Kim, 2008

Graduate Resident Tutor (2002-Current) MIT Simmons Hall Undergraduate Advisor. "The job of the Graduate Resident Tutor (GRT) is to foster a supportive, safe, and positive living environment for, and to build a community atmosphere among, undergraduates in MIT residence halls. This responsibility includes encouraging personal growth, providing outlets for managing stress, and facilitating positive interpersonal relationships. GRTs are also responsible for implementing community standards, enhancing security, and promoting mutual respect between and among the residents they serve", (MIT SLP).

Founder & Director of Education Vocal Band Aid (2004-2006) Vocal Band Aid provides a means through which its members and the general public may help to support music education in their communities. Through its annual vocal band festival and concert and other activities throughout the year, the organization strives to raise funds to support music education in local schools while promoting its members' contributions to music and to the greater Boston area community at large. (2006 - Concert Album on sale; contact me for copies.)

OTHER INTERESTS
Singer: Integration by Parts (2001-2006) Music Director & Member. MetroGnome (2005) Album on sale. (Contact me for copies)
Also trained in Jazz, Classical, and Musical Theater. (Currently singing with impromptu Jazz group that occasionally performs at MIT BCS functions; and performing in a rock band as vocal and keys.)
Piano (1984-Current); Song Writer Worn Sneakers (1999) Last solo album.
Sports: Tennis, Skiing, Softball, Vollyball, Hockey, & Ping-pong; Puzzling-see MIT Mystery Hunt, Simmons Mini-Hunt Organizer; German Board Games; & Cooking.