Emily Foster-Hanson

I study how people learn about the world around them through their experiences and social interactions. For example, in one line of research funded by a National Science Foundation CAREER Award, I'm studying how children learn about the natural world and how to support their growing understanding across childhood. This work is in line with other collaborative research supported by a CIFAR Horizon Network on how families, educators and institutions can strengthen children’s knowledge of climate change and the natural world to catalyze climate action. In other work in my lab, I study how to help people thrive in a tech-enabled world, and how children acquire the social views and biases of their surrounding culture.

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I'm an Assistant Professor of Psychology at Swarthmore College and PI of the Swarthmore College Kid Lab. Previously, I was a Postdoctoral Research Associate in Cognitive Science of Values at Princeton University, where I worked with Dr. Tania Lombrozo in the Concepts and Cognition Lab. I completed my PhD in Psychology at New York University, where I worked with Dr. Marjorie Rhodes in the Conceptual Development and Social Cognition Lab; my doctoral research was funded by an NICHD F31 Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) from the National Institutes of Health. I did my BA in Linguistics at Yale University.