Incubator Stay Report April Moeller Bachhuber
Hosting Institution: Brown University, Department of Cognitive, Linguistic & Psychological Sciences
International Advisor: Prof. David M. Sobel
With the generous support of the Elite Network of Bavaria (ENB) and the International Doctoral School REASON, I had the opportunity to visit the Causality and Mind Lab of my international advisor, Dave Sobel, at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island from March 1st through 31st, 2019.
My research focuses on the development of scientific reasoning abilities in young children and the relation between these abilities and other abilities, such as causal reasoning, theory of mind, and executive functions. One of Prof. Sobel’s core research areas is in children’s causal reasoning abilities and their relation to scientific reasoning; thus, his experience and input were essential to elaborating my research topic and gaining additional perspectives.
During my time at Brown, I participated in weekly lab meetings, in which we discussed ongoing projects, as well as relevant topics such as data collection and coding, study design, and underlying theory of our research. The Causality and Mind Lab is partnered with the Providence Children’s Museum and together they conduct research on children’s exploratory play and parent-child interaction. I also had the opportunity to visit the museum and observe data collection.
Finally, I attended one of Prof. Sobel’s courses, titled “Topics in Development – Exploration, Explanation and Causal Reasoning.” This was a small course of five students, with a focus on reading and discussing relevant articles in the literature. In addition, I was able to meet regularly with Prof. Sobel to work more intensely on a manuscript of one of my studies. He gave invaluable input on theoretical background and supported me in analyzing the data and interpreting the results. He not only helped with editing, but also provided general writing tips to improve my writing style.
While at Brown, I traveled to Baltimore, MD, to attend the Biennial Meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development. I presented one of my studies in a symposium on the emergence of scientific reasoning skills in early childhood and also presented a poster on the stability of scientific reasoning abilities in preschoolers. This conference provided many opportunities, not only for learning about current research directions, but also for networking with other researchers in my field and in fields relevant to my research. Additionally, I attended a workshop to support doctoral candidates in learning more about postdoc positions and how to obtain them.
My incubator stay at Brown University has allowed me to make substantial progress in the analysis and writing of one of my studies. Discussions with Prof. Sobel have helped to expand my theoretical knowledge base for my research, which will in turn support me in producing quality research.
April Moeller Bachhuber is conducting research on the development of scientific reasoning in early childhood under the supervision of Prof. Beate Sodian (LMU), Prof. Heinrich Hußmann (LMU), Prof. Markus Paulus (LMU), and Prof. Dave Sobel (Brown University).