all Susan Carey stories

Susan Carey receives David E. Rumelhart Prize

404132862 — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 15:36:16 -0400

Susan Carey, a Harvard psychologist whose work has explored fundamental issues surrounding the nature of the human mind, has been awarded the 2009 David E. Rumelhart Prize, given annually since 2001 for significant contributions to the theoretical foundation of human cognition.

Carey, the Henry A. Morss Jr. and Elisabeth W. Morss Professor of Psychology in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, is the first woman to receive the prize. Additionally, Carey is the first recipient of the prize for theoretical contributions to the study of human development. Previously, the award was given only for work involved with computational modeling.

They are born to add

50443248 — Fri, 20 Jul 2007 14:54:41 -0400

How does someone who hasn't learned to count yet, say a preschooler, deal with numbers? Adults are comfortable with symbols like "10" to signify 10 balloons, beeps, or beliefs. But how do kids handle numbers when they don't know numbers? Very well, according to experiments done at Harvard University.
In these experiments, 5-year-olds, who had no real experience using number symbols, "added" two arrays of dots and compared them to a third array. When researchers replaced the third array of dots with beeps, the kids integrated the sight and sound quantities easily.

The children performed all these tasks successfully, without actual counting or having any knowledge of number symbols, notes Elizabeth Spelke, a professor of psychology who led the study.

Born to add

70652986 — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 06:21:54 -0400

In experiments, 5-year-olds, who had no real experience using number symbols, "added" two arrays of dots and compared them to a third array.

What will it take to attract, and keep, new teachers?

70652986 — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 05:06:15 -0400

In today's expansive job market, with its escalating definition of a competitive salary, teaching is underpaid. Graduates are actively recruited to work in investment banking, consulting, and technology, where beginning salaries average twice those of first-year teachers. Who will become the next generation of teachers? And what will it take to recruit talented people and keep them in the profession?