Daphna Buchsbaum

Daphna Buchsbaum is an Associate Professor of Cognitive and Psychological Sciences at Brown University, leading the Computational Cognitive Development Lab and Brown Dog Lab. She holds a dual background in Psychology and Statistics from UC Berkeley, a Master’s in MIT Media Lab, and a Brown undergraduate degree. Her work explores causal and social reasoning in children and non-human animals like dogs, focusing on how learners combine social and observational data.

Education:

• A.B. in Human Biology, Brown University (2002)
• M.Sc. in Media Arts & Sciences, MIT Media Lab (2004)
• M.A. and Ph.D. in Psychology, UC Berkeley (2013)

Research Focus: Investigates how children and animals form causal beliefs through social interactions and direct observation. Key topics include:

• Canine cognition and problem-solving
• Children’s causal reasoning and pretend play
• Computational models of belief systems

Key Achievements:

• NSF/Office of Naval Research grants
• Templeton World Charity Foundation funding
• 2021 Society for Research in Child Development Early Career Award
• 2018 APS Rising Star designation

Lab Activities: Conducts participatory studies with children and dogs, using eye-tracking and behavioral experiments. Recent projects include:

• Head-mounted eye-tracking in dogs
• Cross-cultural studies of causal reasoning
• Analysis of canine visual environments