Nathalia Gjersoe

Profile

I am a developmental psychologist, specifically interested in how the developing brain understands scientific concepts and what natural cognitive hurdles there are in teaching science to children and adults. I did my undergraduate degree at Edinburgh University, worked in research for 3 years and then went to Bristol University to do my PhD in Cognitive and Perceptual Development with Prof Bruce Hood. I am now a lecturer in Developmental Psychology at the Open University, Teaching Associate at Bristol University and consultant for Aardman Animations. 

Teaching Interests

I am on the Production Team for

DE100: Investigating Psychology,

E102: Introduction to Childhood Studies and Development and

E219: Developmental Perspectives on Childhood and Youth.

I also teach a 3rd-Year module entitled 'Pro-sociality, Kindness and Altruism - Why are we so nice to each-other?', run seminar groups on the 'Biology of Cognitive Development' and the developing relationship between 'Cognition, Perception and Action'. Previously I have taught much of the core Developmental Psychology modules, research methods and various skills-based courses including 'Presentation Skills', 'Using Virtual Learning Environments' and 'Managing Large Documents in Word'. 

I have supervised many student projects at both undergraduate and postgraduate level, including co-supervision of two PhD students. 

Research Interests

My primary research interest is in examining intuitive biases that need to be overcome before formal scientific education can be fully effective. Before my PhD I explored how to create physical and social contexts that support effective communication and learning and advised educational psychologists and Scottish policy makers. My PhD focused on how children’s intuitions about the physical world (their “naïve physics”) naturally developed and how unscientific biases could be earlier overcome. Since completing my PhD I have continued this line of research but have also examined individual differences, priming effects and intuitive biases in social understanding.  Much of my latest work is exploring how natural and seemingly universal biases in childhood might scaffold adult superstitious and supernatural beliefs, leading to common scientific misconceptions that formal education cannot easily overcome. To explore these questions I have used physiological measures such as galvanic skin recording and fMRI, behavioural measures, interviews, questionnaires, psychophysical probes and have conducted a number of cross-cultural studies. I also explore how these natural misconceptions can best be addressed though public engagement activities and popular science broadcasting and publication. 

Current Research

The Tunnel Illusion

Exploring the developing relationship between perception and cognition by examining the age at which children become able to override their perceptual experience (as is necessary when viewing illusions) and how they weight and integrate different information in order to do so. (In collaboration with the Bristol Cognitive Development Center)

Authenticity 

As adults we value certain authentic items, such as artworks, significantly more than even identical copies that serve all the same aesthetic and functional needs. We are exploring this psychological bias in collectivist and individualist cultures with the idea that those in individualist cultures may value original items that previously belonged to a specific individual (e.g. artworks and celebrity memorabilia) more than those in collectivist cultures where individuals are considered less important than the group. Preliminary evidence suggests that this is the case and that even children can be primed to value objects differently if asked to focus on the individual or the group beforehand. (In collaboration with Yale University and the Bristol Cognitive Development Center)

Unique identity

We are conducting experiments that suggest that even very young children treat objects with a unique identity (e.g. Fido) significantly differently that those that are simply members of the same group (e.g. dogs). Not only do they treat them differently in unexpected ways on low-level perceptual tasks but also in high-level reasoning. 

Animism

There is a great deal of debate as to whether toddlers are animists - treating even inanimate entities as though they have thoughts, feelings and intentions. In this set of studies we explore whether children attribute mental states to objects that they have a great deal of emotional attachment to (i.e. their favourite teddy) but not to other favourite toys that they own. (In collaboration with Emily Hall at the Bristol Cognitive Development Center)

Teleology

Teleological promiscuity (Kelemen, Psych Sci, 2009) is the tendency to think of even natural phenomena as being in place for a purpose and is thought to be the basis for beliefs in Intelligent Design. Teleological reasoning is very common in children up until around 6-years of age but is rarely explicitly endorsed by scientifically-literate adults. However, when placed under speeded conditions, even adults tend to endorse a teleological stance. We are researching whether there is any cultural difference in this tendency in adults in England and Japan. (In collaboration with the Deb Kelemen at Boston University, Shoji Itakura at Kyoto University and the Bristol Cognitive Development Center)

Moral Contamination

There is a reported bias for adults in thought experiments to respond as though morality, like a physical entity, can be transferred via touch. To explore whether this bias has behavioural implications, we have been examining people's cleansing behaviour after they have worn what they believe to be a murderer's jumper. (In collaboration with Arno van Voorst, Phoebe Bashir and Reema Joshi at the Bristol Cognitive Development Center)

Apophenia

On a range of mental disorders, patients report seeing patterns where there are none. We are presenting healthy participants with a series of swift-moving snowy-figure stimuli and examining whether the tendency to see patterns in noise (apophenia) correlates with individual differences in supernatural beliefs. (In collaboration with Alice Mills, Steve Hinde and Bruce Hood at the Bristol Cognitive Development Center)

Sympathetic Magic

Belief that action on the representation of an object will influence the object in the real world. We have been exploring the physiological correlates of this bias in scientifically-literate adults using fMRI and GSR, and at the sorts of mistakes that children make when thinking about photos and how they develop out of them. (In collaboration with John Evans and Richard Wise at the Cardiff University Brain Research Imaging Center and Katy Donnelly and Bruce Hood at the Bristol Cognitive Development Center) 

Publications