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Dreams, Genes, & Machines: Are We Living Science Fiction?

Dr. Patricia K. Kuhl and Dr. Andrew N. Meltzoff
In conversation with Jessica Strand
July 16, 2020

The first five years of life are the most critical for learning. As children are using technology earlier and more frequently than ever, ALOUD tackles the neuroscience of screen time during COVID. Dr. Patricia K. Kuhl and Dr. Andrew N. Meltzoff, internationally recognized experts in child development and co-directors of the University of Washington Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences, share from their research on social, cognitive, and linguistic development in a conversation with Library Foundation Director of Public Programs Jessica Strand. Join us to hear how learning with screens is transforming children—from learning languages and shaping culture, to interpreting media and acquiring biases. Dr. Kuhl’s pioneering work on early learning and brain development has earned many awards, and she has spoken at two White House conferences on early learning. Watch her fascinating TED talk on language acquisition in babies here. Dr. Meltzoff’s award-winning, interdisciplinary discoveries about infant and child development have helped transform our understanding of early cognition and social learning and have wide-reaching implications for work in autism spectrum disorder, social robotics, and developmental neuroscience. Named one of the 50 Most Influential Living Psychologists in 2019, Dr. Meltzoff is a co-author, with Kuhl and Dr. Alison Gopnik, of “The Scientist in the Crib,” among hundreds of other works. Log on to this timely conversation to go behind-the-scenes of our children’s brains online.

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