Welcome to the Developing Equitable Minds Lab!

Children are embedded within a complex network of social worlds. In the Developing Equitable Minds Lab (DEML), we study how children make sense of these worlds, the people they share them with, and their role in making them a better place. The core of our research centers around three interrelated questions:

How do conceptions of fairness and equity develop?
How do social biases develop?
How can we promote children’s developing conceptions of equity and preempt the formation of social biases during childhood?

To answer these questions, we conduct structured interviews and experiments with children in the lab, in schools, and online using our lab’s Developing Minds Online (DMO) online platform. DMO is one of the first platforms for conducting unmoderated, remote research with children, allowing families to participate in our studies from anywhere and at any time.

Learn more about our ongoing projects on the Research tab or check out our recent publications on the Publications tab.

Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion

The DEML lab is committed to promoting equity, diversity, and inclusion. To organize our efforts, we focus on three primary areas: university spaces, psychological research, and broader society. In each domain, we work to identify and dismantle systemic barriers and support people from underrepresented groups in pursuing their specific goals and aspirations. In university spaces, we work to identify and remove the barriers that limit access to educational resources and opportunities and empower underrepresented students to create and pursue an education that best fits their interests. In psychological research, we conduct research that facilitates the creation of a more equitable and authentic psychological science by identifying the barriers and biases within psychological research (e.g., the underrepresentation of people of color as researchers, participants, and in the procedures used throughout psychological science). In broader society, we partner with non-profit and NGO community organizations (e.g., Embrace Race, Story Starters, We Stories) to promote anti-racist education programs and are developing a set of anti-racist parenting materials designed to educate White parents about what they can do to help their children develop a healthy understanding of race.

Please check our our lab’s recent contribution to Embrace Race’s Reflections on Children’s Racial Learning by downloading the report here: https://www.embracerace.org/community/reflections-on-childrens-racial-learning