January 2025:
Graduate student Christian Mott received a research grant from the International Society for the Science of Existential Psychology. This funding will support Christian's work on the connections between morality and personal identity. Congratulations, Christian!
October 2024:
Graduate student Christian Mott received a Young Investigator Award from Time-sharing Experiments in the Social Sciences (TESS). This funding will support Christian's work on judgments of punishment. Congratulations, Christian!
November 2023:
Graduate student Daniel Yonas received a Graduate Student Research Award from the Society for Personality and Social Psychology. This award recognizes Daniel's contributions to diversity-related work and supports his project investigating how social group membership shapes moral judgments about unintentional group-based harm. Congratulations, Daniel!
October 2023:
Professor Solomon received the 2024 Margaret Gorman Early Career Award from APA's Division 36 (Psychology of Religion and Spirituality). Yay!
August 2023:
Columbia published a story on how to handle new beginnings featuring research from our lab and other labs. The story is available here: https://news.columbia.edu/news/how-handle-new-beginnings-according-columbia-experts.
May 2023:
Honors thesis student Cheng Io Lo presented her honors thesis entitled Children's moral evaluations of scientific and religious curiosity at the department's end-of-year event. In Fall 2023, she will begin a Masters of Music degree in Violin Performance at Juilliard. Congratulations, Cheng Io!
April 2023:
Graduate student Daniel Yonas received an award from the Provost Diversity Fellows Small Grants Program. This award will support Daniel's research on how people make moral judgments in intergroup contexts. Congratulations, Daniel!
March 2022:
Our current fabulous lab manager, Sophie Charles, will remain in our lab as a graduate student starting in Fall 2022. Congratulations to Sophie and also mostly congratulations to all of us who get to keep working with her!
Graduate student James Dunlea has accepted a position as Social and Behavioral Scientist at Walgreens. As our first graduate student, he has been instrumental in helping to shape the lab's research and culture, which was a great benefit to all of us. Congratulations to James!
February 2022:
Professor Heiphetz discussed the lab's research on the How God Works podcast with Dave DeSteno. Their conversation is available here (web), here (Apple), and here (Spotify).
January 2022:
Getting the new year off to a great start, post-doctoral fellow Ariel Mosley has accepted a position as Assistant Professor of Psychology at UC Davis starting in July 2022. The lab will miss her, but an even bigger emotion is excitement about Ariel's next steps and all the fabulous contributions she is about to make. Congratulations!
Professor Heiphetz gave a presentation on religious disagreement to the United States embassy in Zimbabwe. We discussed the lab's work on how children and adults think about disagreement and considered strategies to navigate disagreements, such as showing curiosity about others' beliefs.
November 2021:
Congratulations to Juliette Richart Nova and Cheng Io Lo for their acceptance into the psychology department honors program. Jules's honors thesis project asks how children respond when they observe other people performing pro-social behaviors and transgressions. She will be conducting this research with graduate student mentor Daniel Yonas. Cheng Io's honors thesis research investigates children's moral evaluations of people who are trying to learn about different topics, such as science and religion. She will be conducting this work with post-doctoral mentor Ariel Mosley. Yay!
October 2021:
Daniel Yonas won not one but TWO SPSP travel awards to present his research on children's and adults' desire to learn about pro-social behaviors and transgressions. Congratulations to Daniel on being doubly fabulous!
August 2021:
Professor Heiphetz discussed the lab's research on the Opinion Science podcast with Andy Luttrell. Their conversation is available here (web), here (Apple), and here (Spotify).
The lab received an NSF CAREER award entitled Children's and adults' perceptions of redemption. This five-year project will begin in September 2021 and will examine how children and adults respond to people who have committed transgressions.
May 2021:
Ayse Payir has accepted a position as Senior Postdoctoral Researcher at Boston University, where she will move at the end of this summer. Congratulations, Ayse!
April 2021:
Ariel Mosley moderated a lecture entitled Changing Behavior to Fight Racism and Bias. A video is available here.
Devyani Goel has accepted an offer to work at the Harvard Business School this summer under the PRIMO program. She will be working with Professor Ashley Whillans on research at the intersection of psychology and business. Congratulations to Devyani!
James Dunlea received the Psi Chi/APA Edwin B. Newman Graduate Research Award, which is presented annually to a graduate student for "the best research paper that was published or presented at a national, regional, or state psychological association convention." James's award recognizes his work on how adults and children, including children of incarcerated parents, view punishment and the legal system. His paper is available here. Congratulations to James!
Lindsay Goolsby accepted an offer of admission from The University of Denver's Affective, Social, and Cognitive Psychology PhD program. We are sad to see Lindsay go but very excited for their new adventure!
Honors thesis student Malia Simon received an acceptance to present her research at APS. She will present her poster, entitled Attributions of moral judgments to God and humans change across development, along with her post-doctoral mentor Ayse Payir. Congratulations!
March 2021:
Professor Heiphetz spoke about the lab's work with Rabbi Geoff Mitelman. The interview is available here.
February 2021:
Nick Gauthier received happiness-inducing news from Oxford University, where he will pursue a BPhil in philosophy starting in Fall 2021. Congratulations, Nick!
January 2021:
James's work on children's and adults' perceptions of redemption received coverage in the Academic Times. The relevant paper can be found here.
Penn State News, Professor Heiphetz's alma mater, covered the lab's work here. Thank you for such a lovely write-up!
December 2020:
Devyani Goel received the SPSP Diversity Undergraduate Registration Award to present a poster on her honors thesis, which investigates how children respond to their peers with incarcerated parents. Congratulations, Devyani!
September/October 2020:
The lab's work on how children of incarcerated parents respond to their parents received coverage on Columbia News and Very Well Mind. The relevant paper can be found here.
June 2020:
The lab received funding from the John Templeton Foundation to support a project entitled Children's and adults' responses to people who seek to learn about religion. This three-year project will begin in August 2020 and will examine how people respond to different ways of engaging with religious ideas.
May 2020:
James Dunlea's work on how children and adults think about punishment and incarceration received coverage in the SPSP Character and Context blog. The relevant paper can be found here.
Dr. Heiphetz spoke with Bronxnet TV about how to help children understand COVID-19. The interview is available here.
February 2020:
Honors thesis student Abby McLaughlin received a Columbia College Travel Award for Presenters. She will use this funding to present her research on how children attribute moral knowledge to others at the annual meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology. Congratulations, Abby!
January 2020:
The lab's work on perceptions of moral transgressions received coverage in the Bangor Daily News and the Crime Report. The Russell Sage Foundation also discussed this research.
November 2019:
Ahmed Alattas, who completed an internship in the SAMC Lab during Summer 2019 through the SPUR program, received an Undergraduate Research Conference Travel Award from his home institution, the University of Washington. The award will fund his participation in the annual meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, where he will present a poster based on his summer research project. Congratulations, Ahmed!
October 2019:
Red won a Diversity Undergraduate Registration Award from SPSP! Yay, Red!
September 2019:
James's first symposium was accepted at SPSP! Stop by on Saturday, February 29th, 2020, between 3:45 and 5:00 p.m. for his panel, entitled Psychological Perspectives on Why We Punish (So Much).
The lab's work on moral reasoning and generosity was featured on Columbia University's website: https://science.fas.columbia.edu/news/bad-to-the-bone-or-just-bad-behavior/. The relevant paper can be found here.
June 2019:
The lab's work on religious cognition was featured on Academic Minute: https://academicminute.org/2019/06/larisa-heiphetz-columbia-university-how-children-and-adults-think-about-religion/. The relevant paper can be found here.
March 2019:
Dr. Heiphetz received the Society for Research in Child Development Early Career Research Contribution Award!
January 2019:
James Dunlea received a Graduate Student Travel Award from the Society for Research in Child Development. Yay!
Aaliyah Triumph was admitted to several doctoral programs in philosophy! Congratulations, Aaliyah!
The lab's work on morality and identity was featured on Science Trends: https://sciencetrends.com/do-moral-beliefs-shape-personalities-in-adults-and-adolescents/. The relevant paper can be found here.
The lab's work on how people talk about religion vs. fact was featured on Imperfect Cognitions: https://imperfectcognitions.blogspot.com/2019/01/the-meanings-of-think-and-believe_15.html?fbclid=IwAR0GB9VaaFNQllZ-SmfMFv9I8XyS9K52QCDEttk2Ub-5QktmbxQzhkogAIU. This work was also covered on The Conversation: http://theconversation.com/how-to-have-productive-disagreements-about-politics-and-religion-109495. The relevant paper can be found here.
September 2018:
James Dunlea won both a Graduate Travel Award AND a Diversity Graduate Travel award from the Society for Personality and Social Psychology! James's awesomeness could not be contained by one award.
Dr. Heiphetz received the International Social Cognition Network (ISCON) Early Career Award! Yay!
July 2018:
The lab received funding from the John Templeton Foundation to support a project entitled The development and consequences of moralizing God concepts. This three-year project will begin in September 2018 and will examine the links between religious and moral cognition among children and adults.
June 2018:
Dr. Heiphetz was elected a Fellow of the Society of Experimental Social Psychology!
May 2018:
The lab received funding from the Lenfest Junior Faculty Development Grant program to support a project entitled "Because he is a bad person": How explanations influence children's and adults' social perceptions.
February 2018:
Graduate student Megan Goldring received the Psychological Science Research Grant for her project entitled, "If your friends jump off a bridge, is it better to jump with them or alone? Morality, conformity, and blame." Congratulations, Megan!
December 2017:
Dr. Heiphetz received the Association for Psychological Science Rising Star Award! Congratulations to Dr. Heiphetz!
October 2017:
Work from our lab was presented by Dr. Heiphetz at the Society for Experimental Social Psychology Conferences and by graduate student James Dunlea at the Cognitive Development Society Conference.
August 2017:
Welcome to our new lab manager, Red Wolle, and our first-ever graduate student, James Dunlea!
April 2017:
Nina Mandracchia, who will be joining us this summer as an RA/lab manager, received Columbia University's Alumni and Parent Internship grant. Congrats to Nina!
November 2016:
The lab received funding from the Provost's Grants Program for Junior Faculty who Contribute to the Diversity Goals of the University to support research on how essentialism influences children's and adults' social cognition.
Dr. Heiphetz discussed the lab's work with PsyPost and New York Magazine.
September 2016:
The lab opened!
Graduate student Christian Mott received a research grant from the International Society for the Science of Existential Psychology. This funding will support Christian's work on the connections between morality and personal identity. Congratulations, Christian!
October 2024:
Graduate student Christian Mott received a Young Investigator Award from Time-sharing Experiments in the Social Sciences (TESS). This funding will support Christian's work on judgments of punishment. Congratulations, Christian!
November 2023:
Graduate student Daniel Yonas received a Graduate Student Research Award from the Society for Personality and Social Psychology. This award recognizes Daniel's contributions to diversity-related work and supports his project investigating how social group membership shapes moral judgments about unintentional group-based harm. Congratulations, Daniel!
October 2023:
Professor Solomon received the 2024 Margaret Gorman Early Career Award from APA's Division 36 (Psychology of Religion and Spirituality). Yay!
August 2023:
Columbia published a story on how to handle new beginnings featuring research from our lab and other labs. The story is available here: https://news.columbia.edu/news/how-handle-new-beginnings-according-columbia-experts.
May 2023:
Honors thesis student Cheng Io Lo presented her honors thesis entitled Children's moral evaluations of scientific and religious curiosity at the department's end-of-year event. In Fall 2023, she will begin a Masters of Music degree in Violin Performance at Juilliard. Congratulations, Cheng Io!
April 2023:
Graduate student Daniel Yonas received an award from the Provost Diversity Fellows Small Grants Program. This award will support Daniel's research on how people make moral judgments in intergroup contexts. Congratulations, Daniel!
March 2022:
Our current fabulous lab manager, Sophie Charles, will remain in our lab as a graduate student starting in Fall 2022. Congratulations to Sophie and also mostly congratulations to all of us who get to keep working with her!
Graduate student James Dunlea has accepted a position as Social and Behavioral Scientist at Walgreens. As our first graduate student, he has been instrumental in helping to shape the lab's research and culture, which was a great benefit to all of us. Congratulations to James!
February 2022:
Professor Heiphetz discussed the lab's research on the How God Works podcast with Dave DeSteno. Their conversation is available here (web), here (Apple), and here (Spotify).
January 2022:
Getting the new year off to a great start, post-doctoral fellow Ariel Mosley has accepted a position as Assistant Professor of Psychology at UC Davis starting in July 2022. The lab will miss her, but an even bigger emotion is excitement about Ariel's next steps and all the fabulous contributions she is about to make. Congratulations!
Professor Heiphetz gave a presentation on religious disagreement to the United States embassy in Zimbabwe. We discussed the lab's work on how children and adults think about disagreement and considered strategies to navigate disagreements, such as showing curiosity about others' beliefs.
November 2021:
Congratulations to Juliette Richart Nova and Cheng Io Lo for their acceptance into the psychology department honors program. Jules's honors thesis project asks how children respond when they observe other people performing pro-social behaviors and transgressions. She will be conducting this research with graduate student mentor Daniel Yonas. Cheng Io's honors thesis research investigates children's moral evaluations of people who are trying to learn about different topics, such as science and religion. She will be conducting this work with post-doctoral mentor Ariel Mosley. Yay!
October 2021:
Daniel Yonas won not one but TWO SPSP travel awards to present his research on children's and adults' desire to learn about pro-social behaviors and transgressions. Congratulations to Daniel on being doubly fabulous!
August 2021:
Professor Heiphetz discussed the lab's research on the Opinion Science podcast with Andy Luttrell. Their conversation is available here (web), here (Apple), and here (Spotify).
The lab received an NSF CAREER award entitled Children's and adults' perceptions of redemption. This five-year project will begin in September 2021 and will examine how children and adults respond to people who have committed transgressions.
May 2021:
Ayse Payir has accepted a position as Senior Postdoctoral Researcher at Boston University, where she will move at the end of this summer. Congratulations, Ayse!
April 2021:
Ariel Mosley moderated a lecture entitled Changing Behavior to Fight Racism and Bias. A video is available here.
Devyani Goel has accepted an offer to work at the Harvard Business School this summer under the PRIMO program. She will be working with Professor Ashley Whillans on research at the intersection of psychology and business. Congratulations to Devyani!
James Dunlea received the Psi Chi/APA Edwin B. Newman Graduate Research Award, which is presented annually to a graduate student for "the best research paper that was published or presented at a national, regional, or state psychological association convention." James's award recognizes his work on how adults and children, including children of incarcerated parents, view punishment and the legal system. His paper is available here. Congratulations to James!
Lindsay Goolsby accepted an offer of admission from The University of Denver's Affective, Social, and Cognitive Psychology PhD program. We are sad to see Lindsay go but very excited for their new adventure!
Honors thesis student Malia Simon received an acceptance to present her research at APS. She will present her poster, entitled Attributions of moral judgments to God and humans change across development, along with her post-doctoral mentor Ayse Payir. Congratulations!
March 2021:
Professor Heiphetz spoke about the lab's work with Rabbi Geoff Mitelman. The interview is available here.
February 2021:
Nick Gauthier received happiness-inducing news from Oxford University, where he will pursue a BPhil in philosophy starting in Fall 2021. Congratulations, Nick!
January 2021:
James's work on children's and adults' perceptions of redemption received coverage in the Academic Times. The relevant paper can be found here.
Penn State News, Professor Heiphetz's alma mater, covered the lab's work here. Thank you for such a lovely write-up!
December 2020:
Devyani Goel received the SPSP Diversity Undergraduate Registration Award to present a poster on her honors thesis, which investigates how children respond to their peers with incarcerated parents. Congratulations, Devyani!
September/October 2020:
The lab's work on how children of incarcerated parents respond to their parents received coverage on Columbia News and Very Well Mind. The relevant paper can be found here.
June 2020:
The lab received funding from the John Templeton Foundation to support a project entitled Children's and adults' responses to people who seek to learn about religion. This three-year project will begin in August 2020 and will examine how people respond to different ways of engaging with religious ideas.
May 2020:
James Dunlea's work on how children and adults think about punishment and incarceration received coverage in the SPSP Character and Context blog. The relevant paper can be found here.
Dr. Heiphetz spoke with Bronxnet TV about how to help children understand COVID-19. The interview is available here.
February 2020:
Honors thesis student Abby McLaughlin received a Columbia College Travel Award for Presenters. She will use this funding to present her research on how children attribute moral knowledge to others at the annual meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology. Congratulations, Abby!
January 2020:
The lab's work on perceptions of moral transgressions received coverage in the Bangor Daily News and the Crime Report. The Russell Sage Foundation also discussed this research.
November 2019:
Ahmed Alattas, who completed an internship in the SAMC Lab during Summer 2019 through the SPUR program, received an Undergraduate Research Conference Travel Award from his home institution, the University of Washington. The award will fund his participation in the annual meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, where he will present a poster based on his summer research project. Congratulations, Ahmed!
October 2019:
Red won a Diversity Undergraduate Registration Award from SPSP! Yay, Red!
September 2019:
James's first symposium was accepted at SPSP! Stop by on Saturday, February 29th, 2020, between 3:45 and 5:00 p.m. for his panel, entitled Psychological Perspectives on Why We Punish (So Much).
The lab's work on moral reasoning and generosity was featured on Columbia University's website: https://science.fas.columbia.edu/news/bad-to-the-bone-or-just-bad-behavior/. The relevant paper can be found here.
June 2019:
The lab's work on religious cognition was featured on Academic Minute: https://academicminute.org/2019/06/larisa-heiphetz-columbia-university-how-children-and-adults-think-about-religion/. The relevant paper can be found here.
March 2019:
Dr. Heiphetz received the Society for Research in Child Development Early Career Research Contribution Award!
January 2019:
James Dunlea received a Graduate Student Travel Award from the Society for Research in Child Development. Yay!
Aaliyah Triumph was admitted to several doctoral programs in philosophy! Congratulations, Aaliyah!
The lab's work on morality and identity was featured on Science Trends: https://sciencetrends.com/do-moral-beliefs-shape-personalities-in-adults-and-adolescents/. The relevant paper can be found here.
The lab's work on how people talk about religion vs. fact was featured on Imperfect Cognitions: https://imperfectcognitions.blogspot.com/2019/01/the-meanings-of-think-and-believe_15.html?fbclid=IwAR0GB9VaaFNQllZ-SmfMFv9I8XyS9K52QCDEttk2Ub-5QktmbxQzhkogAIU. This work was also covered on The Conversation: http://theconversation.com/how-to-have-productive-disagreements-about-politics-and-religion-109495. The relevant paper can be found here.
September 2018:
James Dunlea won both a Graduate Travel Award AND a Diversity Graduate Travel award from the Society for Personality and Social Psychology! James's awesomeness could not be contained by one award.
Dr. Heiphetz received the International Social Cognition Network (ISCON) Early Career Award! Yay!
July 2018:
The lab received funding from the John Templeton Foundation to support a project entitled The development and consequences of moralizing God concepts. This three-year project will begin in September 2018 and will examine the links between religious and moral cognition among children and adults.
June 2018:
Dr. Heiphetz was elected a Fellow of the Society of Experimental Social Psychology!
May 2018:
The lab received funding from the Lenfest Junior Faculty Development Grant program to support a project entitled "Because he is a bad person": How explanations influence children's and adults' social perceptions.
February 2018:
Graduate student Megan Goldring received the Psychological Science Research Grant for her project entitled, "If your friends jump off a bridge, is it better to jump with them or alone? Morality, conformity, and blame." Congratulations, Megan!
December 2017:
Dr. Heiphetz received the Association for Psychological Science Rising Star Award! Congratulations to Dr. Heiphetz!
October 2017:
Work from our lab was presented by Dr. Heiphetz at the Society for Experimental Social Psychology Conferences and by graduate student James Dunlea at the Cognitive Development Society Conference.
August 2017:
Welcome to our new lab manager, Red Wolle, and our first-ever graduate student, James Dunlea!
April 2017:
Nina Mandracchia, who will be joining us this summer as an RA/lab manager, received Columbia University's Alumni and Parent Internship grant. Congrats to Nina!
November 2016:
The lab received funding from the Provost's Grants Program for Junior Faculty who Contribute to the Diversity Goals of the University to support research on how essentialism influences children's and adults' social cognition.
Dr. Heiphetz discussed the lab's work with PsyPost and New York Magazine.
September 2016:
The lab opened!