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Welcome to the Childhood Thinking Laboratory!
About the Laboratory
What do we research?
In our lab, we are interested in the social and cognitive development of children. To study this, we conduct studies with children ranging from toddlers to elementary-school-aged children. These studies are designed as games for children and constitute a fun, free and novel activity for kids and their families.
We study many concepts related to cognitive development, such as:
Selective social learning
Children do not absorb everything that everyone teaches them: They are actually quite picky learners and prefer to learn from some people over others. For example, children generally prefer to learn from adults over children; however, for “childish” topics (e.g., toys), they will prefer to learn from other children, who are considered experts in that domain. In the same way, if a preschooler has a question about cars, s/he will most likely choose to ask a mechanic over a cook.
Illusion of control
Sometimes, people overestimate the control they have over a situation. Take for instance someone who strongly believes they are in control of winning the lottery by choosing specific numbers. They actually have no control over this situation, but still have the feeling that they do. This is called the illusion of control. A child may also have this illusion, thinking for example that it is s/he, and not chance, who is responsible for winning in a coin toss game. The illusion of control can make a child feel overconfident in some situations, and this may affect their learning strategies in some of the situations we study in our research.
Theory of mind
Theory of mind is the ability to understand that other people have their own thoughts and emotions, which can be different from our own. A child who demonstrates theory of mind will understand that even if he feels a certain way or has a certain thought, it does not mean that everyone else in the room feels the same way or has the same thought. All children possess some theory of mind abilities, but this is an ability that typically gets better with age and actually improves a lot during the preschool years. A child’s understanding of other people’s perspective can affect their social learning strategies in some of the situations we study in our research.
Location and hours
We are located on the University of Ottawa campus in the Vanier building (136 Jean-Jacques Lussier), on the sixth floor. Currently, all of our studies are done online over Zoom. We have availabilities for appointments during weekdays, evenings, and weekends. To participate online, email us at child.thinking@uOttawa.ca or fill in our participant intake form.
View our latest newsletter!
Members
Director
Dr. Patricia Brosseau-Liard
She directs the Childhood Thinking Laboratory in the School of Psychology at the University of Ottawa. Her main area of research pertains to the study of young children's evaluation of other people's knowledge and selective social learning.
Lab Coordinator
Graduate Students
- Isabelle Cosette
- Sophie Faubert
- Aimie-Lee Juteau
- Kaitline Fournier
- Stéphanie Quinn
Lab Alumni
- Florence Aquilina (Volunteer)
- Matthew Lefebvre (Volunteer)
- Sara-Emilie Mcintee (Directed research, volunteer)
- Marie-Pier Millette (Honours)
- Joana Mukunzi (Lab Coordinator)
- Marie-Lou Ouellette (Volunteer)
- Rose Varin (Directed research, volunteer)
For students
Prospective graduate students:
Dr. Brosseau-Liard will be taking new graduate students during the 2025-2026 academic year. Candidates may email her directly with a CV and transcript to express their interest.
Information regarding graduate studies in psychology at the University of Ottawa.
Psychology undergraduates at the University of Ottawa:
Dr. Brosseau-Liard is available to supervise Honours students or Directed Research students during the 2024-2025 academic year. Candidates may email her directly with a CV and transcript to express their interest.
If you are interested in joining our lab team as a volunteer, please email a transcript and CV to: child.thinking@uOttawa.ca
Mailbox
In this activity, we look at children’s metalinguistic understanding, i.e., what they think about language. This study is aimed at monolingual and bilingual children aged 6 years old, who are developing typically (i.e., who do not have any developmental delay or any uncorrected visual or auditory impairment). The study takes place in person at the Childhood Thinking Lab at the University of Ottawa and involves a visit of 45 to 60 minutes. In this study, your child will play a short game with an experimenter involving short video clips, pictures, and stickers. These tasks evaluate how children understand the concept of foreign languages and whether they can identify when information is or isn’t shared between people. We ask your child to answer simple questions, and we write down each child’s answers during the study. We also videotape the study in order to later double-check children’s answers as needed. As part of the study, we ask parents to fill out questionnaires pertaining to family demographics and children’s language background. To thank participants, your child will receive a small present at the end of the study. Free parking or transit fare is provided. This activity is currently only available in English.
*Please note, that your child cannot participate in this activity if they speak and/or understand Italian and/or Turkish.
Reliability
The purpose of this research is to learn more about the links between young children’s learning strategies and their various cognitive skills. Your child’s participation will consist of either one visit to the University of Ottawa (lasting approximately one hour; the study itself lasts approximately 15 to 30 minutes) or one e-visit over Zoom (lasting approximately 15 to 30 minutes). During this session, your child will play a series of short games with an experimenter that might involve short video clips and a variety of toys and pictures. These tasks evaluate, for example, how a child decides between different sources of information; we also look at various cognitive and social competencies and at how children evaluate information presented to them. Most of the questions are simple yes-no questions or require the child to pick one object among a series. To thank participants, children will receive a small present at the end of the study. Free parking or transit fare is provided for in-person sessions.
*Please note that this activity is offered in English and French at the University of Ottawa OR online over Zoom.
Articles
Cossette, I., Fobert, S., Slinger, M. & Brosseau-Liard, P. (2020). Individual differences in children’s preferential learning from accurate speakers: Stable but fragile. Journal of Cognition and Development, 21(3), 348-367. doi: 10.1080/15248372.2020.1727479
Juteau, A., Cossette, I., Millette, M.-P., & Brosseau-Liard, P. (2019). Individual differences in children’s preference to learn from a confident informant. Frontiers in Psychology,10. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02006
Brosseau-Liard, P., & Poulin-Dubois, D. (2018). Fiabilité et validité de l’Échelle de compréhension sociale des enfants. Psychologie Française. doi: 10.1016/j.psfr.2018.01.003
Brosseau-Liard, P. E., Iannuzziello, A., & Varin, J. (2018). Savvy or haphazard? Comparing preschoolers’ performance across selective learning tasks based on different epistemic indicators. Journal of Cognition and Development, 19, 367-388. doi: 10.1080/15248372.2018.1495219
Brosseau-Liard, P. E. (2017). The Roots of critical thinking: Selective learning strategies in childhood and their implications. Canadian Psychology/Psychologie Canadienne, 58(3),263-270. doi: 10.1037/cap0000114
Birch, S., Brosseau-Liard, P.,Haddock, T., & Ghrear, S. (2017). A curse of knowledge in the absence of knowledge? People misattribute their feelings of familiarity when judging how common knowledge is among their peers. Cognition, 166, 447-458. doi: 10.1016/j.cognition.2017.04.015
Birch, S., Li, V., Haddock, T., Ghrear, S., Brosseau-Liard, P., Baimel, A., & Whyte, M. (2017). Perspectives on Perspective Taking: How Children Think About the Minds of Others. Advances in Child Development and Behavior, 52, 185-226.
Poulin-Dubois, D., & Brosseau-Liard, P. (2016). The Developmental Origins of Selective Social Learning. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 25,60-64. doi:10.1177/0963721415613962
Poster presentations presented at peer-reviewed conferences
Varin, R., Cossette, I., Fobert, S.F., Slinger, M., & Brosseau-Liard, P.E. (2019, June). Not completely consistent: Fragile stability of individual differences in children’s preferential learning from accurate informants. Poster presented at the 80th annual Canadian Psychological Association (CPA) National Convention, Halifax, NS.
Fobert, S., Kokenberg-Gallant, L., Brosseau-Liard, P. (2019, May). Stability of individual mind mindedness. Poster presented at the 8th annual Interdisciplinary Conference in Psychology (ICP), Ottawa, ON.
Aquilina, F & Brosseau-Liard, P.. (2019, May) La constance de la confiance comme indicateur de crédibilité chez les enfants de trois ans. Poster presented at the 8th annual Interdisciplinary Conference in Psychology (ICP), Ottawa, ON.
Varin, R., Fobert, S., Cossette, I., Slinger, M. & Brosseau-Liard, P. (2019, May). Not completely consistent: Fragile stability of individual differences in children’s preferential learning from accurate informants. Poster presented at the 8th annual Interdisciplinary Conference in Psychology (ICP), Ottawa, ON.
Juteau, A., Cossette, I., Mukunzi, J., & Brosseau-Liard, P. (2019, March). Evaluating the parallel-form reliability of a task measuring children’s selective learning from more confident individuals. Poster presented at the 2019 Society for Research in Child Development (SRCD) Biennial Meeting, Baltimore, MD.
McIntee, S., & Brosseau-Liard, P. (2019, March) The relationship between authoritarian values and preschoolers’ perception of cues of credibility. Poster presented at the 2019 Society for Research in Child Development (SRCD) Biennial Meeting, Baltimore, MD.
Fobert, S., Cossette, I., Brosseau-Liard, P. (2019, March). Stability of individual differences in preschoolers’ endorsement of accurate informants across selective social learning tasks. Poster presented at the 2019 Society for Research in Child Development (SRCD) Biennial Meeting, Baltimore, MD.
Juteau, A., Cossette, I., & Brosseau-Liard, P. (2018, May). Individual differences in learning from various sources of information. Poster presented at Development 2018: A Canadian Conference on Developmental Psychology, St. Catharines, ON.
Fobert, S., Varin, R., Balde, A. & Brosseau-Liard, P. (2018, May). Stability of Individual Differences in Selective Social Learning. Poster presented at the 7th annua Interdisciplinary Conference in Psychology (ICP), Ottawa, ON.
Juteau, A., Slinger, M., Clow, K., Parent, C., & Brosseau-Liard, P. (2017, March). Les motivations influençant l’imitation des jeunes enfants. Poster presented at the 39th annual convention of the Société québécoise pour la recherche en psychologie, Montréal, QC.
Jennings, B., St. Pierre, A., & Brosseau-Liard, P. (2016, June) Why toddlers imitate: how confidence, motivation to learn, and motivation to affiliate influence imitation rates in young children. Poster presented at the 77th annual Canadian Psychological Association (CPA) National Convention, Victoria, BC.
Varin, J., Iannuzziello, A., & Brosseau-Liard, P. (2016, juin) Contributions of theory of mind and executive functioning to preschoolers' selective learning. Poster presented at the 77th annual Canadian Psychological Association (CPA) National Convention, Victoria, BC.
Gauthier Maltais, A., Jennings, B., St. Pierre, A., & Brosseau-Liard, P. (2016, April) Qu’est-ce qui motive l’imitation chez les tout-petits? Poster presented at the 38th annual convention of the Société québécois de recherche en psychologie (SQRP), Trois-Rivières, QC.
St. Pierre, A., Jennings, B., & Brosseau-Liard, P. (2016, April) L’influence des indicateurs comportementaux d’assurance présents et passés sur l’imitation des jeunes enfants. Poster presented at the 38th annual convention of the Société québécois de recherche en psychologie (SQRP), Trois-Rivières, QC.
Oral presentations at peer-reviewed conferences
Juteau, A., Cossette, I., Fobert, S., & Brosseau-Liard, P. (2019, May). La stabilité de performance de jeunes enfants à des tâches d’apprentissage sélectif. Oral presentation at the 8th annual Interdisciplinary Conference in Psychology (ICP), Ottawa, ON.
Poster presentations presented as part of the Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program (UROP)
Kokenberg-Gallant, L., Fobert, S., & Brosseau-Liard, P. (2019, March). Une analyse sur l’orientation mentale et l’attachement parent-enfant. Poster presented at the symposium of the Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program (UROP), Ottawa, ON.
Aquilina, F. & Brosseau-Liard, P. (2019, March). La constance de la confiance comme indicateur de crédibilité chez les enfants de trois ans. Poster presented at the symposium of the Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program (UROP), Ottawa, ON.
Varin, R., Fobert, S., Balde, A. & Brosseau-Liard, P. (2018, March). Children as consistent learners: The role of individual differences in children’s selective learning. Poster presented at the symposium of the Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program (UROP), Ottawa, ON.