Susan E. Carey
· Member of the Faculty of Education<br/>Henry A. Morss, Jr. and Elizabeth W. Morss Professor of PsychologyHarvard University · Social Studies and Civics Education
Active 1968–2026
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About
Susan E. Carey is a Harvard psychologist whose work has explored fundamental issues surrounding the nature of the human mind. She is the Henry A. Morss, Jr. and Elisabeth W. Morss Professor of Psychology in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at Harvard University. Carey is recognized for her theoretical contributions to the study of human development and is the first woman to receive the Rumelhart Prize for her work. She has been a member of the Harvard faculty since 2001, with previous teaching positions at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and New York University. Carey received her B.A. from Radcliffe in 1964, was awarded a Fullbright Fellowship to London University in 1965, and earned her Ph.D. from Harvard in 1971. She is a member of several prestigious organizations, including the American Philosophical Society, the National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the National Academy of Education, and the British Academy.
Research topics
- Computer Science
- Psychology
- Cognitive psychology
- Mathematics
- Developmental psychology
- Biology
- Engineering
- Mathematical economics
- Neuroscience
- Evolutionary biology
Selected publications
The Acquisition of Modal Concepts
Trends in Cognitive Sciences · 2019-12-20 · 150 citations
reviewSenior authorScientific Reports · 2020 · 41 citations
Intelligent behavior is shaped by the abilities to store and manipulate information in visual working memory. Although humans and various non-human animals demonstrate similar storage capacities, the evolution of manipulation ability remains relatively unspecified. To what extent are manipulation limits unique to humans versus shared across species? Here, we compare behavioral signatures of manipulation ability demonstrated by human adults and 6-to-8-year-old children with that of an animal sepa…
The development of reasoning by exclusion in infancy
Cognitive Psychology · 2022 · 40 citations
Senior authorCorrespondingCould It Be So? The Cognitive Science of Possibility
Trends in Cognitive Sciences · 2019-12-20 · 29 citations
review1st authorCorrespondingMinimal representations of possibility at age 3
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · 2022 · 27 citations
Senior authorCorrespondingYoung children do not always consider alternative possibilities when planning. Suppose a prize is hidden in a single occluded container and another prize is hidden in an occluded pair. If given a chance to choose one container and receive its contents, choosing the singleton maximizes expected reward because each member of the pair might be empty. Yet, 3-y-olds choose a member of the pair almost half the time. Why don't they maximize expected reward? Three studies provide evidence that 3-y-olds…
Recent grants
INSPIRE: Executive Function and Conceptual Change
NSF · $800k · 2012–2017
NIH · $514k · 1991
Origin of Knowledge: Conceptual Continuity and Change
NIH · $2.4M · 2000–2014
Frequent coauthors
- 22 shared
Jean‐Rémy Hochmann
Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique
- 19 shared
Shilpa Mody
Providence College
- 16 shared
Elizabeth S. Spelke
Harvard University
- 16 shared
Bria Long
- 13 shared
Mariko Moher
Williams College
- 13 shared
Irene M. Pepperberg
- 13 shared
Talia Konkle
Harvard University
- 12 shared
Deborah Zaitchik
Massachusetts General Hospital
Awards & honors
- Rumelhart Prize
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