Current research programs

For publications, please scroll down.

Learning from learners

Adapting infant learning strategies may be important for slowing cognitive decline in older adults. In particular, there are six aspects in the environment and within infants and children that help these young learners learn so efficiently: Open-minded, input-driven learning (learning new patterns, new skills, exploring outside of one’s comfort zone); Individualized scaffolding (consistent access to teachers and mentors who guide learning); Growth mindset (belief that abilities are developed with effort); Forgiving environment (allowed to make mistakes and even fail); Serious commitment to learning (learn to master essential skills rather than hobbies, persevere despite setbacks); Learning multiple skills simultaneously (such as developing language, motor, visual, and social skills).

Academic articles:

• Wu, Rebok, & Lin (2017)
• Leanos et al. (2018)
• Wu & Rebok (in press)
• Wu & Strickland-Hughes (2019)
• Leanos et al. (2020/2023)
• Nguyen et al. (2020)
• Ferguson et al. (2023a)
• Ferguson et al. (2023b)

Non-academic/media articles:

• 6 secrets infants can teach adults about learning (2017, Scientific American)
• Think you’re too old to learn new tricks? (2019, Scientific American)
• Experts on Demand video
• Learning from learners (2013, The Psychologist)

The benefits and costs of knowledge

By young adulthood, we have acquired valuable knowledge that lets us be efficient in the real world (such as shopping at a grocery store and finding what you want). One example of how knowledge is useful is that young adults can find one object (such as carrots) very quickly (by 200 milliseconds). Young adults can even search for a whole category such as “any healthy food” by 200 milliseconds. However, the cost of knowledge is that previous knowledge can be distracting in situations when they are not as relevant. For example, the letter “R” will distract you when searching for the letter “A” because you know that they are both letters. Our studies show that these costs seem to emerge from increased knowledge. This line of research investigates what the benefits and costs of knowledge are for young adults, and how they deal with them as “peak performers” in the lifespan. Future research will extend this work to aging adults who may not deal as well with the costs of knowledge. These studies use neural (EEG) and behavioral responses (reaction time and accuracy).

• Wu, Scerif et al. (2013)
• Nako, Wu, & Eimer (2014)
• Nako, Wu, Smith, & Eimer (2014)
• Wu, Nako et al. (2015) [press release] [print media]
• Wu, Pruitt et al. (2016) [press release] [print media]
• Wu, Pruitt, Zinszer, & Cheung (2017)
• Wu & Zhao (2017)
• Wu et al. (2018a)
• Wu et al. (2018b)
• Bayet et al. (2018)
• van Bergen et al. (2019)
• Moon et al. (2022a)
• Moon et al. (2022b)

Learning what to learn

Infants have relatively little knowledge compared to adults. The upside to this is that infants are capable of learning many things that are difficult for adults (such as language). The downside is that infants have difficulty choosing what to learn when confronted with a lot of information. This problem is typically solved in adults by knowledge – our previous knowledge tells us what is relevant or not relevant to learn. To solve this problem during infancy, this line of research has found that infants start using people to choose what objects to learn about by 8 months of age. This skill is important to develop because people are powerful tools to help infant learners figure out what is relevant to learn. Without this shortcut, learners may take longer paths to relevant information or even divergent paths to irrelevant information. For these studies, we use eye-trackers to measure where and for how long infants look to determine what they learn.

• Wu & Kirkham (2010)
• Wu, Gopnik, Richardson, & Kirkham (2011)
• Wu, Tummeltshammer, Gliga, & Kirkham (2014)
• Tummeltshammer, Wu, Sobel, & Kirkham (2014)
• Xiao, Wu et al. (2017)
• Wu et al. (2019)
• Wu (2019)
• Video on study (BBC)

Publications

Funding agencies and sponsors

• National Institutes of Health
• National Science Foundation
• American Psychological Foundation
• UC Riverside
• Brain Vision, LLC
• UCR Osher Lifelong Learning Institute
• UCR Center for Ideas and Society

Workshops

Learning to Attend, Attending to Learn: Neurological, Behavioral, and Computational Perspectives
Organizers: Gedeon Deak, Richard Aslin, R. Wu, & Rebecca Nako. UCSD, San Diego, CA (Nov 6-7, 2013)

Gaze, Bias, Learning II: Linking Computation, Neuroscience, and Cognitive Development
Invited speakers: Shinsuke Shimojo, Takashi Omori, Masamichi Sakagami, Jan Lauwereyns, Shohei Hidaka, Hideyuki Takahashi, & R. Wu, Tamagawa University, Tokyo (March 12, 2012)

Gaze, Bias, Learning: Linking Computation, Neuroscience, and Cognitive Development (afternoon workshop)
How to get ahead in academia in 5 countries (morning workshop)
Invited speakers: Jan Lauwereyns, Jochen Triesch, Gaia Scerif, Thomas Hannagan, Eddy Davelaar, & R. Wu, Birkbeck, London (January 23, 2012)