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CCL in the News!
Turn Your Child Into a Science Whiz
Deborah Kelemen was astonished: in her 2014 study, many five-year-olds and most seven-year-olds grasped the concept of natural selection, a topic usually reserved for teenagers. Thanks to an educational picture book Kelemen helped create about fictional mammals, her study participants (ages five to eight) absorbed the complex biological theory—and even... More
CCL Covered in the Times of London!
Research done by the CCL was recently covered in the Times of London. Click the link below to view a PDF of the article! CCL Covered in Times of London
What’s been happening at the Child Development Labs?
Check out the Child Development Labs' Winter/Spring 2014 newsletter! This newsletter introduces each of our labs, our new Parent Outreach Project initiative, and some of our recent findings! Click here to take a look at our newsletter and find out what your families have helped us discover!
See Jane Evolve: Picture Books Explain Darwin
Evolution by natural selection is one of the best ideas in all of science. It predicts and explains an incredibly wide range of biological facts. But only 60% of Americans believe evolution is true. This may partly be due to religious ideology, of course, but studies show that many secular... More
Evolution is Coming to a Storybook Near You
Young children are notorious for their surfeit of why questions, often directed at aspects of the biological world. Take a three-year-old to the zoo, for example, and you might be asked to explain why zebras have stripes, why elephants have trunks and why flamingos have such skinny legs. (Also: why you can't... More
Are we hard-wired to believe we’re IMMORTAL? Belief that we are eternal is part of human nature and develops during childhood
People across the world, regardless of their religion or culture, believe that humans are immortal, according to research. A new study has shed some light on people’s beliefs that a person's soul or essence transcends the physical body’s death. Scientists think the belief that part of us is eternal emerges early... More
Suicide and the ‘Impure’ Soul
New research says moral bias against suicide often comes from disgust over a tainted soul. MATTHEW HUTSON Around the world, about one million people die of suicide each year, according to the World Health Organization. Each death causes immeasurable harm: Friends, family members, and coworkers suffer loss, guilt, and confusion, and the... More
Suicide Widely Deemed Immoral Because It ‘Taints the Soul,’ Study Shows
Suicide is a major public health issue; it takes the lives of more than a million people each year. It is also widely believed to be immoral. Why do people so commonly believe it is wrong for people to take their own lives? According to a study by researchers at... More
Why Do Giraffes Have Long Necks?
Anyone who has seen this majestic creature in the wild, nibbling away at the top of an acacia tree, has to marvel at the wonder of evolution. The giraffe’s long neck is a perfect adaptation to the animal’s natural habitat. Clearly the giraffe evolved this uncommon and helpful trait in... More
The Natural Design Default
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