Publications
Publications
Books
Kelemen, D. and The Child Cognition Lab (2018). How the Dormacks Evolved Longer Backs. Tumblehome Learning: Boston. Purchase here.
Kelemen, D. and The Child Cognition Lab (2017). How the Piloses Evolved Skinny Noses. Tumblehome Learning: Boston. Purchase here.
Papers & Chapters
Lewry, C., Kelemen, D., & Lombrozo, T. ( in press). The moral consequences of teleological beliefs about the human species. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General. PDF
Pizza, L., Ronfard, S., Coley, J., Kelemen, D. (2023). Why we should care about moral foundations when preparing for the next pandemic: Insights from Canada, the UK, and the US. PLOS One. PDF
Pizza, L. & Kelemen, D. (2023). Are Humans Part of the Natural World? U.S. Children’s and Adults’ Concept of Nature and its Relationship to Environmental Concern. Topics in Cognitive Science. PDF
Kelemen, D., Brown, S. A., & Pizza, L. (2023). Don’t bug me!: The role of names, functions, and feelings in shaping children’s and adult’s conservation attitudes about unappealing species. Journal of Environmental Psychology. PDF
Kelemen, D., Emmons, N., Brown, S. A., & Gallik, C. (2021). Beliefs about Origins and Eternal Life: How Easy Is Formal Religious Theory Development?. Journal of Cognition and Development, 1-23. PDF
Ronfard, S., Brown, S., Doncaster, E., Kelemen, D. (2021) Inhibiting intuition: Scaffolding children’s theory construction about species evolution in the face of competing explanations. Cognition, 211, 104635. PDF
Rottman, J., Zizik, V., Minard, K., Young, L., Blake, P. R., & Kelemen, D. (2020). The moral, or the story? Changing children’s distributive justice preferences through social communication. Cognition, 205, 104441. PDF
Pizza, L., & Posada, R. (2020). “You Have the River to Throw It Away”: Colombian Children’s Reasoning About Transgressions to Nature in Contexts of Economic Performance and Communitarian Needs. Ecopsychology. PDF
Brown, S. A., Ronfard, S., & Kelemen, D. (2020). Teaching natural selection in early elementary classrooms: can a storybook intervention reduce teleological misunderstandings?. Evolution: Education and Outreach, 13, 1-19. PDF
Kelemen, D. (2019). The Magic of Mechanism: Explanation-based instruction on counterintuitive concepts in early childhood. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 1-13, doi.org/10.1177/1745691619827011. PDF
Ronfard, S., Zambrana, I. M., Hermansen, T.K., & Kelemen, D. (2018). Question-asking in childhood: A review of the literature and a framework for understanding its development. Developmental Review. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1016/j.dr.2018.05.002. PDF
Järnefelt, E., Zhu, L., Canfield, C.F., Chen, M., & Kelemen, D. (2018). Reasoning about nature’s agency and design in the cultural context of China. Religion, Brain & Behavior. doi: 10.1080/2153599X.2018.1449137. PDF
Emmons, N., Lees, K., & Kelemen, D. (2017). Young children’s near and far transfer of the basic theory of natural selection: An analogical storybook intervention. Journal of Research in Science Teaching. PDF
Schachner, A., Zhu, L., Li, J., & Kelemen, D. (2017). Is the bias for function-based explanations culturally universal? Children from China endorse teleological explanations of natural phenomena. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology. PDF
Rottman, J., Zhu, L., Wang, W., Seston Schillaci, R., Clark, K. J., & Kelemen, D. (2017). Cultural influences on the teleological stance. Evidence from China. Religion, Brain & Behavior, 1-10. doi: 10.1080/2153599X.2015.1118402. (N.B.: Accepted November 2015. Published online, February 2016) PDF
Rottman, J., Young, L., & Kelemen, D. (2016). The impact of testimony on children’s moralization of novel actions. Emotion, 17(5), 811-827. PDF
Emmons, N. A., Smith, H., & Kelemen, D. A. (2016). Changing minds with the story of adaptation: Strategies for teaching young children about adaptation. Early Education and Development, 27(8), 1205-1221. doi:10.1080/10409289.2016.1169823 PDF
Emmons, N. A., & Kelemen, D. (2015). Young children’s acceptance of within-species variation: Implications for essentialism and teaching evolution. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 139, 148 – 160. doi: 10.1016/j.jecp.2015.05.011. PDF
Emmons, N. A., & Kelemen, D. (2015). I’ve got a feeling: Urban and rural indigenous children’s beliefs about early life mentality. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 138, 106-25. doi: 10.1016/j.jecp.2015.05.001. PDF
Jarnefelt, E., Ford Canfield, C. & Kelemen, D. (2015). The divided mind of a disbeliever: Intuitive beliefs about nature as purposefully created among different groups of non-religious adults. Cognition, 140, 72–88. doi:10.1016/j.cognition.2015.02.005. PDF
Rottman, J., Kelemen, D., & Young, L. (2015). Hindering harm and preserving purity: How can moral psychology save the planet? Philosophy Compass, 10, 134-144. doi:10.1111/phc3.12195. PDF
Kelemen, D., Emmons, N., Seston, R. & Ganea, P. (2014). Young children can be taught basic natural selection using a picture storybook intervention. Psychological Science, 25, 893-902. doi:10.1177/0956797613516009. PDF
Seston Schillaci, R. & Kelemen, D. (2014) Children’s conformity when acquiring novel conventions: The case of artifacts. Journal of Cognition and Development, 15, 569-583. doi: 10.1080/15248372.2013.784973. PDF
Emmons, N. & Kelemen, D. (2014). The development of children’s pre-life reasoning: Evidence from two cultures. Child Development, 85, 1617-1633. doi: 10.1111/cdev.12220. PDF
Rottman, J., Kelemen, D., & Young, L. (2014). Purity matters more than harm in moral judgments of suicide: Response to Gray. Cognition. 133, 332–334. doi:10.1016/j.cognition.2014.
Rottman, J., Kelemen, D., & Young, L. (2014). Tainting the soul: Purity concerns predict moral judgments of suicide. Cognition, 130, 217-226. doi:10.1016/j.cognition. 2013.11.007. PDF
Rottman, J.
Kelemen, D., Rottman, J. & Seston, R. (2013). Professional physical scientists display tenacious teleological tendencies. Purpose-based reasoning as a cognitive default. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 142(4), 1074-1083. PDF
Kelemen, D. (2012). Teleological minds: How natural intuitions about agency and purpose influence learning about evolution. In K. S. Rosengren, S. K. Brem, E. M. Evans & G. M. Sinatra (Eds.), Evolution challenges: Integrating research and practice in teaching and learning about evolution. Oxford: Oxford University Press. PDF
Rottman, J. & Kelemen, D. (2012). Aliens behaving badly: Children’s acquisition of novel purity-based morals. Cognition, 124, 356–360. PDF
Rottman, J. & Kelemen, D. (2012). Is there such a thing as a Christian child? Evidence of religious beliefs in early childhood. In P. McNamara and W. Wildman (Eds.), Science and the world’s religions: Persons and Groups. Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger Press. PDF
Kelemen, D., Seston, R. & St. Georges, L. (2012). The designing mind: Children’s reasoning about intended function and artifact structure. Journal of Cognition and Development, 4, 439–453 (NB: Accepted May, 2011. Published online, December, 2011). PDF
Phillips, B., Seston, R. & Kelemen, D. (2012). Learning about tool categories via eavesdropping. Child Development, 83, 2057–2072. PDF
Donovan, E. & Kelemen, D. (2011). Just rewards: Children and adults equate accidental inequity with intentional unfairness. Journal of Cognition and Culture, 11, 137–150. PDF
Dennis, T. A. & Kelemen, D. (2009). Children’s views on emotion regulation: Functional links and implications for socio-emotional adjustment. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 33, 243–252. PDF
Kelemen, D. & Rosset, E. (2009). The Human Function Compunction: Teleological explanation in adults. Cognition, 111, 138–143. PDF
Casler, K. & Kelemen, D. (2008). Developmental continuity in the teleo-functional bias: Reasoning about nature among Romanian Roma adults (Gypsies). Journal of Cognition and Development, 9, 340–362. PDF
DiYanni, C. & Kelemen, D. (2008). Using a bad tool with good intention: Young children’s imitation of adults’ questionable choices. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology: Special Issue on Imitation, 101, 241–261. PDF
Casler, K. & Kelemen, D. (2007). Reasoning about artifacts at 24 months: The developing teleo-functional stance. Cognition, 103, 120–130. PDF
Kelemen, D. & Carey, S. (2007). The essence of artifacts: Developing the design stance. In S. Laurence & E. Margolis (Eds.), Creations of the Mind: Theories of artifacts and their representation. Oxford: Oxford University Press. PDF
Kelemen, D. & Carey, S. (2007). Az artefaktumok (eszközök) esszenciája. A tervezeti hozzáállás kialakulása. Magyar Pszichológiai Szemle, 62, 131–159.
Lombrozo, T., Kelemen, D. & Zaitchik, D. (2007). Inferring design: Evidence of a preference for teleological explanations in patients with Alzheimer’s disease. Psychological Science, 18, 999–1006. PDF
Casler, K. & Kelemen, D. (2005). Young children’s rapid learning about artifacts. Developmental Science, 8, 472–480. PDF
DiYanni, C. & Kelemen, D. (2005). Time to get a new mountain? The role of function in children’s conceptions of natural kinds. Cognition, 97, 325–335. PDF
Kelemen, D., Callanan, M., Casler, K. & Pérez-Granados, D. R. (2005). Why things happen: Teleological explanation in parent-child conversations. Developmental Psychology, 41, 251–264.PDF
Kelemen, D. & DiYanni, C. (2005). Intuitions about origins: Purpose and intelligent design in children’s reasoning about nature. Journal of Cognition and Development, 6, 3–31. PDF
Kelemen, D. (2004). Counterintuition, existential anxiety, and religion as a by-product of the designing mind. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 27, 739–740. PDF
Kelemen, D. (2004). Are children “intuitive theists”?: Reasoning about purpose and design in nature. Psychological Science, 15, 295–301. Reprinted in Wilkins, J. S. (Ed.), Intelligent design and religion as a natural phenomenon (2010). Ashgate Press. PDF
Kelemen, D. (2003). British and American children’s preferences for teleological-functional explanations of the natural world. Cognition, 8, 201–221. PDF
Kelemen, D., Widdowson, D., Posner, T., Brown, A. L. & Casler, K. (2003). Teleo-functional constraints on preschool children’s reasoning about living things. Developmental Science, 6, 329–345. PDF
Kelemen, D. (1999). Beliefs about purpose: On the origins of teleological thought. In M. Corballis and S. Lea (Eds.), The Descent of Mind. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Kelemen, D. (1999). Functions, goals and intentions: Children’s teleological reasoning about objects. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 12, 461–468. PDF
Kelemen, D. (1999). The scope of teleological thinking in preschool children. Cognition, 70, 241–272. PDF
Kelemen, D. (1999). Why are rocks pointy?: Children’s preference for teleological explanations of the natural world. Developmental Psychology, 35, 1440–1453. PDF
Bloom, P. & Kelemen, D. (1995). Syntactic cues in the acquisition of collective nouns. Cognition, 56, 1–30. PDF
Bloom, P., Kelemen, D., Fountain, A. & Courtney, E. (1995). The acquisition of collective nouns. In D. MacLaughlin and S. McEwen (Eds.), The Proceedings of the 19th Boston University Conference on Language Development. Cascadilla Press.
Bloom, P. & Kelemen, D. (1995). Syntactic and conceptual factors in the acquisition of collective nouns. In E. Clark (Ed.), The Proceedings of the Twenty-Sixth Annual Child Language Research Forum. Stanford: CSLI.
Kelemen, D. & Bloom, P. (1994). Domain-specific knowledge in simple categorization tasks. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 1, 390–395. PDF
Manstead, A. S. R., Parker, D., Stradling, S. G., Reason, J. T., Baxter, J. S. & Kelemen, D. (1992). Perceived consensus in estimates of the prevalence of driving errors and violations. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 22, 509–530.
