Research Interests
Lynn Liben is interested in both cognitive and social development, and
in their interface. Current work in cognitive development focuses on children's
growing ability to understand graphic representations, including maps,
satellite imagery, photographs, and drawings. For example, in a collaborative
grant with geographers, astronauts, earth scientists, educators, and other
members of the psychology department, she is studying the use of various
scientific visualization tools (e.g., Geographic Information Systems software)
with children and adults. Also under study are the origins and amelioration
of sex differences in spatial skills. Work in social development focuses
on gender and racial stereotypes, with particular interest in the ways
in which cognitive processes play a role in understanding and modifying
these stereotypes.
Recent Publications
Myers, L. J. & Liben, L. S. (in press). The role of intentionality and iconicity in children’s developing comprehension and production of cartographic symbols. Child Development.
Szechter, L. E., & Liben, L. S. (2007). Children’s aesthetic understanding of photographic art and the quality of art-related parent-child interactions. Child Development, 78, 879-894.
Kastens, K. A. & Liben, L. S. (2007). Eliciting self-explanations improves children’s performance on a field-based map skills task. Cognition and Instruction, 25, 45-74.
Bigler, R. S., & Liben, L. S. (2007). Developmental intergroup theory: Explaining and reducing children's social stereotyping and prejudice. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 16, 162-166.
Liben, L. S. (2006). Education for spatial thinking. In W. Damon & R. Lerner (Series Eds.) and K. A. Renninger & I. E. Sigel (Vol. Eds.), Handbook of Child Psychology (6th ed., Vol. 4, pp. 197-247). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
Szechter, L. E. & Liben, L. S. (2004). Parental guidance in preschoolers' understanding of spatial-graphic representations. Child Development, 75 (3), 869-885.
Liben, L. S. (2003). Beyond point and shoot: Children’s developing understanding of photographs as spatial and expressive representations. In R. V. Kail (Ed.), Advances in Child Development and Behavior (Vol. 31, pp. 1-42). San Diego: Elsevier.
Liben, L. S., & Bigler, R. S. (2002). The developmental course of gender differentiation: Conceptualizing, measuring, and evaluating constructs and pathways. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development (Vol 6, 269).
