Home

Research Interests

Publications

CV

Peter R. Blake

Harvard University
  Postdoctoral Fellow, Program for Evolutionary Dynamics
  Research Affiliate, Social Cognitive Development Group
  FQEB Prize Recipient

Contact Info:
  One Brattle Square, Suite 6
  Cambridge, MA 02138
  pblake(at)fas.harvard.edu

Social interactions frequently involve material goods and human societies have norms and rules that govern these interactions. To children, these rules are not obvious or easy to follow: how do you know when a toy is owned and what does that mean? when should you share and when should you compete for resources? is equal always fair or can you sometimes keep more for yourself?

Through my research I investigate these and other questions about how children learn to be social beings in a material world. I use experimental methods that are grounded in game theory to capture children's behavior when real resources (e.g., stickers and candy) are at stake. To design experiments and interpret the results, I integrate insights from social cognitive development, behavioral economics and evolutionary-developmental theory.

Blake, P.R., & McAuliffe, K. (2011). “ I had so much it didn’t seem fair”: Eight- year-olds reject two forms of inequity. Cognition, doi:10.1016/j.cognition.2011.04.006.

Blake, P.R., & Harris, P.L. (2011). Early representations of ownership. In H.S. Ross, & O. Friedman (Eds.), The Developmental Origins of Ownership of Property. New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development , 2011: 39–51. doi: 10.1002/cd.295.

Blake, P.R., & Rand, D.G. (2010). Currency value moderates equity preference among young children. Evolution and Human Behavior, 31, 210-218.

Hauser, M.D., McAuliffe, K., & Blake, P.R. (2009). Evolving the ingredients for reciprocity and spite. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, 364, 3255-3266.

Blake, P.R., & Harris, P.L. (2009). Children’s understanding of ownership transfers. Cognitive Development, 24, 133-145.

Blake, P.R., & Gardner, H. (2007). A first course in Mind, Brain and Education. Mind, Brain and Education, Vol. 1(2), 61-65.


Under Review:
Blake, P.R., Ganea, P.A. & Harris, P.L. Possession is not always the law: Preschoolers use verbal information to identify non-possessors as owners.

Blake, P.R., Ganea, P.A., & Harris, P.L. The language of ownership: Emerging comprehension of verbal statements of ownership by 2-year olds

Smith, C., Blake, P.R., & Harris, P.L. Young children are hypocritical, but self-aware, in a sharing game.