Jonathan D. Lane
Associate Professor of Psychology and Human Development
My research is focused on children’s social-cognitive development: their developing understandings of other people and minds, and the ways in which they learn from other people and minds. My work on children’s understanding of minds-- their "theory of mind"--has identified developmental predictors of children's theory of mind (e.g., temperament), social-cognitive consequences of theory of mind development (e.g., children’s moral reasoning, hostile attributions of intent, and social learning), and has explored the flexibility of children's theory of mind as evidenced in their understanding of extraordinary minds (e.g., omniscient beings). My work on how children learn from others has focused on how children’s conceptual development and beliefs are influenced by others’ claims about counter-perceptual phenomena (e.g., invisible entities that can cause observable phenomena) and counterintuitive phenomena (e.g., animals with extraordinary capacities). Most recently, my work on children’s social learning has begun to address questions of how children’s attitudes about new social groups are influenced by others’ claims about those groups.
Representative Publications
Granata, N., & Lane, J. D. (2025). Children’s developing disability conceptions: A review and recommendations for continued research. Cognitive Development.
Ronfard, S., Goulding, B., & Lane, J. D. (2025). Possibility judgments in childhood: Is uncertainty monitoring the missing link? Child Development Perspectives.
Conder, E. B., Jaeger, C. B, & Lane, J. D. (2024). Law and order: The timing of evidence about perpetrators’ circumstances affects punishment decisions. Thinking & Reasoning, 30, 1-23. doi: 10.1080/13546783.2023.2172077
Lane, J. D., & Ronfard, S. (2023). Children’s pursuit of counterintuitive information in books. Journal of Cognition and Development, 24, 720-734. doi: 10.1080/15248372.2023.2216283
Granata, N. G., & Lane, J. D. (2023). Investigating the efficacy of prescribed labeling practices: Conceptualizing persons with disabilities. Group Processes and Intergroup Relations, 27, 1423-1436. doi: 10.1177/13684302231157990
Wiebe, M., Granata, N. G., & Lane, J. D. (2022). Children's attributions of knowledge and trustworthiness to persons with disabilities. Cognitive Development, 61, 101143. doi: 10.1016/j.cogdev.2021.101143
Granata, N. G., Wiebe, M., & Lane, J. D. (2022). Children’s judgments of and reasoning about violations committed by individuals with disabilities. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 215, 105318. doi: 10.1016/j.jecp.2021.105318
Lane, J. D., & Bowman, L. C. (2021). How children’s social tendencies can shape their Theory of Mind development: Access and attention to social information. Developmental Review, 61, 100977. doi: 10.1016/j.dr.2021.100977
Conder, E. B., & Lane, J. D. (2021). Overhearing brief negative messages has lasting effects on children’s attitudes toward novel social groups. Child Development, 92, e674-e690. doi: 10.1111/cdev.13547
Lane, J. D. (2021). Constructing ideas of the supernatural. Journal of Cognition and Development, 22, 343-355. doi: 10.1080/15248372.2021.1906679
Lane, J. D., Conder, E. B., & Rottman, J. (2020). The influence of direct and overheard messages on children’s attitudes toward novel social groups. Child Development, 91, 829-845. doi: 10.1111/cdev.13238
Lane, J. D. (2020). Probabilistic reasoning in context: Socio-cultural differences in children's and adults' predictions about the fulfillment of prayers and wishes. Journal of Cognition and Development, 21, 240-260. doi: 10.1080/15248372.2019.1709468
Danovitch, J. H., & Lane, J. D. (2020). Children’s belief in purported events: When claims reference hearsay, books, or the internet. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 193. doi: 10.1016/j.jecp.2020.104808
Lane, J. D. (2018). Children’s belief in counterintuitive and counter-perceptual messages. Child Development Perspectives, 12, 247-252. doi: 10.1111/cdep.12294
Lane, J. D., Ronfard, S., & El-Sherif, D. (2018). The influence of first-hand testimony and hearsay on children’s belief in the improbable. Child Development, 89, 1133-1140. doi: 10.1111/cdev.12815
Ronfard, S., & Lane, J. D. (2018). Preschoolers continually adjust their epistemic trust based on an informant’s ongoing accuracy. Child Development, 89, 414-429. doi: 10.1111/cdev.12720
Lane, J. D., & Shafto, P. (2017). Young children's attributions of causal power to novel invisible entities. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 162, 268-281. doi: 10.1016/j.jecp.2017.05.015
Lane, J. D., Ronfard, S., Francioli, S., & Harris, P. L. (2016). Children’s imagination and belief: Prone to flights of fancy or grounded in reality? Cognition, 152, 127-140. doi: 10.1016/j.cognition.2016.03.022
Lane, J. D., Evans, E. M., Brink, K. A., & Wellman, H. M. (2016). Developing concepts of ordinary and extraordinary communication. Developmental Psychology, 52, 19-30. doi: 10.1037/dev0000061
Lane, J. D., & Harris, P. L. (2015). The roles of intuitions and informants’ expertise in children’s epistemic trust. Child Development, 86, 919-926. doi: 10.111/cdev.12324
Lane, J. D., Wellman, H. M., & Evans, E. M. (2014). Approaching an understanding of omniscience from the preschool years to early adulthood. Developmental Psychology, 50, 2380-2392. doi: 10.1037/a0037715
Lane, J. D., & Harris, P. L. (2014). Confronting, representing, and believing counterintuitive concepts: Navigating the natural and the supernatural. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 9, 144-160. doi: 10.1177/1745691613518078
Lane, J. D., Harris, P. L., Gelman, S. A., & Wellman, H. M. (2014). More than meets the eye: Young children’s trust in claims that defy their perceptions. Developmental Psychology, 50, 865-871. doi: 10.1037/a0034291
Honors
Vanderbilt University Chancellor Faculty Fellow, 2023
National Research Service Award, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, 2012
Rackham School of Graduate Studies Doctoral Candidate Research Grant, Univ. of Michigan, 2011
Rackham School of Graduate Studies Predoctoral Fellowship, University of Michigan, 2010
Sigma Xi, Scientific Research Honor Society, 2009
Rackham School of Graduate Studies Pre-candidate Research Grant, University of Michigan, 2008
National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, NRSA trainee, U. of Michigan, 2006 - 2007