How does the physical world in which we live shape the abstract world in which we think? I address this question by exploring the origin and development of uniquely human geometric understanding. My lab uses cognitive, developmental, and computational approaches to gain insight from the full range of human encounters with geometry, from the basic spatial sensitivities of infants to the untutored use of spatial symbols and language by children to the high-level spatial concepts of adults. I broaden and deepen this exploration to ask how mathematical formalisms might have been ignited in the first geometers like Euclid and how they might be reignited in the minds of our children, those future mathematicians we send to school every day. In addition, I ask how our basic mechanisms of perception and cognition about spaces, objects, agents, and social partners might even shape our cultural production of pictorial art. Elucidating the geometry and communicative intent in children’s drawings may help reveal the role human cognition plays in the production of art.

Moira Dillon
Assistant Professor of Psychology
Please visit my lab: Lab for the Developing Mind at NYU
Education
- 2017 Ph.D., Harvard University
- 2008 B.A., Yale University
Assistant Professor of Psychology, New York University, 2017-present
For publications, please see my lab page.
Contact Information
Moira Dillon
Assistant Professor of Psychology moira.dillon@nyu.edu Department of PsychologyNew York University
6 Washington Place, Room 323
New York, NY 10003
Phone: (212) 998-3693