Ágnes Melinda Kovács

The research of Agnes Melinda Kovacs focuses on a range of questions addressing how the developing mind comes to go beyond the here and now, think about alternative representations of reality, form abstract concepts, and learn about and from other social agents. On the one hand, she studies early social cognition, including perspective taking, theory of mind, and the ability to track other people’s models of the world and their epistemic states (knowledge, belief, uncertainty, and informational needs). On the other hand, she investigates the early foundations of abstract thought, such as generalisation and compositionality in language and beyond language, as well as evidence-based belief updating processes and their potential failures in children and adults.