Michael Tomasello, James F. Bonk Distinguished Professor

Contact Info:

Office Location:	Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, 247 Reuben-Cooke Building, Durham, NC
Email Address:
Web Page:	https://sites.duke.edu/tomasellolabduke/people/

Teaching (Spring 2026):

• Psy 490s.01, Special topics in psychology Synopsis

  Physics 150, Th 01:25 PM-03:55 PM

• Psy 890s.01, Special topics in psychology Synopsis

  Physics 150, Th 01:25 PM-03:55 PM

Education:

Ph.D.	University of Georgia	1980
B.A.	Duke University	1972

Research Interests:

Major research interests in processes of social cognition, social learning, cooperation, and communication from developmental, comparative, and cultural perspectives. Current theoretical focus on processes of shared intentionality. Empirical research mainly with human children from 1 to 4 years of age and great apes.

Curriculum Vitae

Recent Publications   (More Publications)   (search)

1. Wolf, W; Iva, V; Larsen, I; Tomasello, M (2026). Young children enforce self-created norms promiscuously.. Journal of experimental child psychology, 262, 106396. [doi]  [abs]
2. Katz, T; Tomasello, M (2026). It's the cost that counts! Young children's reciprocity is sensitive to subjective cost.. Child development, 97(1), 261-272. [doi]  [abs]
3. Köymen, B; Green, Y; Bennett, S; Tomasello, M (2026). Three-year-old children understand the false beliefs of their partner in collaborative decision making.. Child development, 97(1), 1-8. [doi]  [abs]
4. Dotson, K; Tomasello, M (2026). When revealed after the fact, selfish intentions undermine prosocial actions in 5-year-olds.. PloS one, 21(3), e0344731. [doi]  [abs]
5. Tomasello, M (2025). Attention in evolutionary perspective.. The Behavioral and brain sciences, 48, e157. [doi]  [abs]