College of Education and Human Development

Institute of Child Development

Melissa Koenig

  • Professor, Director of Graduate Studies

Melissa Koenig

Areas of interest

Cognitive development, culture, cross-culture, early childhood, language development, learning, reflective practice, theory of mind

Degrees

PhD, 2002, University of Texas at Austin

Biography

Language acquisition, cognitive development, pragmatics and social cognition, word learning.

Early Language and Experience Lab

Selected Quote

"The most basic activism we can have in our lives is to live consciously in a nation living in fantasies." - bell hooks

Lab

Early Language and Experience Lab

Research

My research focuses on the factors that constrain and support children's learning from others. Our lab group studies various aspects of trust, cultural learning, moral judgment, source memory, language and cognitive development in young children.  As a first-generation college student, I lead a collaborative lab, supporting students’ navigation of the hidden curriculum of academia and enjoy supporting graduate students on their own unique trajectory.   Our lab group does work that is deeply collaborative, interdisciplinary, multi-method with a cultural lens and is dedicated to doing impactful work that moves the fields of psychology, philosophy, and development forward.

Advising expectations and availability

For Ph.D. program applicants: If you are indicating me as a faculty member you’re interested in working with on your application, I prefer that you contact me prior to the application deadline of Dec. 1.

If you are a prospective graduate student who is interested in working with Dr. Koenig, click here to review her advising expectations. The document outlines what you can expect from Dr. Koenig as an advisor/mentor and provides an overview of Dr. Koenig's expectations of students. 

Please note that for the 2024 admissions cycle Dr. Koenig is looking to take on new Ph.D. students as their primary advisor.

Publications

Li, P. H., & Koenig, M. A., (in press). Children’s Evaluations of Informants and their Surprising Claims in Direct and Overheard Contexts.  Journal of Cognition and Development. 

Suarez, S., & Koenig, M. A., (in press).  Good Thinking:  Parent epistemological understanding predicts individual differences in children’s judgments about others’ reasoning.  Child Development. 

Li, P. H., Harris, P. L. & Koenig, M. A., (2019).  The Role of Testimony in Children’s Moral Decision Making: Evidence from China and United States.  Developmental Psychology, 55 (12), 2603.

Varhol, A.R., Kushnir, T. & Koenig, M. A. (2019). Preschoolers’ evaluations of ignorant agents are situation-specific . In A.K. Goel, C.M. Seifert, & C. Freksa (Eds.) Proceedings of the 41st Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society. Montreal, QB: Cognitive Science Society.

Koenig, M. A., Tiberius, V., & Hamlin, J. K., (2019). Children’s Judgments of Epistemic and Moral Agents: From Situations to Intentions.  Perspectives in Psychological Science, 1-17.

Pesch, A., & Koenig, M. A. (2018). Varieties of trust in preschoolers’ learning and practical decisions. PLOS One, 13(8), e0202506.

Schieler, A., Koenig, M. A., & Buttelmann, D. (2018).  Fourteen-month-olds selectively search for and use information depending on the familiarity of the informant but not the learning context.  Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 174, 112-129.

Pesch, A., Suarez, S., & Koenig, M. A., (2018).  The Development of Trust: Shared Reality in Children’s Testimonial Learning.  Current Opinion in Psychology, 23, 38-41. 

Harris, P., Koenig, M., Corriveau, K., & Jaswal, V. (2018).  Cognitive Foundations of Learning from Testimony.  Annual Review of Psychology, 69, 251-273.

Reifen Tagar, M., Hetherington, C., Shulman, P., & Koenig, M., (2017). On the Path to Social Dominance? Individual Differences in Sensitivity to Intergroup Fairness Violations in Early Childhood.  Personality and Individual Differences, 113, 246-250.

Kushnir, T. & Koenig, M. A., (2017).  What I don’t know won’t hurt you: The relation between professed ignorance and later knowledge claims. Developmental Psychology, 53 (5), 826-836. 

Doebel, S., & Koenig, M. A., (2016). The Emergence of Logical Inconsistency Understanding in Young Children and its Role in Epistemic Trust.  Child Development, 87 (6), 1956-1970.

Koenig, M. A., Cole, C., Meyer, M., Ridge, K., Kushnir, T., & Gelman, S., (2015).  Reasoning about knowledge: Children’s evaluations of generality and verifiability. Cognitive Psychology, 83, 22-39.

Stephens, E., & Koenig, M. A., (2015).  Varieties of Testimony: Children’s Selective Learning in Semantic and Episodic Domains.  Cognition, 137, 182-188.

Stephens, E., Suarez, S., & Koenig, M.A., (2015). Early Testimonial Learning: Monitoring Speech Acts and Speakers.  Advances in Child Development and Behavior, 48, 151-183.

Koenig, M. A., Cole, C., Meyer, M., Ridge, K., Kushnir, T., & Gelman, S., (2015).  Reasoning about knowledge: Children’s evaluations of generality and verifiability. Cognitive Psychology, 83, 22-39.

Stephens, E., & Koenig, M. A., (2015).  Varieties of Testimony: Children’s Selective Learning in Semantic and Episodic Domains.  Cognition, 137, 182-188.

Stephens, E., Suarez, S., & Koenig, M.A., (2015). Early Testimonial Learning: Monitoring Speech Acts and Speakers.  Advances in Child Development and Behavior, 48, 151-183.

Sher, I., Koenig, M. A., & Rustichini, A. (2014). Children’s strategic theory of mind. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 111(37), 13307-13312.

Hetherington, C., Hendrickson, C., & Koenig, M., (2014). Reducing an In-Group Bias in Preschool Children: The Impact of Moral Behavior. Developmental Science, 17(6), 1-8. doi:10.1111/desc.12192.

Reifen, M., Federico, C., M., Lyons, K., Ludeke, S., & Koenig, M. A. (2014).  Heralding the Authoritarian?  Orientation towards Authority in Early Childhood.   Psychological Science, 25(4), 883-892.  

Sera, M., Cole, C., Oromendia, M., & Koenig, M., (2014). Object familiarity facilitates foreign word learning in preschoolers.  Language Learning and Development. 10 (2), 129-148.

Carlson, S., Koenig, M., & Harms, M., (2013).  Theory of Mind.  WIREs Cognitive Science. Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Cognitive Science. Doi: 10.1002/wcs.1232

Doebel, S., & Koenig, M. A., (2013).  Children’s Use of an Informant’s Negative Moral Behavior: Discrimination versus Learning.  Developmental Psychology, 49 (3), 462-469.

Koenig, M. A., & Sabbagh, M., (2013).  Selective social learning: New Perspectives on Learning from Others.  Developmental Psychology, 49 (3), 399-403.

Koenig, M. A., (2012).  Beyond Semantic Accuracy: Preschoolers Evaluate a Speaker’s Reasons.  Child Development, 83, 1051-1063.

Koenig, M. A., & Woodward, A. L., (2012).  Toddlers learn words in a foreign language: The role of native vocabulary knowledge. Journal of Child Language, 39, 322-337.

Cole, C., Harris, P. L., & Koenig, M. A., (2012).  Entitled to Trust? Philosophical Frameworks and Evidence from Children.  Analyse & Kritik, 34, 195-216.

Koenig, M. A., & Jaswal, V. K., (2011).  Characterizing Children’s Expectations about Expertise and Incompetence: Halo or Pitchfork Effects?   Child Development, 82(5), 1634-1647.

Ganea, P., Koenig, M. A., & Millet, K., (2011).  Changing your mind about things unseen: Toddlers’ sensitivity to prior reliability.  Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 109, 445-453.

Koenig, M. A., & Woodward, A. L., (2010). Sensitivity of 24-month-olds to the Prior Inaccuracy of the Source: Possible Mechanisms.  Developmental Psychology, 46 (4), 815–826.

Koenig, M. A. & Harris, P. L., (2008).  The basis of epistemic trust: Reliable testimony or reliable sources?  Episteme, (4), 264-284.

Pasquini, E. S., Corriveau, K. H., Koenig, M. A.  & Harris, P. L., (2007).  Preschoolers monitor the relative accuracy of informants.  Developmental Psychology, 43(5), 1216-1226.

Harris, P. L., & Koenig, M. A. (2006).  Trust in Testimony: How Children Learn about Science and Religion.  Child Development, 77 (3), 505-524.

Koenig, M. A., & Harris, P. L., (2005).  Preschoolers mistrust ignorant and inaccurate speakers.  Child Development, 76, (6), 1261- 1277.

Koenig, M. A. & Harris, P. L. (2005).  The role of social cognition in early trust.  Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 9, (10), 457-459.

Koenig, M. A., Clement, F., & Harris, P. L., (2004).  Trust in Testimony: Children’s Use of True and False Statements.  Psychological Science, 15, (10), 694-698.

Clement, F., Koenig, M. A., & Harris, P. L., (2004).  The Ontogenesis of Trust.  Mind and Language, 19, (4), 360-379.

Koenig, M. A. & Echols, C. H. (2003).  Infants’ Understanding of False Labeling Events: The Referential Role of Words and the People who Use them. Cognition, 87, (3), 181-210. 

Koenig, M. A. (2002).  Children’s Understanding of Belief as a Normative Concept. New Ideas in Psychology, 20, (2), 107-130. 

Gelman, S. A., & Koenig, M. A. (2001). The role of animacy in children’s understanding of ‘move’. Journal of Child Language, 28, (3), 683-701.