Referred Publications

Please note: Electronic versions of some papers are provided for academic purposes only. Please do not repost or distribute without permission.

*indicates current or former student

Monroe, A. J.*, Chandler-Campbell, I. L.*, Damico, K. N.*, Danovitch, J. H., & Mills, C. M. (2024). The role of truth and bias in parents’ judgments of children’s science interests. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 244, 105949.

Mills, C. M., Goldstein, T. R., Kanumuru, P., Monroe, A. J.*, & Quintero, N. B.* (2024). Debunking the Santa myth: The process and aftermath of becoming skeptical about Santa. Developmental Psychology, 60, 1-16. doi: 10.1037/dev0001662.[View online]

Sands, K. R.*, Monroe, A. J.*, & Mills, C. M. (2023). “How do fish breathe underwater?” Young children’s ability to evaluate and remember different types of explanations regarding biological phenomena. Cognitive Development, 66, 101330.

Chandler-Campbell, I. L.*, Ghossainy, M., Mills, C. M., & Corriveau, K. H. (2022). Is secondhand information better read or said? Factors influencing children’s endorsement of text-based information. Cognitive Development, 63, 101215.

Mills, C. M., Danovitch, J. H., Mugambi, V. N.*, Sands, K. R.*, & Monroe, A. J.* (2022). Cognitive reflection and authoritarianism relate to how parents respond to children’s science questions. Developmental Psychology, 58, 417-424.

Mills, C. M., Danovitch, J. H., Sands, K. R., Mugambi, V., & Pattisapu Fox, C. (2022). “Why do dogs pant?”: Characteristics of parental explanations about science predict children’s knowledge. Child Development, 93, 326-340.  [View PDF]

Danovitch, J. H., Mills, C. M., Sands, K. R., & Williams, A. J. (2021). Mind the gap: How incomplete explanations influence children’s interest and learning behaviors. Cognitive Psychology, 130. doi: 10.1016/j.cogpsych.2021.101421

Danovitch, J. H., Mills, C. M., Duncan, R. G., Williams, A. J., & Girouard, L. N. (2021). Developmental changes in children’s recognition of the relevance of evidence to causal explanations. Cognitive Development, 58. doi: 10.1016/j.cogdev.2021.101017

Williams, A. J., Danovitch, J. H., & Mills, C. M. (2020). Exploring sources of individual differences in children’s interest in science. Mind, Brain, and Education, 15, 67-76. doi:10.1111/mbe.12263

Sheskin, M., Scott, K., Mills, C., Bergelson, E., Bonawitz, E., Spelke, E., Li, F., Keil, F., Gweon, H., Tenenbaum, J., Jara-Ettinger, J., Adolph, K., Rhodes, M., Frank, M., Mehr, S., & Schulz, L. (2020). Online developmental science to foster innovation, access, and impact. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 24, 675-678. doi:10.1016/j.tics.2020.06.004

Rowles, S. P.*, & Mills, C. M. (2019). “Is it worth my time and effort?”: How children selectively gather information from experts when faced with different kinds of costs. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 179, 308-323. doi: 10.1016/j.jecp.2018.11.016 [View PDF]

Mills, C. M., Sands, K. R.*, Rowles, S. P.*, & Campbell, I. L.* (2019). “I want to know more!”: Children are sensitive to explanation quality when exploring new information. Cognitive Science, 43, 1-28. doi: 10.1111/cogs.12706 [View PDF]

Rowles, S. P.*, & Mills, C. M. (2018). Preschoolers sometimes seek help from socially engaged informants over competent ones. Journal of Cognition and Development, 48, 19-31. doi: 10.1016/j.cogdev.2018.06.006 [View PDF]

Danovitch, J. H., & Mills, C. M. (2017). The influence of familiar characters and other appealing images on young children’s preference for low-quality objects. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 35, 476-481.

Mills, C. M., Danovitch, J. H., Rowles, S. P.*, & Campbell, I. L.* (2017). Children’s success at detecting circular explanations and their interest in future learning. Psychonomic Bulletin and Review, 24, 1465-1477. doi: 10.3758/s13423-016-1195-2 [View PDF]

Mills, C. M., & Landrum, A. R.* (2016). Learning who knows what: Children adjust their inquiry to gather information from others. Frontiers in Psychology, 7: 951, 1-12. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00951

Landrum, A. R.*, Pflaum, A., & Mills, C. M. (2016). Inducing knowledgeability from niceness: Children use social features for making epistemic inferences. Journal of Cognition and Development. doi: 10.1080/15248372.2015.1135799

Elashi, F. B.*, & Mills, C. M. (2015). Developing the Bias Blind Spot: Increasing skepticism towards others. PLoS ONE, 10, 1-11. [View PDF]

Johnston, A. R.*, Mills, C. M., & Landrum, A. R.* (2015). How do children weigh competence and benevolence when deciding whom to trust? Cognition, 144, 76-90. doi: 10.1/j.cognition.2015.07.015.

Landrum, A. R.*, & Mills, C. M. (2015). Developing expectations regarding the boundaries of expertise. Cognition, 134, 215-231. doi:10.1016/j.cognition.2014.10.013

Elashi, F. B.*, & Mills, C. M. (2014). Do children trust based on group membership or prior accuracy? The role of group membership in children’s trust decisions. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 128, 88-104. doi:10.1016/j.jecp.2014.07.003

Danovitch, J. H., & Mills, C. M. (2014). How familiar characters influence children’s judgments about information and products. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 128, 1-20. doi:10.1016/j.jecp.2014.06.001

Mills, C. M., & Elashi, F. B.* (2014). Children’s skepticism: Developmental and individual differences in children’s ability to detect and explain distorted claims. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 124, 1-17. doi:10.1016/j.jecp.2014.01.015 [View PDF]

Landrum, A. R.*, Mills, C. M., & Johnston, A. M.* (2013). When do children trust the expert? Benevolence information influences children’s trust more than expertise. Developmental Science, 16, 622-638. doi: 10.1111/desc.12059 [View PDF]

Mills, C. M. (2013). Knowing when to doubt: Developing a critical stance when learning from others. Developmental Psychology, 49(3), 404-418. doi:10.1037/a0029500 [View PDF]

Jerger, S. Damian, M. F., Mills, C. M., Bartlett, J., Tye-Murray, N., & Abdi, H. (2013). Effect of perceptual load on semantic access by speech in children. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 56, 388-403.

Legare, C. H., Mills, C. M., Souza, A. L., Plummer, L. E., & Yasskin, R. (2013). The use of questions as problem-solving strategies during early childhood. Journal Of Experimental Child Psychology, 114(1), 63-76. doi:10.1016/j.jecp.2012.07.002

Mills, C. M., & Landrum, A. R.* (2012). Judging judges: How do children weigh the importance of capability and objectivity for being a good decision maker? British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 30(3), 393-414. doi: 10.1111/j.2044-835X.2011.02047.x.

Mills, C. M., Danovitch, J. H., Grant, M. G.*, & Elashi, F. B.* (2012). Little pitchers use their big ears: Preschoolers solve problems by listening to others ask questions. Child Development, 83, 568-580.

Mills, C. M., Al-Jabari, R.*, & Archacki, M. A.* (2012). Why do people disagree? Explaining and endorsing the possibility of partiality in judgments. Journal of Cognition and Development, 13, 111-136.

Mills, C. M., Legare, C. H., Grant, M. G.*, & Landrum, A. R.* (2011). Determining whom to question, what to ask, and how much information to ask for: The development of inquiry in young children. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 110, 539-560. [View PDF]

Grant, M. G.*, & Mills, C. M. (2011). Children’s explanations of the intentions underlying others’ behavior. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 29, 504-523. 

Mills, C. M., Legare, C. H., Bills, M.*, & Mejias, C.* (2010). Preschoolers use questions as a tool to acquire knowledge from different sources. Journal of Cognition and Development, 11, 533-560. [View PDF]

Danovitch, J. H., Greif, M. L., & Mills, C. M. (2010). Working with undergraduate research assistants: Setting-up and maintaining a research lab. APS Observer, 28, 29-32.

Elashi, F. B.*, Mills, C. M., & Grant, M. G.* (2010). In-group and out-group attitudes of Muslim children. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 31, 379-385.

Mills, C. M., & Danovitch, J. H. (2009). Getting to know yourself…and others. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 32, 34-35.

Mills, C. M., & Grant, M. G.* (2009). Biased decision-making: Developing an understanding of how positive and negative relationships may skew judgments. Developmental Science, 12, 784-797.

Mills, C. M., & Keil, F. C. (2008). Children’s developing notions of (im)partiality. Cognition, 107, 528-551.

Mills, C. M., & Keil, F. C. (2005). The development of cynicism. Psychological Science, 16, 385-390.[View PDF]

Mills, C. M., & Keil, F. C. (2004). Knowing the limits of one’s understanding: The development of an awareness of an illusion of explanatory depth. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 87, 1-32. [View PDF]

Book Chapters

Mills, C. M., & Sands, K. S.* (in press). Understanding developmental and individual differences in the process of inquiry during the preschool years. In S. Ronfard, L. Butler, and K. Corriveau (Eds.), The Questioning Child.

Danovitch, J. H., & Mills, C. M. (2018). Children’s learning from explanations: When and how explanation leads to exploration. In M. Saylor and P. Ganea (Eds.), Active Learning from Infancy to Childhood: Social Motivation, Cognition, and Linguistic Mechanisms of Learning (pp. 95-112). New York, NY: Springer.

Mills, C. M., & Landrum, A. R.* (2014). Inquiring minds: Using questions to gather information from others. In E. J. Robinson and S. Einav (Eds), Trust and Skepticism: Children’s selective learning from testimony.

Keil, F., Rozenblit, L., & Mills, C. (2004). What lies beneath? Understanding the limits of understanding. In D.T. Levin (Ed), Thinking and Seeing: Visual Metacognition in Adults and Children. Westport, CT: Greenwood/Praeger.