Although children have no legal training, they regularly make judgments about many aspects of ownership, and also consider ownership in their social reasoning. It shows that our legal notions of ownership may stem from intuitions that are present from early childhood. In his lecture on 'The psychological basis of ownership: Evidence from studies of young children', Professor Ori Friedman from University of Waterloo will talk about 'psychological' and 'legal' aspects of ownership.
The lecture, organized by SWPS University's Interdisciplinary Doctoral Program in Wrocław is a part of the series The Challenges of the Humanities of the 21st Century.
The lecture will be conducted in English. Free admission.
Ownership is a major influence on how we think and feel about objects, and on how we use them. One influential view of ownership distinguishes between “psychological” and “legal” aspects of ownership. For instance, people can feel ownership over material goods that are not actually theirs, and can also feel little or no ownership over goods that do belong to them.
This suggests that feelings of ownership do not always match legal ownership status. In this talk, Prof. Ori Friedman will provide evidence that many “legal” aspects of ownership have psychological origins. The main evidence he will report comes from studies of preschool-aged children. Young children have no legal training whatsoever. Nonetheless, they regularly make judgments about many aspects of ownership, and also consider ownership in their social reasoning. For example, they consider ownership when inferring how others will feel, when predicting how others will behave, and when assessing how others should behave. Moreover, young children’s judgments about ownership are often strikingly similar to the ownership rules from many different legal systems, including rules found in ancient law. Our legal notions of ownership may stem from intuitions that are present from early childhood.
Speaker
Ori Friedman – Associate Professor at University of Waterloo, Department of Psychology. His research interests include social cognitive development, conceptual development, and related topics. In his studies he focuses on investigating how children and adults reason about ownership of property, pretense and fiction, and people’s mental states.
We are pleased to have this rare opportunity to host Professor Ori Friedman, a renowed psychologist, all the way from Canada, who will share with us the results of his research related to social cognitive development.
Izabela Grabowska, Associate Professor, Director of Interdisciplinary Doctoral Program
“The Challenges of Humanities of the 21st Century” is a series of lectures by distinguished specialists, who represent various disciplines from the field of humanities. The events are aimed at students of SWPS University's Interdisciplinary Doctoral Program, however all interested parties are welcome. The format includes post-lecture informal discussions on topics presented by the invited experts. The friendly atmosphere of the events is conducive to networking, which lends itself to opportunities of future internships at universities or research centers around the world.
Doctoral Studies at SWPS University are directed to people interested in an academic career and also to those, who would like to continue their education and personal development in support of their career advancement. The interdisciplinary character of our programs allows students to participate in projects from various disciplines. Our doctoral students collaborate with scholars from the best research centers in Poland and around the world. The master-apprentice approach guarantees that each student receives individual attention and professional support.