IES Predoctoral Program Seminar: Dr. Hunter Gehlbach

The University of Pennsylvania Predoctoral Training Program in Interdisciplinary Research Methods for Field-based Research in Education, sponsored by the Institute for Education Sciences (IES), welcomes Dr. Hunter Gehlbach to our weekly seminar series.

Everyday Mindreading: The Secret Sauce for Improving Social Connections.

Presented by Dr. Hunter Gehlbach, Professor of Education, Johns Hopkins.

In the wake of COVID, we all appreciate the crucial role of relationships more keenly than ever. Despite broad agreement regarding the import of relationships in schooling, researchers have developed few reliable approaches for improving these social bonds. In this conversational talk, we will explore social perspective taking—the process of everyday mindreading that helps us discern the thoughts, feelings, and motivations of others—as a foundational building block of relationships and a promising focal point for interventions. Specifically, we will discuss a hypothesized theory of how the social perspective taking process unfolds with particular attention to the parts of the process which might be amenable to intervention. With this theoretical grounding in place, we will then examine the results fan intervention to encourage teachers to take the perspective of a focal student of their choosing. In our discussion, we will contrast idealized visions of how social perspective taking should work in theory versus messy, real-world realities.

More information

The IES Predoctoral Program’s weekly seminar series connects program fellows and affiliates to scholars and practitioners who engage in educational research and the development of research methods.

Seminars are likely of interest to doctoral students and faculty. If you are interested in attending virtually, please email adiperes@upenn.edu for Zoom information.