Overview
Background
Thomas grew up in Germany and joined UQ in 1999 following postgraduate studies in New Zealand. He investigates the mental capacities in young children and in animals to answer fundamental questions about the nature and evolution of the human mind. His research has attracted several awards (incl. from the Australian Academy of Social Sciences, the Australian Psychological Society and the American Psychological Association) and his critically acclaimed book The Gap (e.g. see reviews in Nature, Science or the Wall Street Journal) is currently being translated into several languages.
Availability
- Professor Thomas Suddendorf is:
- Available for supervision
- Media expert
Fields of research
Qualifications
- Masters (Coursework), University of Waikato
- Doctor of Philosophy, The University of Auckland
Research impacts
In the news
BBC Radio 4 - All in the Mind, Time travelling in the human mind
BBC Future about the intelligence gap
Global Leadership Series Presentation
BBC Earth Many animals seem to kill themselves, but is it suicide?
Coverage of 2016 Current Biology paper on neonatal imitation covered by media such as Science Daily, NPR, ABC online, The Daily Mail, & The Conversation
Q & A with Thomas Suddendorf in Current Biology 2015
Radio and TV Featured frequently in media in the US, UK, Germany, and Australia, incl. radio (e.g., RN's Ockham's razor), TV (e.g., ABC what makes us human) and internet (e.g. TEDx talk)
Book reviews of THE GAP have appeared in e.g. Nature, The Wall Street Journal, Science, Scientific American Mind, The Times, Kirkus Reviews, Journal of the History of Biology, Australian Book Review, Times Higher Education & New Scientist.
Extracts: CNN, The Chronicles of Higher Education, HuffPo , Psychology Today, and Slate
Works
Search Professor Thomas Suddendorf’s works on UQ eSpace
2022
Journal Article
Affective forecasting in Parkinson’s disease
Coundouris, Sarah P., Henry, Julie D., Suddendorf, Thomas and Lehn, Alexander C. (2022). Affective forecasting in Parkinson’s disease. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, 29 (4) PII S1355617722000388, 1-4. doi: 10.1017/s1355617722000388
2022
Journal Article
Young children spontaneously devise an optimal external solution to a cognitive problem
Armitage, Kristy L., Taylor, Alex H., Suddendorf, Thomas and Redshaw, Jonathan (2022). Young children spontaneously devise an optimal external solution to a cognitive problem. Developmental Science, 25 (3) e13204, 1-9. doi: 10.1111/desc.13204
2022
Book Chapter
Anticipation of future events
Suddendorf, Thomas and Redshaw, Jonathan (2022). Anticipation of future events. Encyclopedia of animal cognition and behavior. (pp. 349-358) Cham, Switzerland: Springer Cham. doi: 10.1007/978-3-319-55065-7_1082
2021
Journal Article
New Caledonian crows' planning behaviour: a reply to de Mahy et al
Boeckle, M., Schiestl, M., Frohnwieser, A., Gruber, R., Miller, R., Suddendorf, T., Gray, R. D., Taylor, A. H. and Clayton, N. S. (2021). New Caledonian crows' planning behaviour: a reply to de Mahy et al . Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 288 (1958) 20211271, 20211271. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2021.1271
2021
Journal Article
The implied motion aftereffect changes decisions, but not confidence
Gallagher, Regan M., Suddendorf, Thomas and Arnold, Derek H. (2021). The implied motion aftereffect changes decisions, but not confidence. Attention, Perception, and Psychophysics, 83 (8), 3047-3055. doi: 10.3758/s13414-021-02331-z
2021
Journal Article
An old problem revisited: How sensitive is time-based prospective memory to age-related differences?
Varley, Deanna, Henry, Julie D., Gibson, Emily, Suddendorf, Thomas, Rendell, Peter G. and Redshaw, Jonathan (2021). An old problem revisited: How sensitive is time-based prospective memory to age-related differences?. Psychology and Aging, 36 (5), 616-625. doi: 10.1037/pag0000625
2021
Journal Article
Young children’s capacity to seek information in preparation for a future event
Brinums, Melissa, Redshaw, Jonathan, Nielsen, Mark, Suddendorf, Thomas and Imuta, Kana (2021). Young children’s capacity to seek information in preparation for a future event. Cognitive Development, 58 101015, 101015. doi: 10.1016/j.cogdev.2021.101015
2021
Journal Article
Does neonatal imitation exist? Insights from a meta-analysis of 336 effect sizes
Davis, Jacqueline, Redshaw, Jonathan, Suddendorf, Thomas, Nielsen, Mark, Kennedy-Costantini, Siobhan, Oostenbroek, Janine and Slaughter, Virginia (2021). Does neonatal imitation exist? Insights from a meta-analysis of 336 effect sizes. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 16 (6), 1745691620959834-1397. doi: 10.1177/1745691620959834
2021
Journal Article
When can young children reason about an exclusive disjunction? A follow up to Mody and Carey (2016)
Gautam, Shalini, Suddendorf, Thomas and Redshaw, Jonathan (2021). When can young children reason about an exclusive disjunction? A follow up to Mody and Carey (2016). Cognition, 207 104507, 104507. doi: 10.1016/j.cognition.2020.104507
2021
Journal Article
Do monkeys and young children understand exclusive “or” relations? A commentary on Ferrigno et al. (2021)
Gautam, Shalini, Suddendorf, Thomas and Redshaw, Jonathan (2021). Do monkeys and young children understand exclusive “or” relations? A commentary on Ferrigno et al. (2021). Psychological Science, 32 (11), 1865-1867. doi: 10.1177/09567976211024641
2021
Book Chapter
Evolutionary foundations of social psychology
von Hippel, William, von Hippel, Frank and Suddendorf, Thomas (2021). Evolutionary foundations of social psychology. Social psychology: handbook of basic principles . (pp. 5-22) edited by Paul van Lange, Tory Higgins and Arie Kruglanski. New York, NY USA: Guilford Press.
2020
Journal Article
New Caledonian crows plan for specific future tool use
Boeckle, M., Schiestl, M., Frohnwieser, A., Gruber, R., Miller, R., Suddendorf, T., Gray, R. D., Taylor, A. H. and Clayton, N. S. (2020). New Caledonian crows plan for specific future tool use. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological sciences, 287 (1938) 1490, 20201490. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2020.1490
2020
Book Chapter
An evolutionary perspective on mental time travel
Suddendorf, Thomas (2020). An evolutionary perspective on mental time travel. The Oxford Handbook of Psychology of Time Travel and Temporality. (pp. 1-27) edited by Frederick M.E. Grouzet. Oxford, United Kingdom: Oxford University Press. doi: 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190256685.013.12
2020
Journal Article
It's in the bag: Mobile containers in Human Evolution and Child Development
Suddendorf, Thomas, Kirkland, Kelly, Bulley, Adam, Redshaw, Jonathan and Langley, Michelle C. (2020). It's in the bag: Mobile containers in Human Evolution and Child Development. Evolutionary Human Sciences, 2 e48, 1-13. doi: 10.1017/ehs.2020.47
2020
Other Outputs
Got your bag? The critical place of mobile containers in human evolution
Suddendorf, Thomas and Langely, Michelle (2020, 08 12). Got your bag? The critical place of mobile containers in human evolution The Conversation
2020
Journal Article
Mobile containers in human cognitive evolution studies: understudied and underrepresented
Langley, Michelle C. and Suddendorf, Thomas (2020). Mobile containers in human cognitive evolution studies: understudied and underrepresented. Evolutionary Anthropology, 29 (6) evan.21857, 299-309. doi: 10.1002/evan.21857
2020
Journal Article
Preparation for certain and uncertain future outcomes in young children and three species of monkey
Suddendorf, Thomas, Watson, Kate, Bogaart, Maddison and Redshaw, Jonathan (2020). Preparation for certain and uncertain future outcomes in young children and three species of monkey. Developmental Psychobiology, 62 (2) dev.21898, 191-201. doi: 10.1002/dev.21898
2020
Journal Article
Children devise and selectively use tools to offload cognition
Bulley, Adam, McCarthy, Thomas, Gilbert, Sam J., Suddendorf, Thomas and Redshaw, Jonathan (2020). Children devise and selectively use tools to offload cognition. Current Biology, 30 (17), 3457-3464.e3. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2020.06.035
2020
Book Chapter
The future-directed functions of the imagination: from prediction to metaforesight
Bulley, Adam, Redshaw, Jonathan and Suddendorf, Thomas (2020). The future-directed functions of the imagination: from prediction to metaforesight. The Cambridge handbook of the imagination. (pp. 425-444) edited by Anna Abraham. New York, NY, United States: Cambridge University Press. doi: 10.1017/9781108580298.026
2020
Journal Article
Temporal junctures in the mind
Redshaw, Jonathan and Suddendorf, Thomas (2020). Temporal junctures in the mind. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 24 (1), 52-64. doi: 10.1016/j.tics.2019.10.009
Funding
Current funding
Supervision
Availability
- Professor Thomas Suddendorf is:
- Available for supervision
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Supervision history
Current supervision
-
Doctor Philosophy
Recognising the future utility of a solution: A foresight perspective on the development of innovation in children
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Jonathan Redshaw
-
Doctor Philosophy
Innovation: When do children recognise future utility?
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Jonathan Redshaw
-
Doctor Philosophy
Gaining control of the future: The Cognitive Development of Foresight
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Jonathan Redshaw
-
Doctor Philosophy
Gaining control of the future: The Cognitive Development of Foresight
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Jonathan Redshaw
-
Doctor Philosophy
Investigating the understanding of possibility and probability in young children and primates
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Jonathan Redshaw
-
Doctor Philosophy
Investigating the understanding of probability and plausible deniability in young children and primates
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Jonathan Redshaw
-
Doctor Philosophy
The Impact of Intergroup Violence on the Evolution of Human Psychology
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Brendan Zietsch
-
Doctor Philosophy
Mechanisms and functions of reasoning about possibilities
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Julie Henry, Dr Jonathan Redshaw
Completed supervision
-
2022
Doctor Philosophy
Imagining Past, Present and Future Possibilities: A Developmental Perspective
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Jonathan Redshaw, Professor Julie Henry
-
2019
Doctor Philosophy
The role of prospective cognition in human decision-making: proximate and ultimate perspectives
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Julie Henry
-
2015
Doctor Philosophy
The nature, ontogeny, and phylogeny of episodic foresight
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Mark Nielsen
-
2013
Doctor Philosophy
Investigating the Neurological Processes Involved in Visual Self-recognition Using Mirrors, Photographs, Non-identical Twins, and Hominoid Comparative Neuroanatomy
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Jason Mattingley, Professor Ross Cunnington
-
2012
Doctor Philosophy
Inferential reasoning by exclusion in non-human primates and children
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Mark Nielsen
-
2006
Doctor Philosophy
INVISIBLE DISPLACEMENT UNDERSTANDING IN DOGS (Canis familiaris), CHIPANZEES (Pan troglodytes), AND OTHER PRIMATES
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Mark Nielsen
-
2005
Doctor Philosophy
THE DEVELOPMENT OF MENTAL TIME TRAVEL
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Virginia Slaughter
-
2023
Doctor Philosophy
Beyond the naked mind: The nature and development of cognitive offloading in children
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Jonathan Redshaw
-
2022
Doctor Philosophy
Not Just a Movement Disorder: Prospective and Social Cognitive Impairments in Parkinson's Disease
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Julie Henry
-
-
2020
Doctor Philosophy
Measuring perception with confidence
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Derek Arnold
-
2020
Doctor Philosophy
The development and evolution of tool innovation in human children (Homo sapiens) and chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes): a cross-cultural and comparative investigation
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Mark Nielsen
-
2017
Doctor Philosophy
Episodic Foresight in Ageing and Clinical Groups
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Julie Henry
-
2013
Doctor Philosophy
Investigating the Mechanism and Function of Neonatal Imitation From a Longitudinal Perspective
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Virginia Slaughter
-
2005
Doctor Philosophy
EMERGENCE OF KNOWLEDGE ABOUT THE HUMAN BODY SHAPE IN INFANCY
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Virginia Slaughter
Media
Enquiries
Contact Professor Thomas Suddendorf directly for media enquiries about:
- Brain and cognition
- Brain development
- Brain evolution
- Children and cognition
- Cognition
- Cognition - developmental perspectives
- Development and cognition
- Evolution and brain cognition
- Human development and cognition
- Psychology - cognition
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