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Journal Articles

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Journal Articles

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  • Lesage, K. A., & Richert, R. A. (2021). Can God do the impossible? Anthropomorphism and children’s certainty that God can make impossible things possible. Cognitive Development, 58, 101034. doi: 10.1016/j.cogdev.2021.101034 (PDF) (Supplemental)

  • Ricker, A. A., & Richert, R. A. (accepted). Digital gaming and metacognition in middle childhood. Computers in Human Behavior.

  • Flynn, R. M., Richert, R. A., Wartella, E. (2019). Play in a digital world: How interactive digital games shapes the lives of children. American Journal of Play, 12(1), 54-73. (PDF)

  • Richert, R. A., & Baugh, C. (in press). Developmental changes in perceptions of media reality: Context, characters, & credibility. Invited chapter to appear in J. Van den Bluck, D. Ewoldsen, M-L. Mares, & E. Scharrer (Eds.), The International encyclopedia of media psychology. New York, NY: Wiley.

  • Saide, A. R., & Richert, R. A. (2020). Socio-cognitive and cultural influences on children’s concepts of God. Journal of Cognition and Culture, 20, 22-40. doi: 10.1163/15685373-12340072

  • Richert, R. A. (in press). The cultural niche of religious cognitions: Educational implications of the cognitive science of religion. Invited chapter to appear in J. L. Barrett (Ed.), Oxford University Press Handbook for the Cognitive Science of Religion. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.

  • Richert, R. A., & Lesage, K. A. (in press). The nature of humans. Invited chapter to appear in J. L. Barrett (Ed.), Oxford University Press Handbook for the Cognitive Science of Religion. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.

  • Richert, R. A., & Saide, A. R. (in press). Religious engagement. Invited chapter to appear in P. Leman (Ed.), The Encyclopedia of Child and Adolescent Development. London: Wiley.

  • Richert, R. A., & Lesage, K. A. (2019). Dualism revisited: Body vs. mind vs. soul. In D. J. Slone & W. W. McCorkle Jr. (Eds.), The Cognitive Science of Religion: A Methodological Introduction to Key Empirical Studies. New York, NY: Bloomsbury Academic.

  • Schlesinger, M. A., Flynn, R. M., & Richert, R. A. (2019). Do parents care about TV? How parent beliefs inform children’s media encounters and vocabulary. Journal of Children and Media. doi: 10.1080/17482798.2019.1627227 (PDF)

  • Schlesinger, M. A., & Richert, R. A. (2019). The role of gender in young children’s trust of familiar STEM characters. Media Psychology, 22(1), 109-132. doi: 10.1080/15213269.2017.1328311 (PDF)

  • Flynn, R. M., Staiano, A. E., Beyl, R., Richert, R. A., Wartella, E., & Calvert, S. L. (2018). The influence of active gaming on cardiorespiratory fitness in Black and Hispanic youth. Journal of School Health, 88(10), 768-775. doi: 10.1111/josh.12679 (PDF)

  • Flynn, R. M. & Richert, R. A. (2018). Cognitive, not physical, engagement in video gaming influences executive functioning. Journal of Cognition and Development, 19(1), 1-20. doi: 10.1080/15248372.2017.1419246 (PDF)

  • Shaman, N. J., Saide, A.R., & Richert, R. A. (2018). Dimensional structure of and variation in anthropomorphic concepts of God. Frontiers in Psychology-Cognitive Science, 9, 1425. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01425 (PDF)

  • Ly, A. L., Saide, A. R., & Richert, R. A. (2018). Perceptions of the efficacy of prayer and conventional medicine for health concerns. Journal of Religion & Health. doi: 10.1007/s10943-018-0704-1 (PDF)

  • Schlesinger, M. A., & Richert, R. A., (2017).  The Role of gender in young children’s selective trust of familiar STEM characters. Media Psychology. (PDF)

  • Richert, R. A., & Schlesinger, M. A. (2016). The role of fantasy-reality distinctions in preschoolers’ learning from educational video. Infant and Child Development. (PDF)

  • Richert, R. A., Saide, A. R., Lesage, K. A., & Shaman, N. J. (2016). The role of religious context in children’s differentiating between God’s mind and human minds. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 35, 37-59. (PDF)

  • Schlesinger, M. A., Flynn, R. M., & Richert, R. A. (2016). US preschoolers’ trust of and learning from media characters. Journal of Children and Media, 10(3), 321-340. (PDF)

  • Richert, R. A., Shaman, N. J., Saide, A. R., & Lesage, K. A. (2016). Folding your hands helps God hear you: Prayer and anthropomorphism in parents and children. Research in the Social Scientific Study of Religion, 27, 140-157. (PDF)

  • Shaman, N. J., Saide, A. R., Lesage, K. A., & Richert, R. A. (2016). Who cares if I stand on my head when I pray? Social cognition and ritual inflexibility in preschoolers. Research in the Social Scientific Study of Religion, 27, 122-139. (PDF)

  • Flynn, R. M., & Richert, R. A. (2015). Parents support preschoolers’ use of a novel interactive device. Infant & Child Development 24, 624-642. (PDF)

  • Flynn, R.M., Richert, R.A., Staiano, A.E., Wartella, E. & Calvert, S.L. (2014). Effects of exergame play on executive functioning in children and adolescents at a summer camp for low income youth. Journal of Educational and Developmental Psychology 4, 209-225. (PDF)

  • Richert, R. A. (in press). The trouble with halos: Invited commentary on Kim, S., & Harris, P. L. (2014). British Journal of Developmental Psychology. (PDF)

  • Richert, R. A., & Smith, E. I. (2012). The essence of soul concepts: How soul concepts influence ethical reasoning across religious affiliation. Religion, Brain, & Behavior, 2(2), 161-176. (PDF)

  • Richert, R. A., & Smith, E. I. (2011). Preschoolers’ quarantining of fantasy stories. Child Development, 82(4), 1106-1119. (PDF)

  • Richert, R. A., Robb, M., & Smith, E. (2011). Media as social partners: The social nature of young children’s learning from screen media. Child Development, Special Issue: Raising Healthy Children: Translating Child Development Research into Practice. (PDF)

  • Fender, J. G., Richert, R. A., Robb, M. B., & Wartella, E. (2010). Parent teaching focus and toddlers’ learning from an infant DVD. Infant and Child Development, 19(6), 613 – 627.  (PDF)

  • Wartella, E., Richert, R. A., & Robb, M. B. (2010). Babies, television and videos: How did we get here? Developmental Review, 30, 116-127.  (PDF)

  • Richert, R. A., Robb, M., Fender, J., & Wartella, E. (2010). Word learning from baby videos. Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, 164(5), 432-437. doi: 10.1001/archpediatrics.2010.24. (PDF)

  • Richert, R. A., Shawber, A., Hoffman, R., & Taylor, M. (2009). Learning from fantasy and real characters in preschool and kindergarten. Journal of Cognition and Development, 10(1-2), 1-26. (PDF)

  • Richert, R. A. (2009). Invited review of the book Theory of mind: How children understand others’ thoughts and feelings. American Journal of Play. (PDF)

  • Robb, M., Richert, R., & Wartella, E. (2009). Just a talking book? Word learning from watching baby videos. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 27(1), 27-45. (PDF)

  • Harris, P. L., & Richert, R. A. (2008). William James, ‘the world of sense’ and trust in testimony. Mind & Language, 23(5), 536-551. (PDF)

  • Richert, R. A., & Harris, P. L. (2008). Dualism revisited: Body vs. mind vs. soul. Journal of Cognition & Culture, 8, 99-115. (PDF)

  • Richert, R. A. (2006). The ability to distinguish ritual actions in children. Method & Theory in the Study of Religion, 18, 144-165. (PDF)

  • Richert, R. A., & Harris, P. L. (2006). The ghost in my body: Children’s developing concept of the soul. Journal of Cognition and Culture, 6, 409-427. (PDF)

  • Richert, R. A., & Barrett, J. L. (2005). Do you see what I see? Young children’s assumptions about God’s perceptual abilities. International Journal for the Psychology of Religion, 15, 283 – 295. (PDF)

  • Richert, R. A., & Lillard, A. S. (2004). Observers’ proficiency at identifying pretense based on behavioral cues. Cognitive Development, 19, 223-240. (PDF)

  • Barrett, J. L., & Richert, R. A. (2003). Anthropomorphism or preparedness? Exploring children’s God concepts. Review of Religious Research, 44, 300-312. (PDF)

  • Barrett, J. L., Newman, R., & Richert, R. A. (2003). When seeing is not believing: Children’s understanding of humans’ and non-humans’ use of background knowledge in interpreting visual displays. Journal of Cognition and Culture, 3, 91-108. (PDF)

  • Richert, R. A., & Lillard, A. S. (2002). Children’s understanding of the knowledge prerequisites of drawing and pretending. Developmental Psychology, 38, 1004-1015. (PDF)

  • Richert, R. A. (2001). Review of the book Imagining the impossible: Magical, scientific, and religious thinking in children. Journal of Cognition & Culture, 1(1), 101-103.

  • Barrett, J. L., Richert, R. A., & Dreisenga, A. (2001). God’s beliefs vs. mom’s: The development of natural and non-natural agent concepts. Child Development, 71(1), 50-65. (PDF)

 

Book Chapters

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  • Richert, R. A., & Lesage, K. A. (In-Press, 2019). Dualism revisted: Body vs. mind vs. soul. Invited chapter to appear in D. J. Slone (Ed.), The Cognitive Science of Religion: A Methodological Introduction to Key Empirical Studies. New York, NY: Bloomsbury Academic. (PDF)

  • Gauvain, M., & Richert, R. (in press). Cognitive development. To appear in Encyclopedia of mental health (2nd ed.).

  • Richert, R. A., & Flynn, R. M. (in press). Social learning from media. To appear in M. S. Eastin (Ed.), Encyclopedia of media violence. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

  • Richert, R. A., & Granqvist, P. (2013). Religious and spiritual development in childhood. In R. F. Paloutzian & C. L. Park (Eds.), Handbook of the psychology of religion and spirituality (2nd ed.) (pp. 165-182). New York: Guliford Press. (PDF)

  • Richert, R. A., & Smith, E. I. (2010). The role of religious concepts in the evolution of human cognition. In U. Frey (Ed), The nature of God: Evolution and religion (pp. 93-110). Antwerp, Belgium: Tectum. (PDF)

  • Richert, R. A., & Smith, E. (2009). Cognitive foundations in the development of a religious mind. In E. Voland & W. Schievenhövel (Eds.), Biological evolution of religious mind and behavior (pp. 181-193). New York: Springer. (PDF)

  • Wartella, E., & Richert, R. A. (2009). Special audience, special concerns: Children and the media. In A. G. Bus & S. B. Neuman (Eds.), Multimedia and literacy development: Improving achievement for young learners (pp. 15-27). New York: Taylor & Francis.

  • Richert, R. A. (2006). Modes of research: Combining cognitive psychology and anthropology through Whitehouse’s modes of religiosity. In D. J. Slone (Ed.), Religion and cognition: A reader (pp. 337-351). London, UK: Equinox Press.

  • Richert, R., & Barrett, J. L. (2005). The child’s god and cognitive development. In E. M. Dowling, & W. G. Scarlett (Eds.), Encyclopedia of Spiritual Development in Childhood and Adolescence (pp. 70 – 72). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

  • Richert, R. A., Whitehouse, H., & Stewart, E. (2005). Memory and analogical thinking in high-arousal rituals. In H. Whitehouse & R. N. McCauley (Eds.), Mind and Religion: Psychological and Cognitive Foundations of Religiosity (pp. 127 – 145). Walnut Creek, CA: Alta Mira Press.

Grants

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  • The research in this lab is supported by the John Templeton Foundation’s Gods in Minds Initiative and an NSF REESE Grant (Grant # DRL-1252146).

  • Previous research has been supported by the Social Science Research Council’s New Directions in the Study of Prayer Initiative, an NSF REESE Grant (Grant # DRL-1252146), the Templeton Foundation’s Cognition, Religion, and Theology Project, and the National Science Foundation (# 0623821).

Posters & Presentations
Book Chapters
Grants
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