Krista M. Casler
Professional Biography
Associate Professor, Department of Psychology, Franklin & Marshall College.
Teaching Fellow, Department of Psychology, Boston University, General Psychology, 2002-2004.
Research Assistant with Dr. Deborah Kelemen, Child Cognition Lab, 2000-2002.
Field Experience working with institutionalized children, Sighisoara, Romania, Summer 1998.
Education
Ph.D., Psychology, Boston University, 2006.
M.A., Psychology, Boston University, 2002.
B.A. (summa cum laude), Psychology, English, Eastern Nazarene College, 1999.
Research Interests
I study the cognitive development of young children. Current research investigates the development of artifact concepts and children’s tool use, with a particular focus on the social information involved in artifact learning and use.
Grants & Awards
Teaching Fellow Award, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Boston University, 2004.
Clara Mayo Research Award, Department of Psychology, Boston University, 2003 & 2001.
National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship, Honorable Mention, 2001.
Undergraduate Fellows Award, New England Psychological Association, 1999.
Publications
Casler, K., Eshleman, A.*, Greene, K.*, & Terziyan, T.* (2011). Children’s scale errors with tools. Developmental Psychology, 47, 857-866.
Casler, K., Terziyan, T.*, & Greene, K.* (2009). Toddlers view artifact function normatively. Cognitive Development, 24, 240-247.
Casler, K. & Kelemen, D. (2008). Developmental continuity in teleo-functional explanation: Reasoning about nature among Romanian Romani adults. Journal of Cognition and Development, 9, 340-362.
Casler, K. & Kelemen, D. (2007). Reasoning about artifacts at 24 months: The developing teleo-functional stance. Cognition, 103, 120-130.
Casler, K. & Kelemen, D. (2005). Young children’s rapid learning about artifacts. Developmental Science, 8, 472-480.
Kelemen, D., Callanan, M., Casler, K., & Pérez-Granados, D. R. (2005). Why things happen: Teleological explanation in parent-child conversations. Developmental Psychology, 41, 251-264.
* = F&M student co-author
Presentations
Casler, K., Eshleman, A.*, Greene, K.*, & Terziyan, T.* (March 2010). Taking function too far? Children’s scale errors with tools. Paper presented at the International Conference on Infant Studies, Baltimore, MD.
Casler, K., Terziyan, T.*, & Green, K.* (April 2009). Toddlers view artifact function normatively. Paper presented at the Biennial Meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development, Denver, CO.
Blacher, K.*, Desilets, C.*, & Casler, K. (April 2009). Pancakes for dinner? Developmental differences in categorization of food items. Poster presented at the Biennial Meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development, Denver, CO.
Goldberg, L.* & Casler, K. (October 2008). Oral reading fluency’s relationship to reading comprehension. Poster presented at the Boston University Conference on Language Development Annual Meeting, Boston, MA.
Casler, K. & Whiteman, K.,* (March 2008). 24-month-olds’ tool-function mappings: Mutual exclusivity for tools? Poster presented at the International Conference on Infant Studies, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Phillips, B., Kelemen, D., Seston, R., & Casler, K. (March 2008). Young children can categorize novel tools by eavesdropping on others’ intentional acts. Paper presented at the International Conference on Infant Studies, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Casler, K. & Pender, A.* (March 2007). One tool, one function: Mutual exclusivity for tools? Poster presented at the Biennial Meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development, Boston, MA.
Phillips, B., Kelemen, D., Casler, K., Seston, R. (October 2007). The influence of personal exploration on young children’s artifact categorization. Paper presented at the Biennial Meeting of the Cognitive Development Society, Santa Fe, NM.
Kelemen, D., Rosset, E., & Casler, K. (May 2007). Adults’ teleo-functional ascriptions of purpose to nature. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Jean Piaget Society, Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Kelemen, D., Casler, K., & Phillips, B. (March 2007). Development of flexibility in categorization and reasoning within and across domains. Paper presented at the Biennial Meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development, Boston, MA.
* = F&M student co-author
Course Information
I teach Introductory Psychology and lab, Developmental Psychology, Collaborative Research in Developmental Psychology, and a foundations course called the Invention of Childhood.
