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Jason G. Goldman is a doctoral student in Developmental Psychology at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. His research focuses on the evolution and architecture of the mind, and how different early experiences might affect innate knowledge systems. He received his B.A. in Psychology in 2007, and his M.A. in Psychology in 2009, both from USC.
In addition, Jason is a freelance science writer. His blog The Thoughtful Animal, which discusses behavior and cognition in humans and animals, is hosted by Scientific American (previously, Scienceblogs). The Thoughtful Animal has been featured in The New York Times, The Guardian, The Wall Street Journal, SEED Magazine, the National Geographic Channel, the Charlotte Observer, the Raleigh News-Observer, BlogHer, KPCC’s blogdowntown, The Huffington Post, Andrew Sullivan’s The Daily Beast, the Knight Science Journalism Tracker, BoingBoing, and USA Today. He has also contributed to Scientific American, The Guardian, and LAist.
Jason writes about psychology and neuroscience, with a special focus on animal cognition and the evolution of the mind. What does it mean for a cognitive skill or capacity to be truly innate? How can the environment take the basic building blocks of cognition and push them around in different ways? How did those building blocks evolve? How do they develop throughout the lifetime? Understanding the animal mind can help us better understand the evolution of the human mind.
Jason is also Psychology and Neuroscience Editor for ResearchBlogging.org and Editor of the 2010 edition of The Open Laboratory.