April 5, 2000 Dinner:

Alison Gopnik on Exploring the Child's Mind

Our April 5 dinner will explore the child's mind. The setting is a restaurant featuring Latin cuisine amid a crowd of voraciously curious fellow science writers.

WHEN: Wednesday, April 5, 2000. 6 - 9 pm

WHO: With the publication of her recent book, "The Scientist in the Crib," U.C. Berkeley cognitive psychologist Alison Gopnik explores what science can and can't tell us about childhood development and the influences of such things as Mozart, good parenting, and a rich environment on babies' brains.

In her years of observing and researching infants and toddlers, Gopnik and her colleagues found that babies use strategies for learning that are not so different from those used by empirical science. Learning for scientists and children is a process of taking in information about the world and seeing how well it fits with their internal theories and assumptions. Like scientists, children are learning machines who constantly change and adapt their assumptions about the world in accordance with the information they receive. Gopnik will talk about what children and adults are likely to know intuitively about science and where they need help from teachers and science writers.

As a leading cognitive scientist, Gopnik has also been drawn into the fierce political debate about early childhood learning and the recent tobacco industry backlash against a cigarette tax that funds childhood programs. She'll talk about her recent book tour and media blitz for "Scientist in the Crib" and her experiences dealing with such media luminaries as Charlie Rose and Rob Reiner.

Professor Gopnik received her Ph.D. in philosophy and experimental psychology from Oxford University. Her research interests include cognition and language development, children's theories of mind, psychology, and philosophy. She's currently serving on the California State childhood development commission to figure out how to spend the cigarette tax revenues generated by Proposition 10. If you have ideas, come pitch them at the dinner meeting.

For additional information on Gopnik's work, read the recent Berkeleyan article online at http://www.urel.berkeley.edu:80/berkeleyan/1999/0825/crib.html

And now, the remainder of the details about the April 5 dinner:

6 -7 PM: Schmooze time. No-host bar, tapas include mushroom caps stuffed with goat cheese, fire-roasted green chiles and cafe chips with guacamole and salsa fresca

7 -8 PM: Dinner buffet including salad, black beans and rice, with choice of grilled salmon with mango salsa; chicken enchiladas with mole pablano; or vegetarian enchiladas with salsa ranchero. Dessert is flan or key lime pie.

8 -9 PM: Speaker, Alison Gopnik

WHERE: Cafe de la Paz, 1600 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley, (510) 843-0662. Cafe de la Paz is in Berkeley on Shattuck, near its intersection with Cedar St. It's across the street from Copeland Sports. Entrance to restaurant is on the Shattuck side of building.

BY CAR: Take I-80 to University Ave. Take University east (toward UC Berkeley, away from the bay) to Shattuck. Turn left on Shattuck. Cafe de la Paz is at Shattuck and Cedar. Parking is on the street.

By BART: Get off at the Berkeley station. Cafe de la Paz is about a 10-minute walk north on Shattuck.

TO ATTEND THE DINNER: Send a check for $25 per person, payable to NCSWA to:

Rob Irion
115 Northrup Place
Santa Cruz, CA 9506