November 2020

Sierra Eisen
Department of Psychology, Wesleyan University
207 High Street, Middletown, CT 06459
(510) 691-2205 | seisen@wesleyan.edu

Academic Positions

Wesleyan University
Postdoctoral Fellow July 2020 – Present
Advisors: Anna Shusterman & Hilary Barth

Education

University of Virginia
Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology 2020
Advisors: Angeline Lillard & Jamie Jirout
Dissertation: The role of play and adult guidance in children’s spatial development.

M.A. in Developmental Psychology 2016

Thesis: As good as the real thing? A comparison of learning from an educational
touchscreen app versus a hands-on material.

University of California, Berkeley

B.A. in Psychology with Honors 2013
Advisor: Alison Gopnik
Honors Thesis: Crossing the boundary: Children’s understanding of the causal
impermeability between real and fictional worlds.

Honors and Awards

2020 University of Virginia Psychology Department Graduate Teaching Award
2017-2020 Predoctoral Fellow, Institute of Education Sciences (IES)
2016-2018 Fellow, International Max Planck Research School on the Life Course (LIFE)
2017 Association for Psychological Science/Psi Chi Albert Bandura Graduate Research
Award
2016 Best Oral Presentation at University of Virginia Robert J. Huskey Graduate
Research Exhibition
2015 University of Virginia Open Access Fund Award
2013 Honors in Undergraduate Research in Psychology
2012 Psi Chi International Honor Society

Funding
2020 Society for Research in Child Development Travel Award ($1000)
2020 University of Virginia Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Council Research
Grant ($1000)
2018 American Psychological Association Dissertation Research Award ($1000)
2018 American Psychological Association Division 15 Dissertation Research Grants
Award ($1000)
2015 American Montessori Society Research Grant ($3440)
Sierra Eisen CV

Research

Interests
Learning from digital media; Spatial development; Learning from play; Interactions with
fictional realms; Influence of moral and prosocial media on socio-emotional development

Publications

Eisen, S. & Lillard, A. S. (in press). Media use and development of executive function. In J. Van
den Bulck, D. Ewoldsen, M-L. Mares, & E. Scharrer (Eds.), The international
encyclopedia of media psychology. Wiley.

Eisen, S. & Lillard, A. S. (2020). Learning from apps and objects: The human touch. Mind,
Brain, and Education, 14(1), 16-23.

Taggart, J., Eisen, S. & Lillard, A. S. (2019). The current landscape of U.S. children’s television:
Violent, prosocial, educational, and fantastical content. Journal of Children and Media,
13(3), 276-294.

Li, H., Eisen, S. & Lillard, A. S. (2019). Anthropomorphic media exposure and preschoolers’
anthropomorphic thinking in China. Journal of Children and Media, 13(2), 149-162.

Eisen, S. & Lillard, A. S. (2018). The digital dilemma: Why limit young children’s use of
interactive media? In. C. Ferguson (Ed.), Video game influences on aggression,
cognition, and attention. Cham, Switzerland: Springer.

Taggart, J., Eisen, S., & Lillard, A. S. (2018). Pretense. In M.H. Bornstein, M. E. Arterberry, K.
L. Fingerman & J. E. Lansford (Eds.), The SAGE encyclopedia of lifespan human
development (pp. 1726-1727). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.

Lillard, A. S. & Eisen, S. (2017). Why Montessori is a facilitative environment for theory of
mind: Three speculations. In V. Slaughter & M. de Rosnay (Eds.), Theory of mind
development in context (pp. 57-70). New York, NY: Routledge.

Eisen, S. & Lillard, A. S. (2017). Young children’s thinking about touchscreens versus other
media in the US. Journal of Children and Media, 11(2), 167-179.

Eisen, S. & Lillard, A. S. (2016). Just Google it: Young children’s preferences for touchscreens
versus books in hypothetical learning tasks. Frontiers in Psychology, 7, 1431.

Manuscripts In Preparation and Under Review

Eisen, S., Matthews, S., & Jirout, J. (revision under review). Parents’ and children’s gendered
beliefs about toys and screen media.

*Eisen, S., *Taggart, J., Salehi, P., Liller, A., & Lillard, A. S. (revision under review). Children
prefer fantasy, but not anthropomorphism, in their storybooks. *Co-first author.

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Eisen, S., Ploeger, S., Lillard, A. S., & Jirout, J. (in preparation). Spatial talk and question-asking
during parent-child physical and digital spatial play.

Eisen, S., Vaish, A., Leslie, C., & Lillard, A. S. (in preparation). Heroes, villains, and everything
in between: Children’s assessment of morally ambiguous characters.

Eisen, S., Bower, C., Hassinger-Das, B., & Jirout, J. (in preparation). Parental perceptions of
informal learning from digital devices and physical toys.

Conference Paper Presentations

Eisen, S., Jirout, J., & Lillard, A. S. (Dec 2020). The role of mothers in children’s physical and
digital spatial play. Society for Research in Child Development special topic meeting on
Learning through Play and Imagination, St. Louis, MO. (Conference postponed)

Eisen, S., Bower, C., Jirout, J., & Hassinger-Das, B. (Dec 2020). Parental perceptions of
informal learning from digital devices and physical toys. Society for Research in Child
Development special topic meeting on Learning through Play and Imagination, St. Louis,
MO. (Conference postponed)

Eisen, S., Jirout, J., & Lillard, A. S. (April 2020). The role of play in children’s spatial
development. American Educational Research Association, San Francisco, CA.
(Conference canceled)

Eisen, S., Taggart, J., & Lillard, A. S. (Oct 2019). Impervious to media: Exposure to prosocial
books and videos failed to change children. Cognitive Development Society, Louisville,
KY.

Eisen, S., Jirout, J., & Lillard, A. S. (May 2019). Mother-child spatial language during physical
and digital spatial play. International Communication Association, Washington, D.C.

Eisen, S., Jirout, J., & Lillard, A. S. (May 2018). The role of play and adult guidance in
children’s spatial development. International Max Planck Research School on the Life
Course, Berlin, Germany.

Eisen, S. & Lillard, A. S. (October 2017). Learning from apps and objects: The human touch.
International Max Planck Research School on the Life Course, Zurich, Switzerland.

Eisen, S. & Lillard, A. S. (September 2017). The role of social interaction in children’s learning
from touchscreen apps. Workshop on Early Literacy and (Digital) Media, Paderborn,
Germany.

Eisen, S., Li, Hui, & Lillard, A. S. (May 2017). Exposure to Thomas the Tank Engine promotes
anthropomorphic thinking in Chinese preschoolers. Association for Psychological
Science, Boston, MA.

Eisen, S. & Lillard, A. S. (October 2016). As good as the real thing? A comparison of learning
from apps versus hands-on materials. Society for Research in Child Development special
topic meeting on Technology and Media in Children’s Development, Irvine, CA.
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Sierra Eisen CV

Eisen, S. & Lillard, A. S. (March 2016). Comparing children’s learning from apps and
traditional tools. Huskey Graduate Research Exhibition, Charlottesville, VA.

Symposia Organized

Eisen, S. (Dec 2020). Parent-child interactions during digital and physical playful learning.
Society for Research in Child Development special topic meeting on Learning through
Play and Imagination, St. Louis, MO. Speakers: Sierra Eisen, Koeun Choi, Erica Zippert.

Conference Poster Presentations

Matthews, S., Eisen, S., & Jirout, J. (April 2020). Ability and preference for toys: Parents’ and
children’s perceptions about play and gender. American Educational Research
Association, San Francisco, CA. (Conference canceled)

Eisen, S., Jirout, J., & Lillard, A. S. (October 2019). Parents’ question-asking during children’s
physical and digital spatial play. Cognitive Development Society, Louisville, KY.

Eisen, S., Jirout, J., & Lillard, A. S. (March 2019). Parent and child spatial language during
physical and digital spatial play. Society for Research in Child Development, Baltimore,
MD.

Eisen, S., Vaish, A., & Lillard, A. S. (May 2017). Children’s judgments of moral ambiguity in a
story. International Max Planck Research School on the Life Course, Ann Arbor, MI.

Eisen, S., Vaish, A., & Lillard, A. S. (April 2017). Heroes, villains, and everything in between:
Children’s assessment of morally ambiguous characters. Society for Research in Child
Development, Austin, TX.

Taggart, J., Eisen, S., Shumway, M. & Lillard, A. S. (April 2017). Home television viewing and
children’s empathy and social skills. Society for Research in Child Development, Austin,
TX.

Eisen, S. & Lillard, A. S. (October 2016). Young children’s thinking about touchscreens versus
books in hypothetical learning tasks. Society for Research in Child Development special
topic meeting on Technology and Media in Children’s Development, Irvine, CA.

Taggart, J., Al Kallas, H., Auyeung, A., Eisen, S., & Lillard, A. (March 2016). Through
another’s eyes: Does perspective-taking influence children’s prosocial behavior following
storybook reading? Huskey Graduate Research Exhibition, Charlottesville, VA.

Eisen, S. & Lillard, A. S. (October 2015). Young children’s thinking about touchscreens versus
other media devices. Cognitive Development Society, Columbus, Ohio.

Eisen, S., Walker, C., Ganea, P., & Gopnik, A. (April 2013). Crossing the boundary: Children’s
understanding of the causal impermeability between real and fictional worlds. Western
Psychological Association, Reno, Nevada.

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Sierra Eisen CV

Invited Talks

Eisen, S. (October 2020). Playful learning with physical and digital materials. Invited talk for
the iSearch Lab at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, Germany.
Eisen, S. (July 2016). The wave of the future: How children think about and learn from
touchscreen technology. Invited talk for the Virginia Discovery Museum, Charlottesville,
Virginia.

Department Talks

Eisen, S. (March 2020). Playful learning with physical and digital materials. Presented at the
Developmental Lunch series at the University of Virginia.

Eisen, S. (March 2017). Learning from apps and objects: The human touch. Presented at the
Developmental Lunch series at the University of Virginia.

Eisen, S. (April 2015). Children’s understanding of the functionality of touchscreens. Presented

at the Developmental Lunch series at the University of Virginia.

Blog Posts

Eisen, S. (2018, May 11). The human touch: Learning from apps and objects. Blog on Learning
and Development. An initiative of the Jacobs Foundation.

Media Coverage

Your kid trusts humans more than the internet. (2019, November 11). NYT Parenting.

Study finds one more element needed to make educational apps most effective. (2016, December
19). UVA Today.

Research Experience

2014 – 2020 Graduate Researcher, Early Development Lab, University of Virginia.

Principal Investigator: Dr. Angeline Lillard
Conduct studies on children’s interactions with and learning from media.

2015 – 2020 Lead Researcher, Virginia Discovery Museum Living Laboratory.

Run research collaboration between Virginia Discovery Museum and
University of Virginia.

2017 Visiting Fellow, Naturalistic Social Cognition Group, Max Planck

Institute for Human Development, Berlin, Germany.
Principal Investigator: Dr. Annie Wertz
Studied infants’ social learning strategies in naturalistic contexts.

2013 Summer Intern, Bloom Mind and Development Lab, Yale University.
Principal Investigator: Dr. Paul Bloom
Studied children’s story preferences and humor.
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Sierra Eisen CV

2011 – 2014 Research Assistant, Gopnik Cognitive Development Lab, UC Berkeley.

Principal Investigator: Dr. Alison Gopnik
Studied children’s causal reasoning. Conducted honors thesis on children’s
understanding of the boundary between real and fictional worlds.

Undergraduate Research Advising

Wesleyan University
Research Assistants
7 students total

University of Virginia
Distinguished Majors (Honors Thesis Students)
1 student total; 1 in graduate school

Research Assistants and Summer Interns

31 students total; 6 in graduate school

Teaching

Teaching Positions

Spring 2019 Lab Teaching Assistant – Research Methods and Data Analysis II
Instructor: Karen Schmidt

Fall 2016/ Discussion Teaching Assistant – Child Development

Fall 2018 Instructor: Angeline Lillard

Spring 2016 Lab Teaching Assistant – Research Methods and Data Analysis I
Instructor: Fred Smyth

Fall 2014/ Review Teaching Assistant – Introduction to Cognition

Spring 2015 Instructors: Daniel Willingham, Vikram Jaswal

Guest Lectures

November 2019 Behavioral Methods; Poster Presentations, Research Methods: Child

Development (undergrad-level)
Instructor: Jessica Taggart
December 2018 Children and Media, Cognitive Development (grad-level)
Instructor: Angeline Lillard
November 2018 Children’s Learning with Media, Child Development (undergrad-level)
Instructor: Angeline Lillard
December 2015 Media and Infant Development, Infant Development (undergrad-level)
Instructor: Tobias Grossmann

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Sierra Eisen CV

Teacher Training

2016 – 2020 Tomorrow’s Professor Today

Participant in a selective, university-wide training program that enhances graduate students’
teaching through participation in a pedagogy seminar, consultations with the Teaching Resource
Center, faculty advisement, and the creation of a teaching portfolio.

2014 – 2016 Graduate Teacher Training Program

Completed three-course program designed to provide psychology graduate students with training
and resources to become effective teachers and design their own courses.

Service and Professional Affiliations

Departmental and School Service (UVA)

2017 – 2018 Professional Issues Committee Co-Chair

2017 – 2018 Developmental Area Speaker Series Co-Chair
2016 – 2018 Women in Math and Science Member
2016 – 2018 Child Development Laboratories’ Database and Recruitment Coordinator
2015 – 2017 Developmental Area Representative

Ad Hoc Reviewer

Developmental Psychology
Journal of Experimental Child Psychology
Journal of Children and Media
68th Annual International Communication Association (ICA) Conference

Professional Affiliations

Society for Research in Child Development

Cognitive Development Society
American Educational Research Association
Association for Psychological Science
American Psychological Association
· Division 7: Developmental Psychology
· Division 15: Educational Psychology