Personal Summary

Dr. Rachel Severson is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology at University of Montana. She is Director of the Minds Lab, where she and her research team investigate how children attribute minds and internal states to human and non-human others (non-human animals, inanimate nature, and personified technologies, such as robots) and the social and moral consequences of doing so. She also directs the UM Living Lab, located in the new Missoula Public Library and funded by a Science Education Partnership Award through NIH, to engage children with research, inspire the next generation in STEM, and create on-ramps to higher education.

Dr. Severson received a Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology from the University of Washington. Prior to joining the faculty at University of Montana, she was a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of British Columbia and a Fulbright Fellow at the University of Oslo.

Information for Applicants to the Ph.D. Program in Developmental Psychology (Experimental Psychology Doctoral Program)

I plan on taking a graduate student to begin Autumn Semester 2024. For more information about our Doctoral Program in Experimental Psychology, including the application process, please see the Department of Psychology Graduate Program website.

I encourage you to contact me directly (rachel.severson@umontana.edu) if you are considering applying to work with me as a doctoral student.

Education

• Ph.D., Developmental Psychology, University of Washington, 2010
• M.A., Psychology, Antioch University, 2004
• B.S., Environmental Policy & Assessment, Western Washington University, 1997

Courses Taught

Fall 2022

PSYX 222 – Psychological Statistics

PSYX 330 – Child Development

Spring 2023 

PSYX 330 – Child Development

PSYX 540 – Advanced Developmental Psychology

Teaching Experience

University of Montana (2016-current)

• Psychological Statistics (PSYX 222)
• Child Development (PSYX 330) (formerly Developmental Psychology (PSYX 230))
• Advanced Developmental Psychology (PSYX 540)
• Advanced Social-Developmental Psychology (PSYX 555)
• Graduate Reading Seminar (PSYX 596)

Western Washington University (2011-2013)

• Introduction to Psychology (PSY 101)
• Honors Psychology Colloquium (HNRS 204)
• Lifespan Developmental Psychology (PSY 230)
• Child Development (PSY 330)
• Research Methods (PSY 301)
• Advanced Developmental Psychology Seminar: Pretense & Imagination (PSY 430)
• Psychological Theory (Philosophy of Psychology) (PSY 482)

Research Interests

My research examines, from a developmental perspective, how people think about others’ minds. From a young age children understand other people as experiencing agents with goals, desires, emotions, beliefs, and thoughts, and they use this understanding to reason socially (e.g., who might be a credible source of knowledge) and morally (e.g., whether one has moral standing or can be held morally accountable). What’s particularly fascinating is that children (and adults) also extend minds (and human internal states more generally) to non-human entities, such as inanimate nature and technology—what is often referred to as anthropomorphism. The overarching aim of my research program is to elucidate the nature, causes, and consequences of anthropomorphism within the context of social cognition more broadly.

To this end, I am pursuing three main lines of research in my current program:

1. One line of research focuses on the nature of anthropomorphism. Here, I seek to address basic research questions on anthropomorphism, such as whether and how children anthropomorphize, how this may differ across development and culture, and how anthropomorphism relates to other aspects of social cognition (e.g., theory of mind).
2. A second line of research looks at potential explanations of anthropomorphism. For example, one possibility is that what looks like anthropomorphism of robots may in fact be something else altogether. A likely candidate is pretense, whereby children are not committed to their anthropomorphic attributions, rather they are just pretending, much in the way they do with stuffed animals and other toys. Another possibility is that children’s attributions to robots reflect more general tendencies to anthropomorphize, rather than it being specific to the robot.
3. My third line of research examines the broader consequences of thinking about others’ minds. Here, my approach builds on research on social perspective taking and moral psychology. Perspective taking lies at the heart of social cognition providing the foundation for empathic concern, reduced prejudice, and moral regard for others.

In addressing these overarching questions, I am interested in examining the role of culture, experience, and learning in anthropomorphic beliefs, further investigating the developmental pathway and stability of anthropomorphism, and incorporating new methodologies (e.g., behavioral and neuroimaging approaches). I am also keen to develop new research questions through collaborations with faculty and graduate students.

Field of Study

Social Cognitive Development; Anthropomorphism; Social Perspective Taking (development, biases, and promotion); Pretense & Imagination; Selective Social Learning; Social-Moral Judgments and Reasoning; Environmental Moral Reasoning.

Publications

Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles

Danovitch, J., & Severson, R. L. (2021). Children's understanding of emerging technologies: Introduction to the special issue. Human Behavior and Emerging Technologies.  DOI: 10.1002/hbe2.285

Birch, S. A. J., Severson, R. L., & Baimel, A. (2020). Children's understanding of when a person's confidence and hesitancy is a cue to their credibility. PLOS ONE, 15 (1), e02227026. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0227026

Severson, R. L., & Woodard, S. R. (2018). Imagining others' minds: The positive relation between children's role play and anthropomorphism. Frontiers in Psychology, 9, 2140. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.02140

Severson, R. L., & Lemm, K. M. (2016). Kids see human too: Adapting an individual differences measure of anthropomorphism for a child sample. Journal of Cognition and Development, 17, 122-141. doi: 10.1080/15248372.2014.989445 

Baimel, A., Severson, R. L., Baron, A. S., & Birch, S. A. J. (2015). Enhancing 'theory of mind' through synchrony. Frontiers in Psychology, 6, 870. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00870 

Kahn, P. H., Jr., Kanda, T., Ishiguro, H., Freier, N. G., Severson, R. L., Gill, B. T., Ruckert, J. H., & Shen, S. (2012). “Robovie, you’ll have to go into the closet now”: Children’s social and moral relationships with a humanoid robot. Developmental Psychology, 48, 303-314.

Kahn, P. H., Jr., Kanda, T., Ishiguro, H., Gill, B. T., Ruckert, J. H., Shen, S., Gary, H., Reichert, A. L., Freier, N. G., & Severson, R. L. (2012). Do people hold a humanoid robot morally accountable for the harm it causes? Proceedings of the 7^th ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction (HRI 2012, Boston, MA, March 5-8, 2012) (pp. 22-30) (Best Paper Award). Piscataway, NJ: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). doi: 10.1145/2157689.2157696 

Severson, R. L., & Carlson, S. M. (2010). Behaving as or behaving as if? Children's conceptions of  personified robots and the emergence of a new ontological category. Neural Networks, Special Issue on Social Cognition: From Babies to Robots, 23, 1099-1103.

Severson, R. L., & Kahn, P. H., Jr. (2010). In the orchard: Farm worker children’s moral and environmental reasoning. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 31, 249-256.

Kahn, P. H., Jr., Ruckert, J. H., Severson, R. L., Reichert, A. L., & Fowler, E. (2010). A nature language: An agenda to catalog, save, and recover patterns of human-nature interaction. Ecopsychology, 2, 59-66.

Kahn, P. H., Jr., Severson, R. L., & Ruckert, J. H. (2009). The human relationship with nature and technological nature. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 18, 37-42.

Kahn, P. H., Jr., Friedman, B., Gill, B. T., Hagman, J., Severson, R. L., Freier, N. G., Feldman, E. N., Carrère, S., & Stolyar, A. (2008). A plasma display window? – The shifting baseline problem in a technologically-mediated natural world. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 28, 192-199.

Kahn, P. H. Jr., Saunders, C. D., Severson, R. L., Myers, O. E., Jr., & Gill, B. T. (2008). Moral and fearful affiliations with the animal world: Children’s conceptions of bats. Anthrozoös, 21, 375-386.

Kahn, P. H., Jr., Freier, N. G., Kanda, T., Ishiguro, H., Ruckert, J. H., Severson, R. L., & Kane, S. K. (2008). Design patterns for sociality in human-robot interaction. Proceedings of the 3^rd ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction (HRI 2008, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, March 12-15, 2008) (pp. 97-104). Piscataway, NJ: IEEE. doi: 10.1145/1349822.1349836

Stanton, C. M., Kahn, P. H., Jr., Severson, R. L., Ruckert, J. H., & Gill, B. T. (2008). Robotic animals might aid in the social development of children with autism. Proceedings of the 3^rd ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction (HRI 2008, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, March 12-15, 2008) (pp. 271-278). Piscataway, NJ: IEEE. doi: 10.1145/1349822.1349858 

Kahn, P. H., Jr., Ishiguro, H., Friedman, B., Kanda, T., Freier, N. G., Severson, R. L., & Miller, J. (2007).  What is a human? – Toward psychological benchmarks in the field of human-robot interaction.  Interaction Studies: Social Behavior and Communication in Biological and Artificial Systems, 8, 363-390. 

Friedman, B., Kahn, P. H., Jr., Hagman, J., Severson, R. L., & Gill, B. (2006). The watcher and the watched: Social judgments about privacy in a public place. Human-Computer Interaction, 21, 235-272.

Kahn, P. H., Jr., Freier, N. G., Friedman, B., Severson, R. L., & Feldman, E. (2004). Social and moral relationships with robotic others? Proceedings of the 13th International Workshop on Robot and Human Interactive Communication (ROMAN 2004, Kurashiki, Okayama, Japan, September 20-22, 2004) (pp. 545-550). Piscataway, NJ: IEEE. doi: 10.1109/ROMAN.2004.1374819

Chapters in Edited Volumes

Severson, R. L., Bean, P., & Caughie, C. (in press). Farm worker children’s judgments about pesticides and concern for the natural environment. In Corona, Y., V. Derr, V. Medina, A. Montoya, & L. Ortiz (Eds.). Buscando el Terruño: Los Niños, Los Jóvenes y El Cuidado de la Tierra. La Prensa de UAM, México.

Severson, R. L., Bean, P., & Caughie, C. (2020). The emergence of concern for the natural environment: Farm worker children, pesticides, and direct experience with nature. In V. Derr & Y. Corona (Eds.), Latin American Transnational Children and Youth: Experiences of Nature and Place, Culture, and Cares Across the Americas (pp. 186-198). Routledge.

Kahn, P. H., Jr., Severson, R. L., & Ruckert, J. H. (2009). Experiencing technological nature – and the problem when good enough becomes good. In M. Drenthen, J. Keulartz, & J. Proctor (Eds.), New Visions of Nature (pp. 145-176). Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Springer.

Friedman, B., Kahn, P. H., Jr., Hagman, J., Severson, R. L., & Gill, B. (2009). The watcher and the watched: Social judgments about privacy in a public place.  Reprinted in R. Harper (Series Ed.), S. Harrison (Vol. Ed.), Media Space 20 + Years of Mediated Life. London: Springer.

Kahn, P. H., Jr., & Severson, R. L. (2008).  Environmental education.  In F. C. Power, R. J. Nuzzi, D. Narvaez, D. K. Lapsley, & T. C. Hunt (Eds.), Moral education: A handbook (Vol. 1, pp. 166-167). Westport, CT: Praeger.

Invited Reviews and Commentaries

Severson, R. L. (2015). Good science? We should all be asking [Review of the book Who’s asking? Native science, Western science, and science education, by D. L. Medin & M. Bang]. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 38, 70-71. doi:10.1016/j.appdev.2014.11.003

Severson, R. L. (2015). Film review: “School’s Out: Lessons from a Forest Kindergarten.”  Journal of Educational Controversy 9. Open access: http://www.wce.wwu.edu/Resources/CEP/eJournal/v009n001/

Severson, R. L. (2014). The value of (research on) animals in children’s lives: Commentary on Mueller. Human Development, 57, 26-29. doi:10.1159/000357792  

Invited Talks

Lee, S., Zuroff, H., Herbert-Meny, J., Carlton, P., & Severson, R. L. (2022, Aug). Create, collaborate, and grow under one roof. NLA Library Tri-Conference, Missoula, MT.

Severson, R. L. (2022, May). Children’s understanding of robots and voice-based assistants. Panel on Here, there, and everywhere: Emerging technologies and the future of children. Children and Screens “Ask the Experts” webinar series.

Severson, R. L. (2022, May). Women scientists. Annual speaker for the As You Like It Club, Missoula, MT.

Severson, R. L., Bray, H., & Truitt, H. (2021, August). How to celebrate our wins: Under one roof. Public Service Academy, University of Montana Max S. Baucus Institute’s Department of Public Administration & Policy.

Cochran, B., Fiore, C., & Severson, R. L. (2020, May). Panel on What does psychology have to offer to help us during a pandemic? Alumni Virtual Engagement, University of Montana Alumni Association.

Severson, R. L. (2019, October). Panel on Emotionally Intelligent Robots: More Human than Human? (with Jonathan Gratch and Sidney D’Mello). USC Visions and Voices, Los Angeles, CA.

Severson, R. L. (2019, April). “Alexa, are you spying on me?” Identity, privacy, and technology Panel. University of Montana College of Humanities & Sciences Dialogue, Missoula, MT. 

Severson, R. L. (2019, February). Screen Time and Green Time: Effects of Increased Technology on Children’s Development.Bringing the U to You Lecture Series, UM and MSU Alumni Associations, Great Falls, MT. [access annotated slides]

Severson, R. L. (2018, October). Panel on Emerging Technologies: Children's Engagement with Intelligent and Interactive Media. Digital Media and Developing Minds: Second National Congress. Cold Springs Harbor Laboratory (Cold Springs Harbor, NY).

Severson, R. L. (2016, May). Discerning minds: Children’s developing skepticism of an unjustifiably confident model.Centre for the Study of Mind in Nature, University of Oslo (Oslo, Norway).

Severson, R. L. (2016, April).Discerning minds: Children’s developing skepticism of an unjustifiably confident model.Department of Psychology Colloquium, University of Montana (Missoula, MT).

Severson, R. L. (2014, February).Seeing human: Children’s anthropomorphic conceptions of robots.Department of Psychology, Developmental Area Colloquium, University of British Columbia (Vancouver, BC, Canada).

Severson, R. L. (2013, May). Growing up green: What does time in nature do for your child?Department of Psychology Family Academy Lecture Series. Western Washington University (Bellingham, WA).

Severson, R. L. (2012, August). Children’s conceptions of robots as life-like: Are they just pretending?Conference on Perceiving and Conceiving Natural and Non-natural Agents: From People to Computers to Gods. Vanderbilt University (Nashville, TN).

Severson, R. L. (2011, March). Thinking “as” or thinking “as if”: The role of pretense in children’s and young adults’ attributions to a robot dinosaur.Paper presented at the HRI Pioneers Workshop at the 6^thACM/IEEE International Conference on Human Robot Interaction (HRI 2011), Lausanne, Switzerland.

Severson, R. L. (2011, April).The intrinsic value of animals and robots: On the development of moral conceptions of non-human others.Social Choice Research Group, Department of Economics, Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration (Bergen, Norway).

Severson, R. L. (2010, December). Comment on A. Wax and M. Farah, The Neuroscience of Deprivation: Implications for Law and Policy (with an initial focus on sentencing). Center for the Study of Mind in Nature Conference on Law and the Science of Moral Judgment, University of Oslo (Oslo, Norway).

Severson, R. L. (2010, November). Thinking as or thinking as if: The role of pretense in children’s attributions to robots.Center for the Study of Mind in Nature Language and Rationality Seminar, University of Oslo (Oslo, Norway).

Severson, R. L. (2010, September). The intrinsic value of animals and robots: On the development of moral conceptions of non-human others.Centre for the Study of Mind in Nature Colloquium, University of Oslo (Oslo, Norway).

Severson, R. L. (2008, September). Robotic Others: The Emergence of a New Technological Genre? Seattle Robotics Society (Seattle, WA).

Kahn, P. H., Jr., & Severson, R. L. (2008, March). Designing for the human relation with nature and technological nature. The Portico Group: Architects, Landscape Architects, Interpretive Planners, & Exhibit Designers(Seattle, WA).

Conference Presentations (since 2015; students underlined)

Severson, R. L., Sweezy, S. E., Macko, T. M., & Woodard, S. R. (2023). Do children trust a smart speaker when learning factual information and making moral decisions? Poster presented at the biennial meeting of Society for Research in Child Development, Salt Lake City, UT.

Sweezy, S. E., Macko, T. M., & Severson, R. L. (2023). Does behavioral synchrony affect children's sharing, mentalizing, and social attributions to social robots? Poster presented at the biennial meeting of Society for Research in Child Development, Salt Lake City, UT.

Smith, K., & Severson, R. L. (2022, April). Learning to see human: universal aspects and cultural variations in the development of anthropomorphism. Paper presented at the University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR), Missoula, MT.

Cordingley, K. J., & Severson, R. L. (2022, February). Emerging adults and identity development in the time of COVID-19. Paper presented at University of Montana Graduate Student Research Conference (GradCon), Missoula, MT.

Woodard, S. R., Sweezy, S. E., & Severson, R. L. (2021, April). Are robots morally culpable? The role of intentionality and anthropomorphism. Paper presented at the biennial meeting of Society for Research in Child Development (online).

Taylor, K., & Severson, R. L. (2020, April). Inaccuracy mentalizing humans predicts greater mentalizing of nature and technology. Paper presented at the University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR), Missoula, MT.

Denny, M. E., & Severson, R. L. (2020, April). The right job for me: The motivation, support network, and emotional fortitude of crisis workers. Paper presented at the University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR), Missoula, MT.

Bean, P., Caughie, C., & Severson, R. L. (2020, Feb). Making a case for nature. Paper presented at University of Montana Graduate Student Research Conference (GradCon), Missoula, MT.

Severson, R. L., Woodard, S. R., & Birch, S. A. J. (2019, October). Mentalizing beyond humans: Theory of mind accuracy is unrelated to anthropomorphism. Poster presented at the biennial meeting of the Cognitive Development Society, Louisville, KY.

Woodard, S. R., Severson, R. L., & Birch, S. A. J. (2019, October). Do children always trust confident individuals? Not when it comes to moral deliberations. Poster presented at the biennial meeting of the Cognitive Development Society, Louisville, KY.

Beall, A., Ryan, C., Barker, R., & Severson, R. L. (2019, April). Do young children treat a robot as having intentions and being culpable for its actions? Poster presented at the University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research, Missoula, MT.

Taylor, K. B., Ryan, C., Beall, A., Woodard, S. R., & Severson, R. L. (2019, April). Context Matters in Children’s Reasoning about Confident and Hesitant Individuals. Paper presented at the University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research, Missoula, MT.

Severson, R. L., Li, H., Birch, S. A. J., & Lillard, A. (2019, March). The Role of Culture in Anthropomorphic Beliefs Among White-Canadian, Asian-Canadian, and Chinese Children and Adults. Paper presented at the biennial meeting of Society for Research in Child Development, Baltimore, MD.

Lau, P., Severson, R. L., Woodard, S. R., & Birch, S. A. J. (2018, June). Children’s context-dependent interpretations of confidence cues. Paper presented at the Development 2018 Conference, St. Catharines, ON, Canada.

Barker, R., Lindner, B., & Severson, R. L. (2018, April). Children’s Understanding of Robots: A New Ontological Category or Just Pretend?Poster presented at the University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research, Missoula, MT.

Cooke, S., & Severson, R. L. (2018, April). Are robots animate or inanimate? Children’s pronoun use provides insight into categorization challenge. Poster presented at the University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research, Missoula, MT.

Taylor, K. B., Schuster, D., Rosston, S., Gillespie, C., Woodard, S. R., & Severson, R. L. (2018, April). Sometimes hesitancy is key: Effects of moral deliberations on children's interpretation of credibility cues. Poster presented at the University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research, Missoula, MT.

Woodard, S. R. & Severson, R. L. (2018, April). Do children always trust confident individuals? Not when it comes to moral deliberations. Poster presented at the University of Montana GradCon – A Graduate Student Research Conference, Missoula, MT.

Severson, R. L., Lau, P., Li, V., & Birch, S. A. J. (2017). Sometimes hesitancy is key: Effects of moral deliberations on children's interpretation of credibility cues. Poster presented at the biennial meeting of the Cognitive Development Society, Portland, OR.

Severson, R. L., Baimel, A., & Birch, S. A. J. (2017). When is confidence a justified credibility cue? Poster presented at the biennial meeting of the Cognitive Development Society, Portland, OR.

Baimel, A., Severson, R. L., & Birch, S. A. J. (2017). Children and adult’s theory of mind supports anthropomorphic tendencies. Poster presented at the biennial meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development, Austin, TX.

Birch, S. A. J, Baimel, A., & Severson, R. L. (2017). Children and adult’s understanding of unjustified confidence. Poster presented at the biennial meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development, Austin, TX.

Severson, R. L. (2016, October). Young children attribute less to a robot when asked to take a peer’s perspective. Paper presented at the Society for Research in Child Development Special Topics Meeting on Technology and Media in Children’s Development, Irvine, CA.

Severson, R. L., & Birch, S. A. J. (2016, June). Discerning minds: Are children skeptical of an unjustifiably confident informant? Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Jean Piaget Society, Chicago, IL.

Severson, R. L., Birch, S. A. J., Tahiroglu, D., Moses, L. J., Ghrear, S., & Haddock, T. (2016, June). The Children’s Social Understanding Scale Predicts Social-Emotional Functioning. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Jean Piaget Society, Chicago, IL.

Haddock, T., Ghrear, S., Brousseau-Liard, P., Severson, R., Birch, S., & Li, V. (2016, June). The curse of knowledge across development: A fluency misattribution account. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Jean Piaget Society, Chicago, IL.

Baimel, A., Severson, R., Birch, S., & Norenzayan A. (2015, May). Synchronous ritual and mental state reasoning. Presented at the Cultural Evolution of Religion Consortium’s 2015 Plenary Meeting (Religion in the text and on the ground), Montreal, Canada. 

Severson, R. L., Li, H., & Lillard, A. (2015, March). Cultural contributions to anthropomorphic beliefs. Paper presented at the biennial meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development, Philadelphia, PA.

Severson, R. L., & Birch, S. A. J. (2015, March). Discerning minds: Older children become skeptical of an unjustifiably confident informant. Paper presented at the biennial meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development, Philadelphia, PA.

Baimel, A., Severson, R. L., & Birch, S. A. J. (2015, March). The ‘eyes’ have it: Predicting individual differences in anthropomorphism. Paper presented at the biennial meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development, Philadelphia, PA.

Ghrear, S., Haddock, T., Severson, R. L., Penner, E., & Birch, S. A. J. (2015, March). Developmental changes in children's curse of knowledge bias. Poster presented at the biennial meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development, Philadelphia, PA.

Baimel, A., Severson, R., Birch, S., & Norenzayan, A. (2015, February). Synchronous ritual and mental state reasoning. Poster presented at the 16th annual meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Long Beach, CA.

EXTERNAL GRANTS

• National Institute of Health, Science Education Partnership Award (R-25) with City of Missoula (PI: Holly Truitt) and University of Montana (Co-PI Rachel Severson). “The Link: A Collective, Place-Based Approach to Inspiring Missoula’s Next-Generation Healthcare Work Force.” (August 1, 2019-July 31, 2024). Amount funded: $1,313,811.

MEDIA COVERAGE OF RESEARCH

• Mashable
  Hall, S. L. (2019, Nov. 30). Does your kid think your smart speaker is just another family member? Mashable: Small Humans. Available online: https://mashable.com/article/kids-and-smart-speakers/  
• BBC World Service Radio
  Davidovic, Ivana. (2019, January 28). How are smart speakers affecting us, from privacy to child development? BBC The Why Factor. Available online: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w3cswrl7
• CNN
  Kelley, S. M. (2018, October 16). Growing up with Alexa: A child's relationship with Amazon's voice assistant. CNN Business. Available online: https://www.cnn.com/2018/10/16/tech/alexa-child-development/index.html
• FOX ABC Montana
  Sun, S. (2018, Sep. 26). Research suggests kids share emotions with technology. Available online: http://www.abcfoxmontana.com/story/39181521/research-suggest-kids-share-emotion-with-technologyand http://www.abcfoxmontana.com/video?autoStart=true&topVideoCatNo=default&clipId=14639015
• UndiscoveredPodcast (WNYC – Science Friday)
  Minoff, A., & Feder, E. (2018, September 11). I, Robovie. WNYC Undiscovered Podcast. Available online: https://www.wnycstudios.org/story/i-robovie
• Fast Company
  Reader, R. (2018, June 27). Kids and AI. Fast Company: Are We There Yet? with Ruth Reader. Available online: https://www.fastcompany.com/video/how-ai-could-be-impacting-childhood-development/mKiAA7vm
• NPR
  Doucleff, M., & Aubrey, A. (2017, October 30). Alexa, Are You Safe For My Kids? NPR Morning Edition. Available online:https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2017/10/30/559863326/alexa-are-you-safe-for-my-kids
• KPLU 88.5 FMSeattle-Tacoma NPR station
  Spitzer, G. (2013, June 17). 'Sort of' alive: Researchers probe how kids think about robots. NPR (KPLU 88.5). Available online: http://knkx.org/post/sort-alive-researchers-probe-how-kids-think-about-robots 
• BBC Science in Action, BBC World Service
  Stewart, J. (2009, July 10). Real nature versus technological nature. BBC Science in Action (World Service).Available online: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p003jkk2(start 20:30)
• KJR 95.7 FMSeattle, WA
  Ebi, K. (2008, June 22).  A window to nature. Connected KJR 95.7 FM.  Available online: https://sites.google.com/a/uw.edu/rachel-severson/naturewindowradio  

Magazines

• APS Observer
  Jaffe, E. (2010, May/June). This side of paradise: Discovering why the human mind needs nature. APS Observer. Available online: https://www.psychologicalscience.org/observer/getArticle.cfm?id=2679
• New York Times Magazine
  Bloom, P. (2009, April 15). Natural Happiness. New York Times Magazine. Available online: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/19/magazine/19wwln-lede-t.html
• APA GradPsych Magazine
  Azer, B. (2009, January). Natural views for healthy hearts. APA gradPsych Magazine: Research Roundup, 7,12.
• AUVSI
  Davis, B. (2008, June).  Ones to Watch: Rachel Severson.  AUVSI’s Unmanned Systems, 26, 53-54.

Newspapers

• The Age (Australia) 
  Biegler, P. (2016, November 20). The real costs of making friends with robots. The Age. Retrieved online at: http://www.theage.com.au/technology/technology-news/the-real-costs-of-making-friends-with-robots-20161027-gscgbe
• The Oregonian
  Rojas-Burke, J. (2009, May 27). The best natural healer turns out to be nature. The Oregonian.Retrieved online at: http://www.oregonlive.com/health/index.ssf/2009/05/the_best_natural_healer_turns.html
• Seattle Times
  Song, K. M. (2008, June 11). UW study reaffirms nature’s stress relieving powers. The Seattle Times. Retrieved online at: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2004470165_nature11m.html

Online News Coverage (select)

• IEEE Spectrum
  Ackerman, E. (2012, April 30). Do kids care if their robot friend gets stuffed into a closet? 
  http://spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/robotics/artificial-intelligence/do-kids-care-if-their-robot-friend-gets-stuffed-into-a-closet
• ABC News Online
  Dye, L. (2009, April 8). Technological nature takes over. ABCNews.com. http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/DyeHard/story?id=7282121&page=1
• New York Daily News
  Abels, J. (2008, August 9). When it comes to stress, technology has nothing on nature. New York Daily News. Retrieved online at: 
  http://www.nydailynews.com/lifestyle/health/2008/08/10/2008-08-10_when_it_comes_to_stress_technology_has_n.html

Affiliations

• American Psychological Association (APA) - Division 7 (Developmental Psychology)
• Society for Research in Child Development  (SRCD)
• Cognitive Development Society (CDS)
• Jean Piaget Society (JPS)

Professional Experience

Positions

Associate Professor (tenured), Department of Psychology, University of Montana, 2020-current

Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, University of Montana, 2016-2020

Postdoctoral Research Fellow, K.I.D. Studies Centre (Director: Dr. Susan A.J. Birch, PhD), Department of Psychology, University of British Columbia, 2013-2016

Instructor (Visiting Assistant Professor), Department of Psychology, Western Washington University, 2011-2013

Fulbright Fellow, University of Oslo, Norway, 2010-2011

Other Professional Experience

Director, UM Living Lab, Missoula Public Library (funded by a Science Education Partnership Award through NIH)

Science Advisor, New York Hall of Science, 2009-2012, Wild Minds: What Animals Really Think (NSF-funded traveling exhibit on animal cognition)

Advisor/Consultant, Oakland Museum of California, 2010, Natural Sciences Exhibit

Journal Editor

• Associate Editor, Frontiers in Developmental Psyhcology: Cognitive Development section
• Editorial Board, Acta Psychologica: Lifespan Development section 
• Editorial Board, Human Behavior and Emerging Techonologies
• Guest Academic Editor, PLOS ONE 

Ad hoc Reviewer

Journals (publons.com profile)

• Autonomous Robots
• Child Development
• Child Development Perspectives
• Children and Media
• Cognitive Development
• Cognitive Psychology
• Cognitive Science
• Developmental Psychology
• Developmental Science
• Ecopsychology
• Environment and Behavior
• Frontiers in Psychology
• Human Behavior and Emerging Technologies
• Human Computer Interaction
• Human Development
• Human Robot Interaction
• Humanities
• Imagination, Cognition, and Personality
• Interaction Studies
• International Journal of Human-Computer Studies
• Journal of Cognition and Development
• Journal of Environmental Psychology
• Journal of Experimental Child Psychology
• Journal of Human-Robot Interaction
• Philosophies
• PLOS ONE
• Robotics
• Sustainability

Grant Reviewer

• National Science Foundation
• Austrian Science Fund – Hertha Firnberg Programme

International Experience

Fulbright Fellow, University of Oslo, Norway, 2010-2011

Hobbies

Mountain biking, skiing (nordic and alpine), ice hockey, and sailing.