Podcasts · Stanford Psychology Podcast

169 - Tamar Kushnir: The Power of Imagination

6 Feb 2026 · 47 min

Adani chats with Tamar Kushnir, Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience at Duke University. Tamar’s research spans pretty much everything you can imagine: Cognitive development, causal learning, social cognition, moral cognition, cultural psychology, free will, imagination, counterfactual thinking, self-control, and more! In this conversation, we discuss Tamar’s fascinating review on imagination and social cognition in childhood alongside many fun tangents about superheroes, the Wright Brothers, and collective social change. Tamar also shares what she most enjoys about research in the first place, and what she’s excited for next!

Tamar’s faculty webpage: https://dibs.duke.edu/profile/tamar-kushnir/

Tamar’s lab website: https://ecclabduke.com/

Tamar’s paper: https://doi.org/10.1002/wcs.1603

Adani’s website: https://www.adaniabutto.com

Adani’s Bluesky: @adani

Podcast Twitter @StanfordPsyPod

Podcast Substack https://stanfordpsypod.substack.com/

Let us know what you thought of this episode, or of the podcast! :) stanfordpsychpodcast@gmail.com

Links in the notes 7

• https://dibs.duke.edu/profile/tamar-kushnir/
• https://ecclabduke.com/
• https://doi.org/10.1002/wcs.1603
• https://www.adaniabutto.com
• https://bsky.app/profile/adani.bsky.social
• https://twitter.com/StanfordPsyPod
• https://stanfordpsypod.substack.com/