My research focuses on the evolution and development of human perceptual and cognitive abilities. Empirically, I work on infants' perception and understanding of the social world. Theoretically, I am interested in the evolution of adaptive plasticity and functional specialization. I enjoy learning about probability and statistical inference. Since 2006, I am a graduate student in Biological Anthropology at UCLA.

Paper Presentations

Frankenhuis, W. E., & Panchanathan, K. (2010). Learning to live: A model of evolutionary and developmental adaptation. 22st Annual Meeting of the Evolution and Human Behavior Society, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR, USA.
Frankenhuis, W. E., & Panchanathan, K. (2009). To be or to become: An evolutionary model of ontogenetic specialization. 21st Annual Meeting of the Evolution and Human Behavior Society, California State University, Fullerton, CA, USA.
Frankenhuis, W. E., Johnson, S. P., House, B., & Barrett, H. C. (2009). Do boys and girls attend differently to animate motion? Cognitive & Language Development Symposium, UCLA, CA, USA.
Frankenhuis, W. E., Johnson, S. P., House, B., & Barrett, H. C. (2009). Infants attend preferentially to animate motion. Origins of Social Perception Symposium, Society for Research in Child Development (SRCD), Denver, CO, USA.
Frankenhuis, W. E., & Panchanathan, K. (2009). An evolutionary model of learning and development. Evolution, Ecology, Mind, & Behavior Conference, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, CA, USA.
Panchanathan, K., Frankenhuis, W. E., & Silk, J. B. (2008). Quantifying the bystander effect. Evolution, Mind, and Behavior Conference, UC Santa Barbara, CA, USA.
Frankenhuis, W. E., Johnson, S. P., House, B., & Barrett, H. C. (2009). Attentional biases for animate motion. Cognitive & Language Development Symposium, UC Irvine, CA, USA.

Poster Presentations

Panchanathan, K., & Frankenhuis, W. E., & Silk, J. B. (2010). The bystander effect in a multi-player dictator game. Society for Personality and Social Psychology (SPSP) Conference, Las Vegas, NV, USA.
Frankenhuis, W. E., & Panchanathan, K. (2010). Learning to live: A model integrating evolutionary and developmental adaptation. SPSP Evolutionary Psychology Preconference, Las Vegas, NV, USA.
Frankenhuis, W. E., & Panchanathan, K. (2009). To be or to become: An evolutionary model of learning and development. Cognitive Science Society, Free University, Amsterdam, NL.
Thomsen, L., Frankenhuis, W. E., Walker-Meade, B., & Carey, S. (2009). Core knowledge of social dominance. Cognitive Science Society, Free University, Amsterdam, NL.

Invited Talks

Frankenhuis, W. E., & Panchanathan, K. (2009). Evolution of critical periods and developmental specialization. Developmental Affective Neuroscience Laboratory, UCLA, CA, USA.
Frankenhuis, W. E. (2009). Discussant at Symposium Babies in the wild: The role of perception-action mechanisms in the development of adaptive skills. Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA.
Frankenhuis, W. E. (2008). The human nature controversy: Born to learn. Pierce Community College, Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, CA, USA.