Tania Lombrozo

Tania Lombrozo
Alma mater	Stanford University Harvard University
Scientific career
Institutions	University of California, Berkeley Princeton University
Thesis	Understanding explanation : studies in teleology, simplicity, and causal knowledge (2006)
Doctoral advisor	Susan Carey

Tania Lombrozo is an American psychologist who is the Arthur W. Marks Professor of Psychology at Princeton University. She oversees the Concepts and Cognition Laboratory, which looks to understand the science that underpins cognition.

Early life and education

Lombrozo is from the United States. She was an undergraduate student at Stanford University, where she earned an undergraduate degree in Symbolic Systems and Philosophy. During her undergraduate research, she worked with Peter Godfrey-Smith on the philosophy of science. She moved to Harvard University as a Master's student in psychology and stayed for a doctorate in psychology under the supervision of Susan Carey. Her thesis explored explanation and causal knowledge.

Research and career

In 2006 Lombrozo joined University of California, Berkeley as an Assistant Professor. She was made the Class of 1944 Chair in the Department of Psychology in 2017.

Lombrozo was made the Arthur W. Marks Professor of Psychology at Princeton University in 2019. Her research looks to understand cognition. She is particularly interested in explanation and understanding, as well as folk epistemology.

She was a frequent contributor to NPR, where she wrote on psychology and cognitive science. She is a contributor to Psychology Today. She has worked with the Association for Psychological Science (APS) to better engage the public in psychological research.

Awards and honors

• 2010 Society for Philosophy and Psychology Stanton Prize
• 2012 American Psychological Association Janet Taylor Spence Award
• 2014 Society of Experimental Psychologists Early Investigator Award
• American Psychological Association Distinguished Scientific Award
• 2018 National Science Foundation CAREER Award
• 2019 Foundation Scholar Award in Understanding Human Cognition
• 2020 American Psychological Foundation Joseph B. Gittler Award

Selected publications

• Tania Lombrozo (August 30, 2006). "The structure and function of explanations". Trends in Cognitive Sciences. 10 (10): 464–470. doi:10.1016/J.TICS.2006.08.004. ISSN 1364-6613. PMID 16942895. Wikidata Q36581851.
• Tania Lombrozo (November 9, 2006). "Simplicity and probability in causal explanation". Cognitive Psychology. 55 (3): 232–257. doi:10.1016/J.COGPSYCH.2006.09.006. ISSN 0010-0285. PMID 17097080. Wikidata Q44600638.
• Tania Lombrozo; Susan Carey (June 6, 2005). "Functional explanation and the function of explanation". Cognition. 99 (2): 167–204. doi:10.1016/J.COGNITION.2004.12.009. ISSN 0010-0277. PMID 15939416. Wikidata Q30350833.

Personal life

Lombrozo is married to fellow Princeton psychology professor Tom Griffiths.