Wouter van den Bos

University of Amsterdam, Programme Group Developmental Psychology

August 15, 2022

Wouter van den Bos is an Associate Professor at the Developmental Psychology Department of the University of Amsterdam & Director of the Connected Minds Lab, as well as an Adjunct Research Scientist at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Center for Adaptive Rationality.

He has a broad background in neuroscience and developmental psychology and his research broadly investigates the relation between the developing brain and changes in behaviour. More specifically, his research is focused on how changes in brain function and structure relate to typical and atypical development of learning and decision-making. To approach these questions, he uses computational models, social network analyses, and methods from experimental economics. Computational models are used to quantify behaviour and the complex processes underlying learning and decision making. The parameters from these models support spanning the bridge between developmental theories and neurobiology, and identifying specific processes that underlie developmental change. Using these techniques, he has investigated the neurocognitive development of risky and intertemporal choice, basic learning mechanisms, social decision making, and social learning. He is specifically interested in the interaction between the social environment and developmental processes. For instance, how the social environment is neurally represented and how it impacts behaviour. For this we rely on social network analyses and representational similarity analyses to quantify social relations and determine their impact. His work is funded by the Nederlands organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek (NWO), European Research Council (ERC Stg, H2020), Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) and the Jacobs Foundation.

Email: W.vandenBos@uva.nl
Personal website
Connected Minds Lab

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