Developmental Cognitive and Knowing Sciences
How do we develop into adaptive minds? At the DeCKS Lab, this is the central question that drives our research. Based at Bilkent University, we combine theory and hands-on experiments from cognitive science and developmental psychology to understand how we build knowledge through our actions and experiences. Our research focuses on the crucial transition from learning about the world through direct interaction (learning by doing) to the ability to think about our knowledge and thoughts (reflection). Through this lens, we seek to provide a comprehensive account for the nature and emergence of mind itself in both natural and artificial systems.

News & Announcements
The latest happenings and opportunities, presented for students and collaborators.

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Open House 2026: Meet the DeCKS Lab
On September 29, we open our doors to students and prospective volunteers: come hear about our ongoing projects and meet the team.
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New Commentary in Behavioral and Brain Sciences
Our commentary on Chater and Christiansen’s “Social tinkering” has been published in Behavioral and Brain Sciences.
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DeCKS Lab at ICDL 2026 in Kyoto
Ezgi Özgan presented our poster on why children copy “causally unnecessary” actions, and what this means for robot learning, at IEEE ICDL 2026 in Kyoto.
