Laurie Renee Santos (born 1975) is an American cognitive scientist and Professor of Psychology at Yale University. She is also Director of Yale's Comparative Cognition Laboratory, Director of Yale's Canine Cognition Lab, and Head of Yale's Silliman College. She has been a featured TED speaker and has been listed in ''Popular Science'' as one of their "Brilliant Ten" young scientists in 2007 as well as in ''Time'' magazine as a "Leading Campus Celebrity" in 2013. In January 2018, her course titled ''Psychology and the Good Life'' became the most popular course in Yale's history, with approximately one-fourth of Yale's undergraduates enrolled. In September 2019, she became host of the podcast ''The Happiness Lab'', published by

Pushkin Industries Pushkin Industries is an American publisher of podcasts and audiobooks. It was co-founded in 2018 by Malcolm Gladwell and Jacob Weisberg. As of 2021, it hosts over 25 podcasts. History The company was co-founded in 2018 by Malcolm Gladwell and Jac ...

— the media company led by journalists

Malcolm Gladwell Malcolm Timothy Gladwell (born 3 September 1963) is an English-born Canadian journalist, author, and public speaker. He has been a staff writer for ''The New Yorker'' since 1996. He has published seven books: '' The Tipping Point: How Little T ...

and

Jacob Weisberg Jacob Weisberg (born 1964) is an American political journalist, who served as editor-in-chief of The Slate Group, a division of Graham Holdings Company. In September 2018, he left Slate to co-found Pushkin Industries, an audio content company, ...

Background and education

Santos was born in 1975 in a binational home in

New Bedford, Massachusetts New Bedford ( Massachusett: ) is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts. It is located on the Acushnet River in what is known as the South Coast region. Up through the 17th century, the area was the territory of the Wampanoag Native American ...

. Her father, whose family is of

Cape Verde , national_anthem = () , official_languages = Portuguese , national_languages = Cape Verdean Creole , capital = Praia , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , demonym ...

an descent, was a programmer and her mother, who is from the United States, was a guidance counselor at

New Bedford High School New Bedford High School (NBHS) is a public high school located at 230 Hathaway Boulevard in the West End of New Bedford, Massachusetts. The school has approximately 2,000 students, and is one of the largest schools in the state. New Bedford is al ...

, where Santos and her brother Aaron attended. After high school, she attended Harvard University. As a sophomore, she became a research assistant and traveled to

Cayo Santiago Cayo Santiago, also known as Santiago Island, Isla de los monos (or Island of the monkeys), is located at , to the east of ''Punta Santiago'', Humacao, Puerto Rico. Geography The island measures approximately , north–south and east–west, ...

, a small 38-acre island east of Puerto Rico. Cayo Santiago's monkey population inspired Santos and spurred her interest in the psychology of animals. In 1997, she received her Bachelor of Arts degree

magna cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sou ...

in psychology and

biology Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditary ...

and won the annual Psychology Department Undergraduate Thesis Prize. She continued her studies as graduate student in the Harvard Psychology Department, obtaining a master's in Psychology in 2001 with a focus on Cognition, Brain and Behavior and then a

Ph.D A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

in the same field in 2003. Her dissertation won the Richard J. Herrnstein Dissertation Prize of the Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences for “the best dissertation that exhibits excellent scholarship, originality and breadth of thought, and a commitment to intellectual independence.”

Career and research

In 2003, she began as an

assistant professor Assistant Professor is an academic rank just below the rank of an associate professor used in universities or colleges, mainly in the United States and Canada. Overview This position is generally taken after earning a doctoral degree and general ...

in psychology and cognitive science at Yale University, earning tenure as an

associate professor Associate professor is an academic title with two principal meanings: in the North American system and that of the ''Commonwealth system''. Overview In the ''North American system'', used in the United States and many other countries, it is a ...

in 2009. Her research investigates the evolutionary origins of the human mind by comparing the cognitive abilities of humans and non-human animals, including primates and canines. Santos was Yale's director of undergraduate studies in psychology from 2010 to 2015. In June 2016, she was named the head of Silliman College, one of the 14 undergraduate residential colleges at Yale, succeeding Nicholas Christakis. Santos' Yale course, "Psychology and the Good Life” focuses on answering questions like: “What actually makes us

happy Happiness, in the context of mental or emotional states, is positive or pleasant emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy. Other forms include life satisfaction, well-being, subjective well-being, flourishing and eudaimonia. Sin ...

?” and “What can we do to achieve the good life?” Her course has become the most popular class in Yale history and as a result, Yale has made it available externally on the online learning platform

Coursera Coursera Inc. () is a U.S.-based massive open online course provider founded in 2012 by Stanford University computer science professors Andrew Ng and Daphne Koller. Coursera works with universities and other organizations to offer online courses, ...

in March 2018 as "The Science of Well-Being." As of November 2018, over 170,000 people from at least 170 countries have enrolled in the online course.

Featured work

Santos's scientific work has been published in journals such as '' Psychological Science'', ''

Animal Cognition Animal cognition encompasses the mental capacities of non-human animals including insect cognition. The study of animal conditioning and learning used in this field was developed from comparative psychology. It has also been strongly influence ...

'', ''

Developmental Science ''Developmental Science'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal covering developmental psychology and developmental cognitive neuroscience that was established in 1998. The current editors are Charles A. Nelson, Michelle de Haan, and Paul C. Quin ...

'', ''

Current Biology ''Current Biology'' is a biweekly peer-reviewed scientific journal that covers all areas of biology, especially molecular biology, cell biology, genetics, neurobiology, ecology, and evolutionary biology. The journal includes research articles, var ...

'', ''

Animal Behaviour Ethology is the scientific study of animal behaviour, usually with a focus on behaviour under natural conditions, and viewing behaviour as an evolutionarily adaptive trait. Behaviourism as a term also describes the scientific and objective ...

'', and ''

Cognition Cognition refers to "the mental action or process of acquiring knowledge and understanding through thought, experience, and the senses". It encompasses all aspects of intellectual functions and processes such as: perception, attention, though ...

''. Her scientific research has been featured in outlets including '' The New York Times'', The '' Los Angeles Times'', '' The Economist'', '' Forbes'', '' The New Yorker'', '' New Scientist'', ''

National Wildlife ''National Wildlife'' is an American magazine published bi-monthly by the National Wildlife Federation (NWF), a nonprofit conservation group. In publication since 1962, and with an emphasis on wildlife conservation and natural history, it is desig ...

'', '' Smithsonian Magazine'', and '' Discover Magazine'' as well as on National Public Radio and ''Nova''. She is the editor (with Bruce Hood) of ''The Origins of Object Knowledge''. She has been featured on National Public Radio, on

Big Think Big Think is a multimedia web portal founded in 2007 by Victoria Brown and Peter Hopkins. The website is a collection of interviews, presentations, and round table discussions with experts from a wide range of fields. Victoria Brown is the acti ...

, and—with her colleagues Paul Bloom,

Tamar Gendler Tamar Szabó Gendler (born December 20, 1965) is an American philosopher. She is the Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at Yale as well as the Vincent J. Scully Professor of Philosophy and a Professor of Psychology and Cognitive Sciences ...

and

Joshua Knobe Joshua Michael Knobe (born 1974) is an American experimental philosopher, whose work ranges across issues in philosophy of mind and action and ethics. He is Professor of Cognitive Science and Philosophy at Yale University. He is known for his ...

she is a regular contributor to

Bloggingheads.tv Bloggingheads.tv (sometimes abbreviated "bhtv") is a political, world events, philosophy, and science video blog discussion site in which the participants take part in an active back and forth conversation via webcam which is then broadcast onl ...

’s Mind Report. Santos has had to retract two scientific papers because of coding errors in her lab.

Podcast: The Happiness Lab

Since September 2019, Santos has hosted the podcast ''The Happiness Lab'', which examines the latest scientific research on factors impacting our well-being and happiness. The show completed its first 10-episode season in November 2019, and has spent 126 days on the U.S. Podcasts Chart, peaking at No. 3. Santos produced further episodes of her podcast. The podcast published by

, the media company led by journalists

and

, formerly of '' Slate'' magazine. Writing in the '' Financial Times'', Fiona Sturges wrote: “Santos is the voice of sanity, not to mention scrupulous research.

he's He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...

a warm yet authoritative host who shows us the contradictions in our psychological impulses.”

Honors and awards

In 2007, Santos was featured in ''Popular Science'' as one of the journal's “Brilliant Ten” young scientists. In 2008, she was awarded the Stanton Prize for outstanding early-career contributions to interdisciplinary research in philosophy and psychology by the

Society for Philosophy and Psychology The Society for Philosophy and Psychology (SPP) is a professional organization in North America that promotes discussion and research at the intersection of philosophy, psychology and cognitive science. Its stated purpose is "to promote interact ...

and the Arthur Greer Memorial Prize for Outstanding Scholarly Publication or Research by Yale University. In 2010, she was a featured speaker at the TED Global Conference in Oxford, UK. In 2011, she was featured as the Association for Psychological Science Presidential Symposium Speaker. In 2012, she was awarded Yale University's Lex Hixon Prize for teaching excellence in the social sciences, the highest teaching prize awarded at Yale College, and the

American Psychological Association The American Psychological Association (APA) is the largest scientific and professional organization of psychologists in the United States, with over 133,000 members, including scientists, educators, clinicians, consultants, and students. It has ...

's Distinguished Scientific Award for Early Career Contribution to Psychology. In 2013, she was voted as one of '' Time'' magazines leading campus celebrities. In 2016, she served as the President of the

. In 2018, she received a Genius Award from the

Liberty Science Center Liberty Science Center is an interactive science museum and learning center located in Liberty State Park in Jersey City, New Jersey, United States. At its opening it was the largest such planetarium in the Western Hemisphere and the world's ...

in New Jersey.

Popularization of science

Santos appeared in the 2018 Netflix documentary ''The Most Unknown'' on scientific research directed by

Ian Cheney Ian Cheney is an American documentary filmmaker, cinematographer, and producer. Early life and education Cheney grew up in Massachusetts and Maine, attended The Mountain School, a semester school for high school juniors, and graduated from Milt ...

Personal life

Santos is married to philosopher Mark Maxwell.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Santos, Laurie R. American women psychologists Evolutionary psychologists American cognitive scientists Women cognitive scientists Women primatologists Primatologists American atheists American science writers Harvard University alumni Yale University faculty 1975 births Living people American women academics 21st-century American women scientists