Professor Ted Ruffman
Email tedr@psy.otago.ac.nz
Tel 64 3 479 7670
Professor Ted Ruffman examines social understanding in infants, children and in young and older adults. He has explored whether human infants understand mental states such as desires and beliefs, whether children can recognise emotional expressions as well as young adults. He has studied whether emotion recognition, understanding of social gaffes, and the ability to detect a lie deteriorate in older adulthood. Recently, he has also begun to examine dogs’ social understanding, for instance, whether dogs understand human emotional expressions such as sadness, anger and fear.
He has authored over 60 articles on these topics.
Ted joined the department in 2002. He has 20 years of university lecturing experience, at both the graduate and undergraduate levels, having previously worked in England for 13 years at the University of Sussex.
Teaching
Find out more about Professor Ruffman's research interests
Publications
