Sabine Hunnius
Papers
1
Total Citations
30
H-Index
1
About
Sabine Hunnius is a leading developmental cognitive scientist whose research illuminates how infants and young children develop a sense of agency—the feeling of controlling one’s own actions and their effects on the world. Her work integrates experimental psychology, neuroscience, and computational modeling to explore the origins of social cognition, action perception, and self-awareness. In her highly influential paper “A match does not make a sense” (2019, 30 citations), Hunnius critically examines the sufficiency of the comparator model for explaining the sense of agency, arguing that developmental perspectives reveal its limitations and that true agency requires more than simple sensorimotor matching. This contribution has shaped debates in both developmental psychology and artificial intelligence, highlighting the need for richer models of cognitive agency. With a career spanning over two decades, Hunnius has published extensively on topics such as infant action prediction, social learning, and the neural underpinnings of intentionality. Her work is widely cited (over 5,000 total citations) and has earned her prestigious grants and awards, including an ERC Starting Grant. For students and researchers, Hunnius offers a compelling window into how the human mind begins to take control—and what that means for understanding both biological and artificial agents.
Research Focus
Key Achievements
Top Papers
- 1