Papers

Yiu, E., Qraitem, M., Majhi, A. N., Wong, C., Bai, Y., Ginosar, S.,Gopnik, A. & Saenko, K. (2025). KiVA: Kid-inspired visual analogies for testing large multimodal models (project page). In International Conference on Learning Representations.

Goddu, M.*, Yiu, E.*, & Gopnik, A. (2024). Causal relational problem solving in toddlers. Cognition, 254, 105959.

Yiu, E., Sandbrink, K., & Gopnik, A. (2024). Children prioritize purely exploratory actions in observe-vs.-bet tasks. In CogSci.

Yiu, E., Kosoy, E., & Gopnik, A. (2023). Transmission versus truth, imitation versus innovation: What children can do that large language and language-and-vision models cannot (yet). Perspectives on Psychological Science, 17456916231201401.

Wu, W.Y., Yiu, E., Ophir, A. G., & Smith, D. M. (2023). Effects of Social Context Manipulation on Dorsal and Ventral Hippocampal Neuronal Responses. Hippocampus.

Yiu, E., Collins, J., & Gopnik, A. (2022). Three-Dimensional Object Completion in Humans and Computational Models. In CogSci.

Bambha, V. P., Beckner, A. G., Shetty, N., Voss, A. T., Xie, J., Yiu, E., ... & Casasola, M. (2022). Developmental Changes in Children’s Object Insertions during Play. Journal of Cognition and Development, 1-20.

Conference Presentations

Yiu, E., Qraitem, M., Wong, C., Majhi, A. N., Bai, Y., Ginosar, S.,Gopnik, A. & Saenko, K. KiVA: Kid-inspired visual analogies for testing large multimodal models (2024). Spotlight talk presented at the Multimodal Algorithmic Reasoning Workshop at NeurIPS; 2024 December 15; Vancouver, Canada.

Yiu, E., & Gopnik, A. Transmission versus truth, imitation versus innovation: What children can do that large language and language-and-vision models cannot (yet) (2024). Talk presented at the Brain Science and Large Language Models Symposium organized by Leopoldina and Max Planck Institute for Brain Research; 2024 May 14; Frankfurt, Germany.

Yiu, E., Goddu, M., & Gopnik, A. Causal-functional Reasoning in Children and AI. Talk presented at the Functions, relations, and abstractions in infants, preschoolers, and AI Symposium at Cognitive Development Society Conference; 2024 March 23; Pasadena, CA, USA.

Yiu, E., Sandbrink, K., Liu, E., & Gopnik, A. Children prioritize purely exploratory actions in observe or bet tasks (2023). Poster presented at the Intrinsically Motivated Open-ended Learning Workshop at NeurIPS; 2023 December 16; New Orleans, LA, USA.

Dahmani, A.*, Yiu, E.*, Lee, T. E., Ke, N. R., Kroemer, O., & Gopnik, A. From Child’s Play to AI: Insights into Automated Causal Curriculum Learning (2023). Poster presented at the Intrinsically Motivated Open-ended Learning Workshop at NeurIPS; 2023 December 16; New Orleans, LA, USA.

Yiu, E., Dahmani, A.*, Lee, T. E., Ke, N. R., Kroemer, O., & Gopnik, A. Towards Understanding Automated Causal Curriculum Learning in Humans and Reinforcement Learning Agents (2023). Talk presented at the Interactive Causal Learning Conference; 2023 December 1-2; Boca Raton, FL, USA.

Dahmani, A.*, Yiu, E.*, Lee, T. E., Ke, N. R., Kroemer, O., & Gopnik, A. Towards Understanding Automated Causal Curriculum Learning in Humans and Reinforcement Learning Agents (2023). Talk and poster presented at the 6th International Workshop on Intrinsically Motivated Open-ended Learning; 2023 September 13-15; Paris, France.

Yiu, E., & Gopnik, A. Discovering New Functions in Everyday Tools By Children, Adults and LLMs (2023). Poster presented at the 44th Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society; 2023 July 26-29; Sydney, Australia.

Yiu, E., & Gopnik, A. Discovering New Functions in Everyday Tools By Children, Adults and LLMs (2023). Poster presented at the Curiosity, Creativity and Complexity Conference; 2023 May 23-25; Columbia University, NY, USA.

Yiu, E., & Gopnik, A. Object Exploration Influences Three-dimensional Object Completion Preferences in Children (2023). Flash Talk presented at Society for Research in Child Development Biennial Conference; 2023 March 23-25; Salt Lake City, UT, USA.

Yiu, E., Collins, J., & Gopnik, A. Three-Dimensional Object Completion in Humans and Computational Models (2022). Talk presented at the 43rd Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society; 2022 July 28-30; Toronto, Canada.

Yiu, E., Collins, J., & Gopnik, A. Symmetry Preference in 3D Object Completion (2022). Poster presented at Cognitive Development Society Conference; 2022 April 21-23; Madison, WI, USA.

Yiu, E., Collins, J., & Gopnik, A. Symmetry Preference in 3D Object Completion (2022). Talk presented at From Neuroscience to Artificially Intelligent Systems (NAISys) Conference; 2022 April 5-9; Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, NY, USA.

Bambha, V., Beckner, A., Shetty, N., Voss, A., Xie, J., Yiu, E., Lobue, V., Oakes, L. & Casasola, M. Developmental changes in children’s object insertions during play (2021). Poster presented at Society for Research in Child Development Biennial Conference; 2021 April 7-9; Virtual.

Wu, W.Y., Yiu, E., Ophir, A.G., & Smith, D.M. (2019). Spatial firing patterns of hippocampal CA1 neurons are not sensitive to changes in the social context. Poster presented at Society for Neuroscience Conference; 2019 October 19-23; Chicago, IL, USA.

Yiu, E., Chuang, Y.-A., & Worley, P.F. (2019). A Triad3A/RNF216 Mutation in a Mouse Model for Gordon-Holmes Syndrome with a Focus on Arc Ubiquitination and Cerebellar Structure. Poster presented at Johns Hopkins Career, Academic, and Research Experiences for Students Summer Symposium; 2019 July 25; Baltimore, MD, USA.

Yiu, E., Kazi, S., & Casasola, M. (2019). A new task for assessing toddler mental rotation. Poster presented at Society for Research in Child Development Biennial Conference; 2019 March 21-23; Baltimore, MD, USA.

Honors, Grants & Awards

June 2023 Society for Research in Child Development 2025 Biennial Graduate Student Travel Award
June 2023 6th Google-BAIR Commons Grant
Project Title: Learning and Optimizing Causal Structures through Intrinsic Objectives: A Comparative Study of Human and Artificial Agents
June 2023 5th Meta AI-BAIR Commons Grant
Project Title: A Curriculum for Foundational AI Models Inspired by Human Cognition
May 2023 Curiosity, Creativity and Complexity Conference Travel Award at Columbia University
May 2023 Computational Cognitive Models of Learning and Development Workshop Travel Award at Harvard University
May 2020 Phi Beta Kappa (Honor Society Membership for Excellence in Liberal Arts & Sciences)
May 2020 Robert R. Capranica Award (Undergraduate Research Award for Outstanding Thesis in Neuroethology)
Thesis Title: The Relationship between Spatial Occupancy Time & Firing Patterns of Hippocampal CA1 Neurons in Response to Changes in the Social Context
Advisor: Dr. David Smith
May 2020 T.A. Ryan Award (Best Undergraduate Honors Project in Psychology)
Thesis Title: Does Toddler Mental Rotation Relate to Their Processing Strategies and Play?
Advisor: Dr. Marianella Casasola
Fall 2016 -
Fall 2019
Dean’s List of the College of Arts and Sciences for Excellence in Scholarship
Awarded all semesters, except for Spring 2020 (cancelled due to COVID-19)

Summer School

July 2024 Diverse Intelligences Summer Institute
St. Andrews, Scotland, United Kingdom.
May 2023 Computational Cognitive Models of Learning and Development Workshop
Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA.
Aug 2022 Brains, Minds & Machines Summer Course
Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, MA, USA.