Susan Gelman
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Susan A. Gelman (born July 24, 1957) is currently Heinz Werner Distinguished University Professor of psychology and linguistics and the director of the Conceptual Development Laboratory at the University of Michigan. Her research focuses on cognitive development, language acquisition, categorization, inductive reasoning, causal reasoning, and the relationship between language and thought. Gelman subscribes to the domain specificity view of cognition, which asserts that the mind is composed of specialized modules supervising specific functions in the human and other animals.
Gelman was elected to the American Academy of Arts & Sciences in 2008 and the National Academy of Sciences in 2012.[1] She was also formerly President of the Cognitive Development Society (2005-2007). She is currently Chair of the Governing Board of the Cognitive Science Society and President-Elect of the Society for Philosophy and Psychology.
Education[]
She received her B.A., Psychology and Classical Greek from Oberlin College in 1980, and her Ph.D. in Psychology, with a Ph.D. minor in Linguistics from Stanford University in 1984. Her PhD advisor was Ellen Markman. She studies concepts and language in young children and is the author of over 200 publications in psychology research or related articles.[2]
Research areas and topics of interest[]
- Developmental psychology
- Cognitive development
- Language acquisition
- Categorization and inductive reasoning
- Psychological essentialism
- Social categories; Ownership, Authenticity, and Object history
- Parent-child conversations
- Semantic development
- Causal reasoning
- Relations between language and thought
Essentialism[]
Gelman has been a major contributor to essentialism and relating essentialist ideas to varying aspects in the field of psychology. A large number of her publications and contributions have associated essentialism and involved how its ideas can provide further insight into the field of psychology. Gelman's work within the two fields share a familiar subsection which focuses on the developmental aspect of children. Her work has established that children, within a given age range, are able to detect underlying essences or root causes for predicting observed behaviors. Gelman's role in the furthering of psychological knowledge in regards to child development has given insight into how children acquire language and the thought processing that goes into such acquisitions can be exemplified through her contributions to published works. Her book single-authored book, The Essential Child: Origins of Essentialism in Everyday Thought,[3] is an influential work on cognitive development and essentialism that has been cited more than 2000 times.[4]
The Conceptual Development Lab[]
The Conceptual Development Lab is directed by Gelman and is located in the Psychology Department at the University of Michigan. Most of the studies conducted at the lab focus on children between the ages of 2 and 10, and are carried out in a home-like laboratory setting or in local preschools and middle schools.[5]
Awards[]
J. S. Guggenheim Fellowship (1996), the James Mckeen Cattell Fund Fellowship (2007–2008), the Eleanor Maccoby Book prize from Division 7 at the American Psychological Association (2005) for The Essential Child publication, the Distinguished Scientific Award from the American Psychological Association for Early career Contribution to Psychology(1991), the American Psychological Foundation Robert L. Fantz Award in (1992), the Developmental Psychology Mentor Award, Division 7, American Psychological Association (2012) and the G. Stanly Hall Award for Distinguished Contribution to Developmental Psychology, Division 7, American Psychological Association (2016).[2]
Family[]
Her younger brother is the statistician Andrew Gelman of Columbia University.[6]
References[]
- ^ "Susan A. Gelman". American Academy of Arts & Sciences. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
- ^ Jump up to: a b "Susan Gelman CV" (PDF). SGVITA 12.24.20. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
- ^ Gelman, Susan (2003). The essential child: Origins of essentialism in everyday thought. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199345014.
- ^ "Susan Gelman". Google Scholar. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
- ^ "Conceptual Development Lab". Conceptual Development Lab. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
- ^ Galef, Julia; Gelman, Susan (December 13, 2015). "Susan Gelman on 'How essentialism shapes our thinking'". Rationally Speaking: Official Podcast of New York City Skeptics. Episode RS 149. Full transcript (PDF). Retrieved 2018-05-12.
External links[]
- The Conceptual Development Lab at University of Michigan
- Gelman, Susan A. (1988). "The Development of Induction within Natural Kind and Artifact Categories" (PDF). Cognitive Psychology. 20 (1): 65–95. doi:10.1016/0010-0285(88)90025-4. hdl:2027.42/27462. PMID 3338268. S2CID 11066733.
- American women psychologists
- American psychologists
- Developmental psychologists
- Developmental psycholinguists
- Cognitive scientists
- Women cognitive scientists
- Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
- Oberlin College alumni
- Stanford University alumni
- University of Michigan faculty
- 1957 births
- Living people
- Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences
- Fellows of the Cognitive Science Society
- American women academics
- Annual Reviews (publisher) editors