Gelman received a Bachelor of Arts in psychology and classical Greek from Oberlin College in 1980 and a Doctor of Philosophy in psychology with a minor in linguistics from Stanford University in 1984, since which time she has been employed at University of Michigan.
Her research focuses on the topics of cognitive development, language acquisition, categorization, inductive reasoning, causal reasoning, and relationships between language and thought. Gelman subscribes to the domain specificity view of cognition, asserting that the mind is composed of specialized modules subserving specific cognitive functions. Her brother is the statistician Andrew Gelman.
Her research has been recognized by several awards including the James McKeen Cattell Fund Fellowship (2007-2008), the American Psychological Foundation Robert L. Fantz Award (1992), and the Eleanor Maccoby Book Prize from Division 7 of the American Psychological Association (2005) for The Essential Child.
1. A. A. West. Doctorate.
American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
