World's Best Scientists 2026 revealed!
Elizabeth S. Spelke

Elizabeth S. Spelke

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Best Female Scientists
2025

D-Index & Metrics

Best Female Scientists

D-Index
121
Citations
66710
World Ranking
522
National Ranking
309

Psychology

D-Index
120
Citations
67022
World Ranking
255
National Ranking
163

Elizabeth S. Spelke publication distribution in Psychology in 2026

The chart shows the distribution of publications by all Research.com ranked scientists in the field of Psychology in 2026. The highlighted bar marks where Elizabeth S. Spelke sits on this spectrum.

31–40 publications: 6 scientists 41–50 publications: 52 scientists 51–60 publications: 138 scientists 61–70 publications: 299 scientists 71–80 publications: 461 scientists 81–90 publications: 605 scientists 91–100 publications: 713 scientists 101–110 publications: 736 scientists 111–120 publications: 686 scientists 121–130 publications: 670 scientists 131–140 publications: 644 scientists 141–150 publications: 597 scientists 151–160 publications: 576 scientists 161–170 publications: 477 scientists 171–180 publications: 450 scientists 181–190 publications: 397 scientists 191–200 publications: 343 scientists 201–210 publications: 328 scientists 211–220 publications: 313 scientists 221–230 publications: 283 scientists 231–240 publications: 226 scientists 241–250 publications: 196 scientists 251–260 publications: 201 scientists 261–270 publications: 171 scientists 271–280 publications: 151 scientists 281–290 publications: 139 scientists 291–300 publications: 113 scientists 301–310 publications: 102 scientists 311–320 publications: 100 scientists 321–330 publications: 76 scientists 331–340 publications: 92 scientists 341–350 publications: 85 scientists 351–360 publications: 69 scientists 361–370 publications: 71 scientists 371–380 publications: 63 scientists 381–390 publications: 58 scientists 391–400 publications: 57 scientists 401–410 publications: 43 scientists 411–420 publications: 33 scientists 421–430 publications: 50 scientists 431–440 publications: 41 scientists 441–450 publications: 32 scientists 451–460 publications: 27 scientists 461–470 publications: 28 scientists 471–480 publications: 25 scientists 481–490 publications: 28 scientists 491–500 publications: 20 scientists 501–510 publications: 23 scientists 511–520 publications: 26 scientists 521–530 publications: 17 scientists 531–540 publications: 21 scientists 541–550 publications: 14 scientists 551–560 publications: 16 scientists 561–570 publications: 10 scientists 571–580 publications: 22 scientists 581–590 publications: 9 scientists 591–600 publications: 14 scientists 601–610 publications: 9 scientists 611–620 publications: 11 scientists 621–630 publications: 4 scientists 631–640 publications: 7 scientists 641–650 publications: 5 scientists 651–660 publications: 10 scientists 661–670 publications: 8 scientists 671–680 publications: 8 scientists 681–690 publications: 4 scientists 691–700 publications: 3 scientists 701–704 publications: 4 scientists 705+ publications: 100 scientists
31 publications 705+

This scientist: 365 publications — 92nd percentile

92% of scientists in this discipline score the same or lower.

The last bar groups every scientist with 705 publications or more.

Elizabeth S. Spelke D-index placement in Psychology in 2026

The chart shows the D-index (discipline H-index) distribution of Psychology scientists ranked by Research.com in 2026. The highlighted bar marks where Elizabeth S. Spelke sits on this spectrum.

30–31 D-Index: 398 scientists 32–33 D-Index: 702 scientists 34–35 D-Index: 671 scientists 36–37 D-Index: 659 scientists 38–39 D-Index: 641 scientists 40–41 D-Index: 671 scientists 42–43 D-Index: 617 scientists 44–45 D-Index: 558 scientists 46–47 D-Index: 495 scientists 48–49 D-Index: 487 scientists 50–51 D-Index: 445 scientists 52–53 D-Index: 390 scientists 54–55 D-Index: 408 scientists 56–57 D-Index: 345 scientists 58–59 D-Index: 325 scientists 60–61 D-Index: 321 scientists 62–63 D-Index: 248 scientists 64–65 D-Index: 290 scientists 66–67 D-Index: 218 scientists 68–69 D-Index: 219 scientists 70–71 D-Index: 215 scientists 72–73 D-Index: 183 scientists 74–75 D-Index: 169 scientists 76–77 D-Index: 132 scientists 78–79 D-Index: 137 scientists 80–81 D-Index: 120 scientists 82–83 D-Index: 112 scientists 84–85 D-Index: 86 scientists 86–87 D-Index: 101 scientists 88–89 D-Index: 83 scientists 90–91 D-Index: 77 scientists 92–93 D-Index: 70 scientists 94–95 D-Index: 78 scientists 96–97 D-Index: 58 scientists 98–99 D-Index: 53 scientists 100–101 D-Index: 57 scientists 102–103 D-Index: 48 scientists 104–105 D-Index: 53 scientists 106–107 D-Index: 46 scientists 108–109 D-Index: 24 scientists 110–111 D-Index: 35 scientists 112–113 D-Index: 27 scientists 114–115 D-Index: 32 scientists 116–117 D-Index: 31 scientists 118–119 D-Index: 22 scientists 120–121 D-Index: 16 scientists 122–123 D-Index: 24 scientists 124–125 D-Index: 18 scientists 126–127 D-Index: 11 scientists 128–129 D-Index: 19 scientists 130–131 D-Index: 10 scientists 132–133 D-Index: 16 scientists 134–135 D-Index: 10 scientists 136–137 D-Index: 12 scientists 138–139 D-Index: 8 scientists 140–141 D-Index: 5 scientists 142–143 D-Index: 12 scientists 144+ D-Index: 98 scientists
30 D-Index 144+

This scientist: 120 D-Index — 98th percentile

98% of scientists in this discipline score the same or lower.

The last bar groups every scientist with 144 D-Index or more.

Research.com Recognitions

  • 2025 - Research.com Best Female Scientists Award
  • 2014 - Kurt Koffka Medal, Giessen University
  • 2009 - Jean Nicod Prize, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
  • 2002 - Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
  • 2000 - APA Award for Distinguished Scientific Contributions to Psychology, American Psychological Association
  • 2000 - William James Fellow Award, Association for Psychological Science (APA)
  • 1999 - Member of the National Academy of Sciences
  • 1997 - Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
  • 1988 - Fellow of John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation

Overview

Elizabeth S. Spelke is affiliated with Harvard University in the United States and has contributed extensively to the field of psychology, with a focus on developmental and educational psychology. Their work spans several subfields including social psychology, cognitive neuroscience, and statistics and probability.

Their research primarily explores topics related to child and animal learning development, cognitive and developmental aspects of mathematical skills, neuroendocrine regulation and behavior, action observation and synchronization, mathematics education and teaching techniques, psychology of moral and emotional judgment, and language development and disorders.

Frequent coauthors who have collaborated with Elizabeth S. Spelke include Brandon Matthew Woo, Samuel A. Mehr, Shari Liu, Tomer Ullman, and Joshua B. Tenenbaum.

Spelke's publications have appeared repeatedly in venues such as Open Mind, PLoS ONE, Developmental Science, Nature, and Behavioral and Brain Sciences.

Selected recent papers by Elizabeth S. Spelke include:

  • Online Developmental Science to Foster Innovation, Access, and Impact (2020) - Trends in Cognitive Sciences
  • Across demographics and recent history, most parents sing to their infants and toddlers daily (2021) - Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences
  • Toddlers' social evaluations of agents who act on false beliefs (2022) - Developmental Science
  • Early concepts of intimacy: Young humans use saliva sharing to infer close relationships (2022) - Science
  • Object permanence in newborn chicks is robust against opposing evidence (2024) - arXiv (Cornell University)

Elizabeth S. Spelke has been recognized with a number of awards over their career, including the Kurt Koffka Medal from Giessen University (2014), Jean Nicod Prize awarded by the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) in 2009, and election as a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in 2002.

Additional honors include the APA Award for Distinguished Scientific Contributions to Psychology and William James Fellow Award from the Association for Psychological Science (both in 2000), membership in the National Academy of Sciences (1999), fellowship of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1997), and fellowship of the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation (1988).

Best Publications

  • Core systems of number

    Lisa Feigenson;Stanislas Dehaene;Elizabeth Spelke

  • Sources of Mathematical Thinking: Behavioral and Brain-Imaging Evidence

    S. Dehaene;E. S Spelke;P. Pinel;R. Stanescu

  • Large number discrimination in 6-month-old infants.

    Fei Xu;Elizabeth S. Spelke

  • Origins of knowledge.

    Elizabeth S. Spelke;Karen Breinlinger;Janet Macomber;Kristen Jacobson

  • Principles of Object Perception

    Elizabeth S. Spelke

  • Object permanence in five-month-old infants

    Renée Baillargeon;Elizabeth S. Spelke;Stanley Wasserman

  • Sex Differences in Intrinsic Aptitude for Mathematics and Science?: A Critical Review.

    Elizabeth S. Spelke

  • The native language of social cognition

    Katherine D. Kinzler;Emmanuel Dupoux;Elizabeth S. Spelke

  • Domain-specific knowledge and conceptual change.

    Susan Carey;Elizabeth Spelke

  • Initial knowledge: six suggestions

    Elizabeth S. Spelke

  • Perception of partly occluded objects in infancy

    Philip J. Kellman;Elizabeth S. Spelke

  • A Dissociation Between Moral Judgments and Justifications

    Marc D. Hauser;Fiery Cushman;Liane Young;R. Kang-Xing Jin

  • Origins of Number Sense Large-Number Discrimination in Human Infants

    Jennifer S. Lipton;Elizabeth S. Spelke

  • The Double-Edged Sword of Pedagogy: Instruction Limits Spontaneous Exploration and Discovery

    Elizabeth Bonawitz;Patrick Shafto;Hyowon Gweon;Noah D. Goodman

  • Newborn infants perceive abstract numbers

    Vé Ronique Izard;Coralie Sann;Elizabeth S. Spelke;Arlette Streri

  • A geometric process for spatial reorientation in young children

    Linda Hermer;Elizabeth S. Spelke

  • Ontological categories guide young children's inductions of word meaning: object terms and substance terms.

    Nancy N. Soja;Susan Carey;Elizabeth S. Spelke

  • Log or Linear? Distinct Intuitions of the Number Scale in Western and Amazonian Indigene Cultures

    Stanislas Dehaene;Véronique Izard;Elizabeth S. Spelke;Pierre Pica

  • Modularity and development: the case of spatial reorientation

    Linda Hermer;Elizabeth Spelke

  • Human spatial representation: insights from animals.

    Ranxiao Frances Wang;Elizabeth S Spelke

  • Infants' knowledge of object motion and human action.

    Elizabeth S. Spelke;Ann Phillips;Amanda L. Woodward

Frequent Co-Authors

Stanislas Dehaene
Stanislas Dehaene Collège de France
Mahzarin R. Banaji
Mahzarin R. Banaji Harvard University
Katherine D. Kinzler
Katherine D. Kinzler University of Chicago
Arlette Streri
Arlette Streri Université Paris Cité
Susan Carey
Susan Carey Harvard University
Claes von Hofsten
Claes von Hofsten Uppsala University
Kristina R. Olson
Kristina R. Olson University of Washington
Rochel Gelman
Rochel Gelman Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
Carol S. Dweck
Carol S. Dweck Stanford University

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