2026 Michael Tomasello: Psychology Researcher – H-Index, Publications & Awards

Discipline name	D-Index	World Ranking	Current World Ranking	National Ranking	Current National Ranking	Publications	Citations
Best Scientists	203	258	243	169	158	910	171693
Psychology	206	8	7	2	2	871	175830

Research.com Recognitions

2026 - Research.com Psychology in United States Leader Award
2025 - Research.com Best Scientists Award
2025 - Research.com Psychology in United States Leader Award
2023 - Research.com Psychology in United States Leader Award
2022 - David E. Rumelhart Prize for Contributions to the Theoretical Foundations of Human Cognition
2022 - Research.com Psychology in United States Leader Award
2017 - Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
2017 - Member of the National Academy of Sciences
2015 - APA Award for Distinguished Scientific Contributions to Psychology, American Psychological Association
2010 - Max Planck Research Award Evolution
2007 - Mind & Brain Prize, University and Polytechnic of Turin
2006 - Jean Nicod Prize, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
2001 - German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina - Deutsche Akademie der Naturforscher Leopoldina – Nationale Akademie der Wissenschaften Psychology and Cognitive Sciences
1997 - Fellow of John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation

Overview

Michael Tomasello is affiliated with Duke University in the United States and has contributed extensively to the field of psychology, with a particular focus on developmental and social aspects of cognition. Their work encompasses a range of subfields including Developmental and Educational Psychology, Social Psychology, Cognitive Neuroscience, Sociology and Political Science, and Experimental and Cognitive Psychology.

The scientist's research has contributed notably to several main topics, notably:

Child and Animal Learning Development
Cultural Differences and Values
Primate Behavior and Ecology
Psychology of Moral and Emotional Judgment
Social and Intergroup Psychology
Evolutionary Game Theory and Cooperation
Evolutionary Psychology and Human Behavior

Frequent co-authors in their research include:

Josep Call
Wouter Wolf
Robert Hepach
Cathal O'Madagain
Bahar Köymen

Michael Tomasello has published regularly in multiple venues, with a recurrent presence in:

Journal of Experimental Child Psychology
Cognitive Development
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences
PLoS ONE
Child Development

Recent papers authored or co-authored by Michael Tomasello include:

The adaptive origins of uniquely human sociality (2020), Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences
The coordination of attention and action in great apes and humans (2022), Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences

Other recent relevant papers in which they were not the primary author but contributed to the field include:

Shared intentionality, reason-giving and the evolution of human culture (2021), Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences
The Early Ontogeny of Reason Giving (2020), Child Development Perspectives
Human children, but not great apes, become socially closer by sharing an experience in common ground (2020), Journal of Experimental Child Psychology

In addition to articles, Michael Tomasello has published books with reputable publishers:

The Gestural Communication of Apes and Monkeys (2020), Psychology Press eBooks
The Evolution of Agency (2022), The MIT Press

Throughout their career, Michael Tomasello has received several awards and honors, including:

David E. Rumelhart Prize for Contributions to the Theoretical Foundations of Human Cognition (2022)
Member of the National Academy of Sciences (2017)
Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2017)
APA Award for Distinguished Scientific Contributions to Psychology, American Psychological Association (2015)
Max Planck Research Award in Evolution (2010)
Mind & Brain Prize, University and Polytechnic of Turin (2007)
Jean Nicod Prize, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) (2006)
German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina - Psychology and Cognitive Sciences (2001)
Fellow of John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation (1997)

Best Publications

The Cultural Origins of Human Cognition

Michael Tomasello

9800
Citations
Understanding and sharing intentions: The origins of cultural cognition

Michael Tomasello;Malinda Carpenter;Josep Call;Tanya Behne

6556
Citations
Constructing a Language: A Usage-Based Theory of Language Acquisition

Michael Tomasello

5184
Citations
Origins of Human Communication

Michael Tomasello

4923
Citations
Social Cognition, joint attention and communicative Competence from 9 to 15 months of age

Malinda Carpenter;Katherine Nagell;Michael Tomasello

3939
Citations
In search of the uniquely human

Michael Tomasello;Malinda Carpenter;Josep Call;Tanya Behne

3600
Citations
Joint Attention and Early Language.

Michael Tomasello;Michael Jeffrey Farrar

2659
Citations
Joint attention as social cognition.

Michael Tomasello

2344
Citations
A Natural History of Human Thinking

Michael Tomasello

2321
Citations
Why We Cooperate

Michael Tomasello

2278
Citations
First Verbs: A Case Study of Early Grammatical Development

Michael Tomasello

2214
Citations
Altruistic Helping in Human Infants and Young Chimpanzees

Felix Warneken;Michael Tomasello

2197
Citations
Humans Have Evolved Specialized Skills of Social Cognition: The Cultural Intelligence Hypothesis

Esther Herrmann;Josep Call;María Victoria Hernández-Lloreda;Brian Hare

2014
Citations
Does the chimpanzee have a theory of mind? 30 years later.

Josep Call;Michael Tomasello

1598
Citations
The Domestication of Social Cognition in Dogs

Brian Hare;Michelle Brown;Christina Williamson;Michael Tomasello

1455
Citations
Ratcheting up the ratchet: on the evolution of cumulative culture

Claudio Tennie;Josep Call;Michael Tomasello

1423
Citations
Chimpanzees know what conspecifics do and do not see

Brian Hare;Josep Call;Bryan Agnetta;Michael Tomasello

1373
Citations
Human-like social skills in dogs?

Brian Hare;Michael Tomasello

1281
Citations
A new look at infant pointing.

Michael Tomasello;Malinda Carpenter;Ulf Liszkowski

1274
Citations
Fourteen- through 18-month-old infants differentially imitate intentional and accidental actions

Malinda Carpenter;Nameera Akhtar;Michael Tomasello

1259
Citations

Frequent Co-Authors

Josep Call University of St Andrews

Malinda Carpenter University of St Andrews

Elena Lieven University of Manchester

Brian Hare Duke University

Felix Warneken University of Michigan–Ann Arbor

Esther Herrmann University of Portsmouth

Hannes Rakoczy University of Göttingen

Amrisha Vaish University of Virginia

Anna L. Theakston University of Manchester

Daniel B. M. Haun Max Planck Society

External Links

Wikipedia of Michael Tomasello Personal website of Michael Tomasello

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