2026 Susan Goldin-Meadow: Psychology Researcher – H-Index, Publications & Awards

Discipline name	D-Index	World Ranking	Current World Ranking	National Ranking	Current National Ranking	Publications	Citations
Best Female Scientists	108	975	931	594	563	409	44220
Psychology	110	397	349	252	218	386	46325

Research.com Recognitions

2025 - Research.com Best Female Scientists Award
2021 - David E. Rumelhart Prize for Contributions to the Theoretical Foundations of Human Cognition
2020 - Member of the National Academy of Sciences
2015 - William James Fellow Award, Association for Psychological Science (APA)
2005 - Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
2001 - Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
2000 - Fellow of John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation

Overview

Susan Goldin-Meadow is affiliated with the University of Chicago in the United States and specializes in the field of psychology. Their research primarily focuses on developmental and educational psychology, experimental and cognitive psychology, language and linguistics, cognitive neuroscience, and human-computer interaction.

The main topics covered in their work include:

Hearing Impairment and Communication
Language, Metaphor, and Cognition
Language, Discourse, Communication Strategies
Language Development and Disorders
Reading and Literacy Development
Hand Gesture Recognition Systems
Child and Animal Learning Development

The scientist has published extensively, with notable recent papers including:

Current Research in Pragmatic Language Use Among Deaf and Hard of Hearing Children, 2020, PEDIATRICS
Sign language, like spoken language, promotes object categorization in young hearing infants, 2021, Cognition
Linking language to sensory experience: Onomatopoeia in early language development, 2020, Developmental Science
The communicative importance of agent-backgrounding: Evidence from homesign and Nicaraguan Sign Language, 2020, Cognition
Effects of Time-Varying Parent Input on Children's Language Outcomes Differ for Vocabulary and Syntax, 2021, Psychological Science

Frequent publication venues include:

Cognition
Developmental Science
Psychological Science
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
PEDIATRICS

Collaborations have involved several co-authors who frequently contribute to their work:

Diane Brentari
Susan C. Levine
Miriam A. Novack
Daniel Casasanto
Laura Horton

Susan Goldin-Meadow has been recognized by multiple awards, including:

David E. Rumelhart Prize for Contributions to the Theoretical Foundations of Human Cognition (2021)
Member of the National Academy of Sciences (2020)
William James Fellow Award, Association for Psychological Science (APA) (2015)
Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2005)
Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) (2001)
Fellow of John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation (2000)

Best Publications

Hearing Gesture: How Our Hands Help Us Think

Susan Goldin-Meadow

2149
Citations
Gesture Paves the Way for Language Development

Jana M. Iverson;Susan Goldin-Meadow

1487
Citations
Explaining Math: Gesturing Lightens the Load

Susan Goldin-Meadow;Howard Nusbaum;Spencer D. Kelly;Susan Wagner

1078
Citations
The role of gesture in communication and thinking

Susan Goldin-Meadow

1016
Citations
The mismatch between gesture and speech as an index of transitional knowledge.

R. Breckinridge Church;Susan Goldin-Meadow

903
Citations
The Resilience of Language : What Gesture Creation in Deaf Children Can Tell Us About How All Children Learn Language

Susan Goldin-Meadow

876
Citations
Language in Mind: Advances in the Study of Language and Thought

Dedre Gentner;Susan Goldin-Meadow

771
Citations
Gesturing makes learning last

Susan Wagner Cook;Zachary Mitchell;Susan Goldin-Meadow

765
Citations
Why people gesture when they speak

Jana M. Iverson;Susan Goldin-Meadow

731
Citations
Gesture-Speech Mismatch and Mechanisms of Learning: What the Hands Reveal about a Child's State of Mind.

Martha Wagner Alibali;Susan Goldin-Meadow

669
Citations
Transitions in concept acquisition: Using the hand to read the mind

Susan Goldin-Meadow;Martha Wagner Alibali;R. Breckinridge Church

668
Citations
Gesturing Gives Children New Ideas About Math

Susan Goldin-Meadow;Susan Wagner Cook;Zachary A. Mitchell

664
Citations
Differences in early gesture explain SES disparities in child vocabulary size at school entry

Meredith L. Rowe;Susan Goldin-Meadow

659
Citations
Parent praise to 1- to 3-year-olds predicts children's motivational frameworks 5 years later.

Elizabeth A. Gunderson;Sarah J. Gripshover;Carissa Romero;Carol S. Dweck

617
Citations
Making Children Gesture Brings out Implicit Knowledge and Leads to Learning.

Sara C. Broaders;Susan Wagner Cook;Zachary Mitchell;Susan Goldin-Meadow

584
Citations
Gesture's Role in Speaking, Learning, and Creating Language

Susan Goldin-Meadow;Martha Wagner Alibali

560
Citations
Gestural communication in deaf children: the effects and noneffects of parental input on early language development.

Susan Goldin-Meadow;Carolyn Mylander

554
Citations
Spontaneous sign systems created by deaf children in two cultures

Susan Goldin-Meadow;Carolyn Mylander

535
Citations
Early gesture selectively predicts later language learning

Meredith Lee Rowe;Susan Goldin-Meadow

531
Citations
Gesture is at the cutting edge of early language development

Şeyda Özçalışkan;Susan Goldin-Meadow

503
Citations
The effects of learning two languages on levels of metalinguistic awareness.

Sylvia Joseph Galambos;Susan Goldin-Meadow

488
Citations

Frequent Co-Authors

Susan C. Levine University of Chicago

Dedre Gentner Northwestern University

Martha W. Alibali University of Wisconsin–Madison

Meredith L. Rowe Harvard University

Jana M. Iverson University of Pittsburgh

Howard C. Nusbaum University of Chicago

Sian L. Beilock Barnard College

Lila R. Gleitman University of Pennsylvania

Amanda L. Woodward University of Chicago

Daniel Casasanto Cornell University

External Links

Wikipedia of Susan Goldin-Meadow Personal website of Susan Goldin-Meadow

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