2026 Virginia Volterra: Psychology Researcher – H-Index, Publications & Awards

Discipline name	D-Index	World Ranking	Current World Ranking	National Ranking	Current National Ranking	Publications	Citations
Psychology	43	7264	6773	142	140	108	7738

Overview

Virginia Volterra is affiliated with the National Research Council (CNR) in Italy. Their research spans multiple fields including psychology, computer science, and arts and humanities, with a particular focus on developmental and educational psychology, experimental and cognitive psychology, language and linguistics, human-computer interaction, and occupational therapy.

The scientist's work covers several main research topics:

Hearing Impairment and Communication
Language, Metaphor, and Cognition
Hand Gesture Recognition Systems
Child and Animal Learning Development
Language Development and Disorders
Language, Discourse, Communication Strategies
Linguistics and Terminology Studies

Recent scholarly publications by Virginia Volterra include the following:

"Gender differences in early stages of language development. Some evidence and possible explanations," 2021, Journal of Neuroscience Research
"The Italian Deaf Community at the Time of Coronavirus," 2021, Frontiers in Sociology
"The representation of action in Italian Sign Language (LIS)," 2020, Cognitive Linguistics
"Searching for the roots of signs in children's early gestures," 2022, Gesture
"Gestural symbolic strategies in children with Down syndrome," 2020, Gesture

Virginia Volterra has also contributed to book publications, including a title released by John Benjamins Publishing Company: "Italian Sign Language from a Cognitive and Socio-semiotic Perspective," published in 2022.

The scientist frequently publishes in the following venues:

Gesture
Sign Language Studies
Journal of Neuroscience Research
Frontiers in Sociology
Cognitive Linguistics

Collaboration is an important aspect of their research activity, with frequent coauthors including Pasquale Rinaldi, María Cristina Caselli, Elena Tomasuolo, Sabina Fontana, and Chiara Bonsignori.

Best Publications

The acquisition and development of language by bilingual children

Virginia Volterra;Traute Taeschner

1171
Citations
Gestures and words during the transition to two-word speech.

Olga Capirci;Jana M. Iverson;Elena Pizzuto;Virginia Volterra

526
Citations
From Gesture to Language in Hearing and Deaf Children

Virginia Volterra;Carol J. Erting

357
Citations
Linguistic Abilities in Italian Children With Williams Syndrome

Virginia Volterra;Olga Capirci;Grazia Pezzini;Letizia Sabbadini

313
Citations
Gesture and the emergence and development of language

Virginia Volterra;Maria Cristina Caselli;Olga Capirci;Elena Pizzuto

267
Citations
A parent report instrument for early language assessment

Luigia Camaioni;Maria Cristina Castelli;Emiddia Longobardi;Virginia Volterra

258
Citations
Learning to talk in a gesture-rich world: Early communication in Italian vs. American children

Jana M. Iverson;Olga Capirci;Virginia Volterra;Susan Goldin-Meadow

256
Citations
Memory abilities in children with Williams syndrome.

Stefano Vicari;Daniela Brizzolara;Giovanni Augusto Carlesimo;Grazia Pezzini

218
Citations
Specific language impairment in children: A cross-linguistic study

Laurence B. Leonard;Letizia Sabbadini;Jeanette S. Leonard;Virginia Volterra

218
Citations
From action to language through gesture: A longitudinal perspective

Olga Capirci;Annarita Contaldo;Maria Cristina Caselli;Virginia Volterra

216
Citations
Gesture and speech : The emergence and development of a strong and changing partnership

Olga Capirci;Virginia Volterra

192
Citations
Language acquisition in special populations: a comparison between Down and Williams syndromes.

S Vicari;M C Caselli;C Gagliardi;F Tonucci

175
Citations
Spoken and gestural production in a naming task by young children with Down syndrome

Silvia Stefanini;Maria Cristina Caselli;Virginia Volterra

165
Citations
Gestures and some key issues in the study of language development

Marianne Gullberg;Kees de Bot;Virginia Volterra

156
Citations
Neuropsychological profile of Italians with Williams syndrome: an example of a dissociation between language and cognition?

Stefano Vicari;Elisabeth Bates;Maria Cristina Caselli;Patrizio Pasqualetti

155
Citations
Early action and gesture "vocabulary" and its relation with word comprehension and production.

Maria Cristina Caselli;Pasquale Rinaldi;Silvia Stefanini;Virginia Volterra

135
Citations
Children with Williams syndrome : Is there a single neuropsychological profile?

Grazia Pezzini;Stefano Vicari;Virginia Volterra;Luigia Milani

122
Citations
Chapter 3 – COGNITION AND COMMUNICATION FROM NINE TO THIRTEEN MONTHS: CORRELATIONAL FINDINGS

Elizabeth Bates;Laura Benigni;Inge Bretherton;Luigia Camaioni

122
Citations
RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN COGNITION, COMMUNICATION, AND QUALITY OF ATTACHMENT

Inge Bretherton;Elizabeth Bates;Laura Benigni;Luigia Camaioni

113
Citations
Co-speech gestures in a naming task: Developmental data

Silvia Stefanini;Arianna Bello;Maria Cristina Caselli;Jana M. Iverson

111
Citations

Frequent Co-Authors

Stefano Vicari Boston Children's Hospital

Elizabeth Bates University of California, San Diego

Jana M. Iverson University of Pittsburgh

Christine Deruelle Aix-Marseille University

Laurence B. Leonard Purdue University West Lafayette

Inge Bretherton University of Wisconsin–Madison

Francesca Cirulli Istituto Superiore di Sanità

Susan Goldin-Meadow University of Chicago

Helen Tager-Flusberg Boston University

Bruno Dallapiccola Bambino Gesù Children's Hospital

External Links

Personal website of Virginia Volterra

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