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Morton Ann Gernsbacher

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Morton Ann Gernsbacher
NationalityAmerican
Alma materUniversity of North Texas
University of Texas at Dallas
University of Texas at Austin
Known forStructure building model of language comprehension, research on language processing in people with autism
Scientific career
FieldsPsychology
Psycholinguistics
InstitutionsUniversity of Wisconsin–Madison
University of Oregon
Thesis The effects of verbalization on memory for orientation in pictures[1]
Memory for Surface Information in Non-Verbal Stories: Parallels and Insights to Language Processes[2]
Doctoral advisorDonald Foss

Morton Ann Gernsbacher is an American psychologist who is Vilas Research Professor and Sir Frederic Bartlett Professor of Psychology at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.[3] She is a specialist in autism and psycholinguistics and has written and edited professional and lay books and over 100 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters on these subjects.[4][5]

She has served on the advisory board of the journal Psychological Science in the Public Interest and has held several editor positions for Cognitive Psychology, Memory & Cognition and Language and Cognitive Processes.[6] She was also president of the Association for Psychological Science in 2007.[7]

Biography and research interests

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Gernsbacher received a B.A. from the University of North Texas in 1976, an M.S. from University of Texas at Dallas in 1980, and a Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Austin in human experimental psychology in 1983.[8] She was employed at the University of Oregon from 1983 to 1992 before joining the faculty at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, where she has remained ever since.[9]

Gernsbacher's research focuses on the cognitive processes and mechanisms that underlie language comprehension. She has challenged the view that language processing depends upon language-specific mechanisms, proposing instead that it draws on general cognitive processes such as working memory and pattern recognition. Motivated by the diagnosis of her son in 1998, much of Gernsbacher's research has focused on the cognitive and neurological processes of people with autism.[10] As a result of investigating the language development of children with autism, Gernsbacher has posited that the speech difficulties associated with autism stem from motor planning challenges, not from intellectual limitations or social impairment. The implications of this perspective include a shift in focus from deficits in interpersonal communication to early sensory-motor challenges of children with autism, as well as recognition of previously unidentified competence in nonverbal children with autism.[11]

She has published over 200 journal articles and had an h-index of 75 in late 2024.[5] She has also edited several books.[12]

Gernsbacher is married and has one child.[11]

Honors (selected)

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  • 2021 T. Morgan Distinguished Leadership Award from the Psychonomic Society Clifford[13]
  • 2018 APA’s Outstanding Educational Resource[13]
  • 2018 Project TIER Fellow[8]
  • 2017 Lifetime Achievement Award[14]
  • 2013 DSCA Winner[15]
  • 2008 became a Fellow of the American Educational Research Association[16]

References

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  1. ^ https://www.proquest.com/docview/303108013/
  2. ^ https://www.proquest.com/docview/303190695/
  3. ^ University of Wisconsin website, Morton Ann Gernsbacher, retrieved October 9, 2024
  4. ^ "Publications/Presentations". Archived from the original on 19 September 2008. Retrieved 6 September 2008.
  5. ^ a b Google Scholar website, Morton Ann Gernsbacher, retrieved October 9, 2024
  6. ^ Psychonomic Society website Morton Ann Gernsbacher, retrieved October 9, 2024
  7. ^ Masten, Jamie. ""APS Welcomes New Officers", APS Observer". Retrieved 6 September 2008.
  8. ^ a b Project Tier website, Morton Ann Gernsbacher, TIER Fellow, 2018-2019
  9. ^ Gernsbacher, Morton Ann. "Vitae". Dr. Morton Ann Gernsbacher's Laboratory. Retrieved 2 July 2023.
  10. ^ Gernsbacher, Morton Ann. "Personal Bio". Dr. Morton Ann Gernsbacher's Laboratory. Retrieved 2 July 2023.
  11. ^ a b "Dr. Morton Ann Gernsbacher". Archived from the original on 19 September 2008. Retrieved 6 September 2008.
  12. ^ GoodReads website, Morton Ann Gernsbacher
  13. ^ a b University of Wisconsin website, Gernsbacher receives 2021 Psychonomic Society Clifford T. Morgan Distinguished Leadership Award, retrieved October 9, 2024
  14. ^ Society for Experimental Psychology and Cognitive Science website, Lifetime Achievement Awards (June 2017)
  15. ^ Society for Text and Discourse website, 2013 DSCA Winner: Morton Ann Gernsbacher, retrieved October 9, 2024
  16. ^ Research.com website, Morton Ann Gernsbacher
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  • Web site at the University of Wisconsin.