Melissa Foster Bowerman

Researched child language development, contributing influential data and theory on relations between language and cognition in ontogenesis and adulthood. Work is interdisciplinary and cross-linguistic, bridging developmental psychology, cognitive linguistics, and cognitive and linguistic anthropology. Pioneered experimental and ethnographic data across a wide range of languages and cultures; innovator in research tools for both collection and analysis of data. Contributor to spatial cognition and language, linguistic argument structure, event representation, and the linguistic expression of concepts of causality. Explores the interaction of innate vs. learned components in semantic development, leading to new understanding of language universals and human cognition. Highlights ways in which the structure of individual languages affects the course and content of language development, with implications for adult mental life.