Jean Matter Mandler (born 1929) is Distinguished Research Professor of
Cognitive Science at the
University of California, San Diego
The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego or colloquially, UCSD) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in San Diego, California. Established in 1960 near the pre-existing Scripps Insti ...
and visiting professor at
University College London
, mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward
, established =
, type = Public research university
, endowment = £143 million (2020)
, budget = ...
.
She was born in
Oak Park, Illinois
Oak Park is a village in Cook County, Illinois, adjacent to Chicago. It is the 29th-most populous municipality in Illinois with a population of 54,583 as of the 2020 U.S. Census estimate. Oak Park was first settled in 1835 and later incorporated in ...
, in 1929 and attended
Carleton College
Carleton College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Northfield, Minnesota. Founded in 1866, it had 2,105 undergraduate students and 269 faculty members in fall 2016. The 200-acre main campus is between Northfield and the 800-acre Cowling ...
before transferring to
Swarthmore College
Swarthmore College ( , ) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1864, with its first classes held in 1869, Swarthmore is one of the earliest coeduca ...
, where she graduated
summa cum laude
Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sou ...
in 1951. She received her
Ph.D.
A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...
in psychology at
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
in 1956. After a series of research positions – common for women in the 1950–1960s – at Harvard, the
University of Toronto
The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...
, and at UCSD, she became an associate professor at UCSD in 1973 and professor in 1977; she retired as a research professor in 2000. In 1986 she was one of the founding members of the Department of Cognitive Science.
Research
Mandler's early research was on
animal learning
Animal cognition encompasses the mental capacities of non-human animals including insect cognition. The study of animal conditioning and learning used in this field was developed from comparative psychology. It has also been strongly influenc ...
and in the 1960s she worked on
textual analysis
Content analysis is the study of documents and communication artifacts, which might be texts of various formats, pictures, audio or video. Social scientists use content analysis to examine patterns in communication in a replicable and systematic ...
, including the development of a widely used story grammar. Starting in the 1970s she turned to developmental problems with special emphasis on early conceptual development which culminated in her influential book on the foundations of mind.
[Mandler, J. M. (2004). The foundations of mind: The origins of conceptual thought. New York: Oxford University Press.] In 2006 the book received the "
Eleanor Maccoby
Eleanor Emmons Maccoby (May 15, 1917 – December 11, 2018) was an American psychologist who was most recognized for her research and scholarly contributions to the fields of gender studies and developmental psychology. Throughout her career she ...
Outstanding Book Award" from the Division of Developmental Psychology, APA, and in 2007 the "Best Authored Book Award" from the Cognitive Development Society. In 2007 she was also given the
American Psychological Association
The American Psychological Association (APA) is the largest scientific and professional organization of psychologists in the United States, with over 133,000 members, including scientists, educators, clinicians, consultants, and students. It ha ...
's "Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award".
Mandler is a Fellow of the
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and ...
and of the
Society of Experimental Psychologists
The Society of Experimental Psychologists (SEP), originally called the Society of Experimentalists, is an academic society for experimental psychologists
An experiment is a procedure carried out to support or refute a hypothesis, or determin ...
. She has been active on the editorial board of several developmental journals.
Books by Jean Mandler
* Mandler, J. M., & Mandler, G. (1964). Thinking: From Association to Gestalt. New York: Wiley.
* Mandler, J. M. (1984). Stories, scripts, and scenes: Aspects of schema theory. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
* Mandler, J. M. (2004). The foundations of mind: The origins of conceptual thought. New York: Oxford University Press.
References
* Carey, S. (2000) The origin of concepts. Journal of Cognition and Development, 1, 37–41.
* Stein, N. L., Bauer, P. and Rabinowitz, M. (2002) Representation, memory and development: Essays in honor of Jean Mandler. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
APA award citation* Reznick, J.S. & Bauer, P. J. Constructing a Mind, One Image Schema at a Time. Journal of Cognition and Development, 9, 253–255.
External links
Jean Mandler's home page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mandler, Jean
University of California, San Diego faculty
21st-century American psychologists
American women psychologists
University of California, San Diego alumni
Scientists from Oak Park, Illinois
Carleton College alumni
Swarthmore College alumni
Harvard University alumni
1929 births
Living people
Fellows of the Cognitive Science Society
21st-century American women
20th-century American psychologists