Professor wins grant, symposium for cognition work

Linda Smith, distinguished professor and chancellor’s professor of psychological and brain sciences was awarded the David E. Rumelhart Prize for 2013 in honor of her work in human cognition development.

Smith is only the second woman to earn this distinction, which has been given annually since 2001. She will receive $100,000 and will deliver an address in Berlin at the 2013 gathering of the Cognitive Science Society.
 
According to a press release, the prize is given to someone who is, “making a significant contemporary contribution to the theoretical foundations of human cognition.”

She has worked in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences since 1977 and interacts primarily with children.

“Dr. Linda Smith has pioneered the application of dynamical systems methods and innovative experimental techniques to understanding how the mind develops through childhood,” Nick Chater, associate dean at the University of Warwick and chair of the Rumelhart Prize committee, said in a press release. “She has made ground-breaking contributions in understanding the development of perception, motor control, memory and language, and she has been hugely influential in inspiring and training many of the world’s most talented cognitive scientists.”

Smith is not the first recipient from IU. Professor Richard Shiffrin,  in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, was awarded the prize in 2002.

— Sydney Murray