Dedre Gentner

Dedre Gentner is the Alice Gabrielle Twight Professor of Psychology and Education at Northwestern University, where she also serves as Director of the Cognitive Science Program and Co P.I. of the Spatial Intelligence and Learning Center. She holds joint appointments in the School of Education and Social Policy and the Department of Psychology.

• Ph.D. in Psychology, University of California, San Diego (1974)
• B.A. in Physics, University of California, Berkeley (1967)

Research Interests focus on analogical processing, relational cognition, and language acquisition. Her work explores how structural alignment underpins analogical and metaphorical reasoning, with applications to education, child development, and cognitive modeling. Key themes include:

• Structure-mapping theory for analogical reasoning
• Role of relational language in concept formation
• Causal systems categorization in novices vs. experts
• Analogy in scientific discovery
• Impact of analogy on spatial/geoscience education

Scientific Awards include the David E. Rumelhart Prize (2016), Alexander von Humboldt Research Award (2012), and Journal of Cognition and Development's Editor's Choice Award (2010). She is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, APA, and Cognitive Science Society.

Advising & Grants: Gentner has advised numerous projects and secured grants from institutions like the Office of Naval Research (ONR) and National Science Foundation (NSF). Her lab collaborates on topics such as analogical learning in children’s museums and computational models of analogy.

Labs & Teams: Leads the Cognition and Language Lab and co-leads the Spatial Intelligence and Learning Center, focusing on interdisciplinary research bridging psychology, education, and computational modeling.