Morton Ann Gernsbacher

Morton Ann Gernsbacher
Vilas Research Professor and
Sir Frederic C. Bartlett Professor of Psychology
Ph.D. 1983, University of Texas at Austin

Email: MAGernsb@wisc.edu

My research investigates the general, cognitive processes and mechanisms that underlie language comprehension, using behavioral methodology and more recently, some functional neural magnetic imaging (FMRI). According to my Structure Building Framework, the goal of comprehension is to build a coherent, mental representation or "structure". To do this, comprehenders must first lay a foundation. Next, they develop the structure by mapping on information when that incoming information is coherent or related to previous information. However, if the incoming information is less coherent or related, comprehenders shift to initiate a new substructure. These structure building processes are accomplished by two mechanisms: enhancement, which boosts the activation of some representations, and suppression, which dampens the activation of other representations.

Representative Publications

Gernsbacher, M.A. (1997). Two decades of structure building. Discourse Processes, 23, 265-304.

Gernsbacher, M.A., Dawson, M., & Goldsmith, H.H. (2005). Three reasons not to believe in an autism epidemic. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 14, 55-58.

Gernsbacher, M.A., Dissanayake, C., Goldsmith, H.H., Mundy, P.G., Rogers, S.J., & Sigma, M. (2005). Autism and mother-child attachment. Science, 307, 1201-1203.

Gernsbacher, M.A., & Kaschak, M.P. (2002). Neuroimaging studies of language comprehension and production. Annual Review of Psychology, 54, 91-114.

Robertson, D.A., Gernsbacher, M.A., Guidotti, S.J., Robertson, R.R., Irwin, W., Mock, B.J., Compana, M.E. (2000). Functional neuroanatomy of the cognitive process of mapping during discourse comprehension. Psychological Science, 11, 255-260.