Biography:Douglas Medin

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Short description: American psychologist
Douglas L. Medin
Born (1944-06-13) June 13, 1944 (age 80)[1]
Alma materMoorhead State College, University of South Dakota
Spouse(s)Linda Powers[2]
AwardsMember of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and of the National Academy of Sciences[3]
Scientific career
FieldsPsychology
InstitutionsNorthwestern University
ThesisForm perception and pattern reproduction by monkeys (1968)
Doctoral advisorRoger Davis[2]

Douglas L. "Doug" Medin (born June 13, 1944)[1] is the Louis W. Menk Professor of Psychology at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois.[3]

Early life and education

Medin first became interested in psychology when he was an eighth-grader in Algona, Iowa. During this time, he and his classmates were sorted into two groups depending on their singing abilities; Medin was assigned to the non-singers' group.[2] He attended Moorhead State College, graduating in 1965 with a B.A. in psychology, and went on to receive his M.A. and Ph.D. in psychology from the University of South Dakota in 1966 and 1968, respectively.[4] His Ph.D. thesis focused on the way that rhesus monkeys perceive shapes.[2]

Career

Medin joined Rockefeller University in 1968 as a postdoctoral fellow, where he became an assistant professor the following year.[4] He remained at Rockefeller until 1978, when he joined the University of Illinois as an associate professor.[2][4] He joined the faculty of the University of Michigan in 1989,[2] and remained there for three years until joining the faculty of Northwestern University in 1992, because it "held better professional opportunities for his wife, Linda Powers," according to a profile of Medin in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.[2]

Research

Medin is best known for his research on concepts and categorization.[5] He has also studied the "role of expertise and culture in the conceptual organization of biological categories."[6]

Honors and awards

Medin was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2002, and into the National Academy of Sciences in 2005.[4]

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 "Douglas Medin". Library of Congress. http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n81017870.html. Retrieved 16 February 2016. 
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 Mossman, K. (19 November 2007). "Profile of Douglas Medin". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 104 (48): 18883–18885. doi:10.1073/pnas.0710219104. PMID 18025454. Bibcode2007PNAS..10418883M. 
  3. 3.0 3.1 "Douglas Medin Profile". Northwestern University. http://www.sesp.northwestern.edu/profile/?p=75. Retrieved 26 September 2015. 
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 "Douglas L. Medin Curriculum Vitae". Northwestern University. https://www.sesp.northwestern.edu/docs/cv/7444228125e1768024035f.pdf. Retrieved 26 September 2015. 
  5. "Douglas L. Medin". Association for Psychological Science. 30 April 2013. http://www.psychologicalscience.org/index.php/publications/observer/25at25/douglas-l-medin.html. Retrieved 26 September 2015. 
  6. "Kanwisher, Medin Elected to National Academy of Sciences". Psychological Science Agenda. May 2005. http://www.apa.org/science/about/psa/2005/05/national-academy.aspx. Retrieved 27 September 2015. 

External links