David Barner

Dr. David Barner serves as Professor of Psychology and Cognitive Science at the University of California, San Diego, where he leads groundbreaking research on language acquisition, conceptual development, and the intersection of language structure and meaning. His innovative work explores how children acquire abstract concepts like number, time, and color through language, challenging traditional theories by demonstrating that children often learn linguistic structures before fully grasping their perceptual correlates. As director of the Language and Development Lab, he conducts cross-cultural studies spanning India, Japan, Latin America, China, and Eastern Europe, investigating how diverse linguistic and cultural contexts shape cognitive development. His research portfolio includes studies on numerical cognition, temporal reasoning, pragmatic inference, and moral development, with a unique focus on how symbolic systems impact logical and social reasoning. Dr. Barner's influential publications, including work in Developmental Science and Cognitive Psychology, have significantly advanced our understanding of how language shapes thought from infancy through adulthood. His cross-disciplinary approach, incorporating insights from philosophy of mind, anthropology, and linguistics, has established him as a leading figure in developmental psychology and cognitive science.