Nathan George is an Assistant Professor of Psychology in the Derner School of Psychology at Adelphi University. His research centers on infants' and children's developing understanding of events and how they are represented in language. A primary component of this research concerns the basic cognitive processes underlying verb learning in both first and second language acquisition. Current questions under examination include: What are the mechanisms through which infants and adults build complex events such as "washing hands" or "making the bed?" How do the word mapping biases of our native language affect our ability to learn a second? In addition to these questions, Nathan is also investigating the relation between children's linguistic and non-linguistic representations of causality, force, and motion. Questions within this line of inquiry include: How do children develop naïve and correct conceptions regarding how forces interact? Do linguistic representations of force and motion affect the way in which children and adults reason about these events?
Prior to joining the faculty at Adelphi University, Nathan was an NSF Partnership in Research and Education (PIRE) Postdoctoral Scholar in the Center for Language Science (CLS) at Penn State University. While at Penn State, Nathan worked in the Child Language and Cognition Lab, where he researched verb learning in first and second language learners under the advisement of Dr. Daniel Weiss and Dr. Carol Miller.
Nathan received his doctoral degree in developmental psychology from Temple University in 2014. Working with Dr. Kathy Hirsh-Pasek and Dr. Roberta Golinkoff, his research centered on the development of children's non-linguistic representations of force and motion events. In his dissertation work, he examined how language aids children in structuring force interactions, such as those represented in the semantic categories of prevent and help. As a member of the Spatial Intelligence and Learning Center, he also collaborated with Dr. Nora Newcombe and Dr. Justin Harris to apply his early work to the study of physics education by studying learning trajectories in the domain of force and motion. Prior to enrolling at Temple University, Nathan received a bachelors of science from Lehigh University in 2008.
When not conducting research or teaching, Nathan can be found spending time with family, including his nieces and nephews, following Philly and Lehigh sports, golfing, cooking, live theater, and reading.
Prior to joining the faculty at Adelphi University, Nathan was an NSF Partnership in Research and Education (PIRE) Postdoctoral Scholar in the Center for Language Science (CLS) at Penn State University. While at Penn State, Nathan worked in the Child Language and Cognition Lab, where he researched verb learning in first and second language learners under the advisement of Dr. Daniel Weiss and Dr. Carol Miller.
Nathan received his doctoral degree in developmental psychology from Temple University in 2014. Working with Dr. Kathy Hirsh-Pasek and Dr. Roberta Golinkoff, his research centered on the development of children's non-linguistic representations of force and motion events. In his dissertation work, he examined how language aids children in structuring force interactions, such as those represented in the semantic categories of prevent and help. As a member of the Spatial Intelligence and Learning Center, he also collaborated with Dr. Nora Newcombe and Dr. Justin Harris to apply his early work to the study of physics education by studying learning trajectories in the domain of force and motion. Prior to enrolling at Temple University, Nathan received a bachelors of science from Lehigh University in 2008.
When not conducting research or teaching, Nathan can be found spending time with family, including his nieces and nephews, following Philly and Lehigh sports, golfing, cooking, live theater, and reading.