b. 1950
Michael Tomasello is an American developmental and comparative psychologist known for his groundbreaking research on social cognition, language acquisition, and cooperation in humans and great apes. His work on shared intentionality has profoundly influenced philosophy of mind, moral philosophy, and theories of human uniqueness.
Developed the shared intentionality hypothesis explaining human cognitive uniqueness
Authored 'A Natural History of Human Thinking' and 'The Cultural Origins of Human Cognition'
Co-directed the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
Advanced the usage-based theory of language acquisition
Pioneered comparative studies of cooperation in humans and great apes