Marian Sigman, PhD

Marian Sigman is a professor of Psychology and Psychiatry at the University of California, in Los Angeles. She received her Ph.D. from Boston University and was a postdoctoral fellow at the Brain Research Institute, UCLA Center for the Health Sciences. Some of her other positions include Director of the UCLA Center for Autism Research and Treatment (CART), Program Chair for the Biennial Meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development; Associate Editor for Child Development; and Founding President of the International Society for Infant Studies.

Dr. Sigman is currently conducting research on the biological and environmental contributors to social communicative deficits and skills in autism (for a review of her research, see her website). She has also conducted cross-cultural research on the impact of malnutrition on cognitive development and parent-child adolescent communication. Her research has been funded by numerous agencies, including National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, MacArthur Foundation, National Institute of Mental Health, United States Agency for International Development, and the National Cattlemen's Beef Association.

Selected Articles:
Lefkowitz, E.S., Romo, L.F., Corona, R.A. Au, T. K-F., & Sigman, M. (2000). How Latino-American and European-American adolescents discuss conflicts, sexuality, and AIDS with their mothers. Developmental Psychology, 36, 315.

Sigman, M., & Ruskin, E. (1999). Change and continuity in the social competence of children with Autism, Down syndrome, and developmental delays. Monograph of the Society for Research in Child Development. London, England: Blackwell.

Corona, R., Dissanayake, C., Arbelle, S., Wellington, P., & Sigman, M. (1998). Is affect aversive to young children with Autism? Behavioral and cardiac response to experimenter distress. Child Development, 69, 1494-1502.

Whaley, S. E., Sigman, M., Espinosa, M.P., & Neumann, C.G. (1998). Infant predictors of cognitive development in an undernourished Kenyan population. Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, 19, 169-177.

Sigman, M., Cohen, S.E., & Beckwith, L. (1997). Why does infant attention predict adolescent intelligence? Journal of Infant Behavior & Development 20, 133-140. To be reprinted in A. Slater & D. Muir (Eds.) Essential Readings in Psychology: Infant Development. Oxford, England: Blackwell.

Most Cited Article: 208

Mundy, P., Sgiman, M., Ungerer, J., & Sherman, T. (1986). Defining the social deficits of autism-the contribution of nonverbal-communication measures. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry and Allied Disciplines, 27 (5), 657 - 669.