Asifa Majid is a psychologist, linguist and cognitive scientist who is professor of language, communication and cultural cognition at the University of Oxford, UK.[1] She is the 2024 recipient of the Jeffrey L. Elman Prize for Scientific Achievement and Community Building, awarded by the Cognitive Science Society.[2] In 2015 she won the Ammodo KNAW Award for fundamental research.[3]

Biography

Majid's academic career began at the University of Glasgow, where she took first an undergraduate degree and then a PhD in psychology; she also worked there as a lecturer in 2000-2001. From 2001 to 2012 she was based at the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics in Nijmegen, initially as a Marie Curie fellow and later as a scientific staff member and senior researcher. In 2012 she took up a position as professor of language, communication and cultural cognition at the Radboud University Nijmegen, during which time she was also an affiliated principal investigator at the Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour. From 2012 to 2017 she held an NWO Vici research grant to study olfactory cognition and language cross culturally.[4]

In 2018 she was one of eight academics appointed as Inspirational Research Leaders and full professors at the University of York.[5] In 2022 she moved to become Professor of Cognitive Science in the Department of Experimental Psychology in Oxford, where she is also a fellow of St Hugh's College.

Majid has been a member of the Academia Europaea since 2013[4] and a fellow of the Association for Psychological Science since 2018.[5] She has also served as a member of the Governing Board (2016-2022) and Chair (2019-2020) of the Cognitive Science Society.[6]

Research

Majid's research focuses on the psychology of language and how this relates to other areas of cognition. In particular, she has worked on olfactory language, and on the (non-)universality of word meanings across cultures.[7] Her group has carried out research on the semantic systems of Ryukyuan languages, the Avatime language of Ghana, and languages of Europe.[7]

In general, Majid's research findings are consistent with the weak version of the linguistic relativity hypothesis: that linguistic usage and categorization may influence other areas of cognition to a limited degree. For instance, her work with the Jahai people of Southeast Asia shows that these people are as proficient in naming odours as colours, whereas in English, which has a more restricted range of linguistic categories for odour, speakers find it easier to name colours than odours.[7]

Majid's research has been featured on Dutch television and on the BBC as well as at the Cheltenham Literary Festival and in Time magazine.[5][8]

Selected publications

Scholia has a profile for Asifa Majid (Q30131192).

References

  1. ^ "University of Oxford: Majid, Asifa". Retrieved 4 April 2022.
  2. ^ "Elman Prize". Cognitive Science Society. Retrieved 2024-01-22.
  3. ^ "Asifa Majid - Laureate". Stichting Ammodo. Retrieved 2024-01-22.
  4. ^ a b "Academia Europaea: Asifa Majid". Retrieved 27 February 2021.
  5. ^ a b c "Inspirational Research Leaders". Retrieved 27 February 2021.
  6. ^ "Cognitive Science Society: About". Retrieved 27 February 2021.
  7. ^ a b c "The universality of word meanings across cultures". Retrieved 27 February 2021.
  8. ^ "Humans Are Neglecting Our Sense of Smell. Here's What We Could Gain By Fixing That". Time. Retrieved 27 February 2021.
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