Esther Thelen

21.9k total citations · 5 hit papers
120 papers, 13.3k citations indexed

About

Esther Thelen is a scholar working on Developmental and Educational Psychology, Cognitive Neuroscience and Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health. According to data from OpenAlex, Esther Thelen has authored 120 papers receiving a total of 13.3k indexed citations (citations by other indexed papers that have themselves been cited), including 78 papers in Developmental and Educational Psychology, 36 papers in Cognitive Neuroscience and 25 papers in Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health. Recurrent topics in Esther Thelen's work include Child and Animal Learning Development (48 papers), Children's Physical and Motor Development (35 papers) and Motor Control and Adaptation (24 papers). Esther Thelen is often cited by papers focused on Child and Animal Learning Development (48 papers), Children's Physical and Motor Development (35 papers) and Motor Control and Adaptation (24 papers). Esther Thelen collaborates with scholars based in United States, Germany and Canada. Esther Thelen's co-authors include Linda B. Smith, Daniela Corbetta, John P. Spencer, Donna M. Fisher, Beverly D. Ulrich, Alan Fogel, Gregor Schöner, Kathi Kamm, Ronald F. Zernicke and Christian Scheier and has published in prestigious journals such as Science, Psychological Review and American Psychologist.

In The Last Decade

Esther Thelen

115 papers receiving 12.2k citations

Hit Papers

A Dynamic Systems Approac... 1994 2026 2004 2015 1994 2003 2001 1995 2001 500 1000 1.5k
What are hit papers?

Hit papers significantly outperform the citation benchmark for their cohort. A paper qualifies if it has ≥500 total citations, achieves ≥1.5× the top-1% citation threshold for papers in the same subfield and year (this is the minimum needed to enter the top 1%, not the average within it), or reaches the top citation threshold in at least one of its specific research topics.

  1. A Dynamic Systems Approach to the Development of Cognition and Action
    1994 2.0k citations Esther Thelen, Linda B. Smith The MIT Press eBooks profile →
  2. Development as a dynamic system
    2003 618 citations Linda B. Smith, Esther Thelen Trends in Cognitive Sciences profile →
  3. The dynamics of embodiment: A field theory of infant perseverative reaching
    2001 614 citations Esther Thelen, Linda B. Smith et al. profile →
  4. Motor development: A new synthesis.
    1995 516 citations Esther Thelen profile →
  5. Autonomous Mental Development by Robots and Animals
    2001 371 citations Esther Thelen et al. profile →

Author Peers

Peers are selected by citation overlap in the author's most active subfields. citations · hero ref

Author Last Decade Papers Cites
Esther Thelen 6.5k 4.9k 2.9k 2.3k 2.2k 120 13.3k
Michael S. Gazzaniga 3.0k 0.5× 16.0k 3.3× 3.4k 1.2× 1.1k 0.5× 1.8k 0.8× 326 21.7k
Karen E. Adolph 4.1k 0.6× 2.4k 0.5× 1.6k 0.5× 1.6k 0.7× 1.1k 0.5× 150 7.6k
Norman Geschwind 4.8k 0.7× 13.1k 2.7× 2.3k 0.8× 1.5k 0.6× 2.2k 1.0× 126 18.8k
Torkel Klingberg 3.4k 0.5× 8.0k 1.6× 677 0.2× 1.1k 0.5× 2.8k 1.3× 108 14.1k
Martha J. Farah 5.2k 0.8× 21.3k 4.4× 4.3k 1.5× 1.7k 0.8× 2.6k 1.2× 234 30.7k
Cathy J. Price 6.9k 1.1× 19.5k 4.0× 2.7k 0.9× 465 0.2× 2.2k 1.0× 232 24.0k
John E. Desmond 2.0k 0.3× 12.3k 2.5× 1.7k 0.6× 669 0.3× 2.3k 1.1× 145 17.6k
Lutz Jäncke 2.5k 0.4× 19.0k 3.9× 4.1k 1.4× 743 0.3× 2.6k 1.2× 456 27.1k
Robert T. Schultz 2.9k 0.4× 13.8k 2.8× 1.5k 0.5× 1.1k 0.5× 3.3k 1.5× 230 18.0k
Gergely Csibra 8.6k 1.3× 7.2k 1.5× 5.7k 1.9× 387 0.2× 429 0.2× 157 14.7k

Countries citing papers authored by Esther Thelen

Since Specialization
Citations

This map shows the geographic impact of Esther Thelen's research. It shows the number of citations coming from papers published by authors working in each country. You can also color the map by specialization and compare the number of citations received by Esther Thelen with the expected number of citations based on a country's size and research output (numbers larger than one mean the country cites Esther Thelen more than expected).

Fields of papers citing papers by Esther Thelen

Since Specialization
Physical SciencesHealth SciencesLife SciencesSocial Sciences

This network shows the impact of papers produced by Esther Thelen. Nodes represent research fields, and links connect fields that are likely to share authors. Colored nodes show fields that tend to cite the papers produced by Esther Thelen. The network helps show where Esther Thelen may publish in the future.

Co-authorship network of co-authors of Esther Thelen

This figure shows the co-authorship network connecting the top 25 collaborators of Esther Thelen. A scholar is included among the top collaborators of Esther Thelen based on the total number of citations received by their joint publications. Widths of edges represent the number of papers authors have co-authored together. Node borders signify the number of papers an author published with Esther Thelen. Esther Thelen is excluded from the visualization to improve readability, since they are connected to all nodes in the network.

All Works

20 of 20 papers shown
1.
Clearfield, Melissa W., Frederick J. Diedrich, Linda B. Smith, & Esther Thelen. (2006). Young infants reach correctly in A-not-B tasks: On the development of stability and perseveration. Infant Behavior and Development. 29(3). 435–444. 63 indexed citations
2.
Smith, Linda B. & Esther Thelen. (2003). Development as a dynamic system. Trends in Cognitive Sciences. 7(8). 343–348. 618 indexed citations breakdown →
3.
Spencer, John P., Linda B. Smith, & Esther Thelen. (2001). Tests of a Dynamic Systems Account of the A-not-B Error: The Influence of Prior Experience on the Spatial Memory Abilities of Two-Year-Olds. Child Development. 72(5). 1327–1346. 85 indexed citations
4.
Thelen, Esther. (2000). Many Roads Lead to Rome: Locomotion and Dynamics. Infancy. 1(2). 221–224. 12 indexed citations
5.
Spencer, John P. & Esther Thelen. (1999). A multimuscle state analysis of adult motor learning. Experimental Brain Research. 128(4). 505–516. 16 indexed citations
6.
Thelen, Esther & John P. Spencer. (1998). Postural Control During Reaching in Young Infants: A Dynamic Systems Approach. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews. 22(4). 507–514. 150 indexed citations
7.
Vereijken, Beatrix & Esther Thelen. (1997). Training infant treadmill stepping: The role of individual pattern stability. Developmental Psychobiology. 30(2). 89–102. 49 indexed citations
8.
Thelen, Esther, Daniela Corbetta, & John P. Spencer. (1996). Development of reaching during the first year: Role of movement speed.. Journal of Experimental Psychology Human Perception & Performance. 22(5). 1059–1076. 233 indexed citations
9.
Corbetta, Daniela & Esther Thelen. (1996). The development origins of bimanual coordination: A dynamic perspective.. Journal of Experimental Psychology Human Perception & Performance. 22(2). 502–522. 145 indexed citations
10.
Corbetta, Daniela & Esther Thelen. (1995). A Method for Identifying the Initiation of Reaching Movements in Natural Prehension. Journal of Motor Behavior. 27(3). 385–393. 27 indexed citations
11.
Jensen, Jody L., Esther Thelen, Beverly D. Ulrich, Klaus Schneider, & Ronald F. Zernicke. (1995). Adaptive Dynamics of the Leg Movement Patterns of Human Infants: III. Age-Related Differences in Limb Control. Journal of Motor Behavior. 27(4). 366–374. 38 indexed citations
12.
Ulrich, Beverly D., Klaus Schneider, Jody L. Jensen, Ronald F. Zernicke, & Esther Thelen. (1994). Adaptive Dynamics of the Leg Movement Patterns of Human Infants: II. Treadmill Stepping in Infants and Adults. Journal of Motor Behavior. 26(4). 313–324. 23 indexed citations
13.
Schneider, Klaus, et al.. (1994). Adaptive Dynamics of the Leg Movement Patterns of Human Infants: I. The Effects of Posture on Spontaneous Kicking. Journal of Motor Behavior. 26(4). 303–312. 55 indexed citations
14.
Davis, Deborah Winders, Esther Thelen, & J. Keck. (1994). Treadmill stepping in infants born prematurely. Early Human Development. 39(3). 211–223. 15 indexed citations
15.
Smith, Linda B. & Esther Thelen. (1993). A dynamic systems approach to development: Applications.. The MIT Press eBooks. 167 indexed citations
16.
Lockman, Jeffrey J. & Esther Thelen. (1993). Developmental Biodynamics: Brain, Body, Behavior Connections. Child Development. 64(4). 953–959. 72 indexed citations
17.
Schneider, Klaus, et al.. (1990). Understanding Movement Control in Infants Through the Analysis of Limb Intersegmental Dynamics. Journal of Motor Behavior. 22(4). 493–520. 89 indexed citations
18.
Kamm, Kathi, Esther Thelen, & Jody L. Jensen. (1990). A Dynamical Systems Approach to Motor Development. Physical Therapy. 70(12). 763–775. 165 indexed citations
19.
Gunnar, Megan R. & Esther Thelen. (1989). Systems and Development. 105 indexed citations
20.
Thelen, Esther. (1983). Learning to Walk is Still an “Old” Problem. Journal of Motor Behavior. 15(2). 139–161. 46 indexed citations

Rankless uses publication and citation data sourced from OpenAlex, an open and comprehensive bibliographic database. While OpenAlex provides broad and valuable coverage of the global research landscape, it—like all bibliographic datasets—has inherent limitations. These include incomplete records, variations in author disambiguation, differences in journal indexing, and delays in data updates. As a result, some metrics and network relationships displayed in Rankless may not fully capture the entirety of a scholar's output or impact.

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