He has developed and empirically tested neural network models that simultaneously learn new perceptual and conceptual representations, with the learned concepts both affecting and being affected by perception.
He has also developed computational models of how groups of people compete for resources, cooperate to solve problems, exchange information and innovations, and form coalitions.
Goldstone earned his PhD from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
He was awarded two American Psychological Association Young Investigator awards in 1995 for articles appearing in Journal of Experimental Psychology, the 1996 Chase Memorial Award for Outstanding Young Researcher in Cognitive Science, a 1997 James McKeen Cattell Sabbatical Award, the 2000 APA Distinguished Scientific Award for Early Career Contribution to Psychology in the area of Cognition and Human Learning, a 2004 Troland Research Award from the National Academy of Sciences, and the 2024 Howard Crosby Warren Medal[1] for Outstanding Achievement in Experimental Psychology from the Society of Experimental Psychologists.
He was Director of the Indiana University Cognitive Science Program from 2006 to 2011.