[1] She was previously the Frederick G. L. Huetwell professor of psychology at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.

[15] Gelman directs the Conceptual Development Lab in the Psychology Department of the University of Michigan.

Most of the studies conducted at the lab focus on children between the ages of 2 and 10, and are carried out in a home-like laboratory setting or in local preschools and middle schools.

[18] Her books include: Gelman has been a major contributor to essentialism and relating essentialist ideas to varying aspects in psychology.

Her work has established that children, within a given age range, are able to detect underlying essences or root causes for predicting observed behaviors.