Professor of psychology who developed the CHILDES (Child Language Data Exchange System) and TalkBank programs to promote research on human and animal communication. He became known, especially, for his Competition Model of language acquisition.
He taught psychology at Carnegie Mellon University.
He was an avid supporter of the International Association for the Study of Child Language's National Research Council.
His marriage produced two sons.
He was influenced by the work of fellow psychological theorist Sigmund Freud.