Ellen Langer

Langer obtained a BA in Psychology from New York University in
1970, and her PhD from Yale in 1974. From her position as Professor
of Psychology at Harvard University, she has produced several scholarly
works, numerous journal articles, and chapters in edited collections.
Mindfulness was the product of over 50 experiments, mostly with
elderly people. The experiments led Langer to believe that the protectiveness
of nursing homes leads to reduced autonomy and responsibility,
which hasten aging. The book has been translated into 13 languages
and has gone through 10 printings.
Langer's other popular works are Personal Politics (with Carol
Dweck, 1973), The Psychology of Control (1983), and The Power of
Mindful Learning (1997). Her entry on "Mindfulness/Mindlessness"
appears in Encyclopaedia of Psychology (R. Cosini (ed.), 1994). She
lives in Massachussetts.