Lila Gleitman's research has helped to define current investigations into language learning. She examines the mechanisms that drive the process of language learning. In her work, she looks for the biases children bring to the learning situation and the processes through which children extract meanings from the input they receive.

Gleitman has served as president of the Linguistic Society of America and is a Fellow of the Society of Experimental Psychologists and the National Academy of Sciences. She co-founded the Institute for Research in Cognitive Science.