Understanding spoken or written language requires the rapid, incremental processing of linguistic structures. On top of this, we must also integrate multiple sources of additional information, such as the prior discourse, physical context, social information, etc. How are humans able to efficiently accomplish this task?
To address this question, this module will consider principles of psycholinguistics that guide language understanding and features of lexical & sentence structure that facilitate comprehension. Specific topics are likely to include lexical access, reference processing, the role of working memory, the use of visual context, and models of language comprehension. A focus on research methods and paradigms available in psycholinguistics will also be introduced, to help prepare students for possible upcoming dissertation research.
- Module Supervisor: Claire Delle Luche