AS/LING 3800: Language and Mind


http://www.ling.umd.edu/~idsardi/3800/


Times and Places


Instructor


Course Goals


Web Pages


Textbooks


Grading

There is no final exam for this course.

Homework must be handed in on time, otherwise you will receive a zero.

Do the assigned readings BEFORE we discuss them in class.

Class attendance and participation are absolutely essential-- IF you do not show up THEN you will not do well!

If you cannot attend class, it is your responsibility to contact me by email as soon as possible, preferably before the class.


Tentative Schedule

Week Tuesday Thursday
January 3 No class, classes haven't started yet No class, I'm at the LSA in Albuquerque NM
January 10 Introduction (Stainton, chapter 1; Smith in McGilvray, chapter 1) Syntax (Stainton, chapter 2; Lasnik in McGilvray, chapter 3)
January 17 Reference (Stainton, chapter 3) Sense (Stainton, chapter 4)
January 24 Truth (Stainton, chapter 5) Mentalese (Stainton, chapter 6)
January 31 LOT (Stainton, chapter 7) Test #1
February 7 Poverty of the Stimulus (Lightfoot in McGilvray, chapter 2) Induction (Chomsky and Fodor 1975 pdf)
February 14 No class, Reading Week
February 21 Learning words (Gleitman and Fisher in McGilvray, chapter 6) Learning phonology (Dresher in McGilvray, chapter 5)
February 28 Knowledge (Hornstein in McGilvray, chapter 7) Innateness (Pietroski and Crain in McGilvray, chapter 8)
March 7 Simplicity (Charter and Vitanyi TICS pdf) Test #2
March 14 Brains (Petito in McGilvray, chapter 4) Language and the Brain (Chomsky pdf)
March 21 Categorical perception (ASL handshapes pdf) The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis Kay and Kempton 1984 Kay and Regier 2006 Folli and Harley 2006
March 28 Modularity (Gallistel 1999 pdf) Evolution (Chomsky, Hauser and Fitch pdf)
April 4 Test #3 No class, classes are over

Author: William J Idsardi
Email:idsardi AT umd.edu
Last Updated: January 9, 2006