LING 499A: Seminar in Psycholinguistics, Fall 2007

About the course

First, what this course is not:

This will not be a survey course on psycholinguistics. Psycholinguistics is a very large field, and to cover it all in one semester would require us to gloss over too much and focus on too little for any given topic. Moreover, there are good textbooks out there that cover the basics. I would suggest Garman (1990), Gleason & Ratner (1998), Carroll (2004) or Traxler & Gersbacher (2006) for accessible surveys over most of the subdisciplines of the field.

• Garman, M. (1990). Psycholinguistics. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, UK.
• Gleason, J.B. & Ratner, N.B. (1998). Psycholinguistics, 2^nd Ed. Harcourt Brace College Publishers, Fort Worth, TX
• Carroll, D.W. (2004). Psychology of Language. Thomson/Wadsworth: Belmont, CA, Australia.
• Traxler, M.J. & Gersbacher, M.A. (2006). Handbook of Psycholinguistics, 2^nd Ed. Academic Press: San Diego, CA.

Furthermore, what I want you to take out of this course is not so much the content, but practical experience with a way of thinking. Scientific work is a good ground to develop analytical skills and critical thinking. Those two, unlike purely declarative knowledge about psycholinguistics, is something that will be useful throughout your life, no matter what your professional choices wil be.

Enough preaching. What this course is:

This is a seminar course. This means we will explore some of the fundamental issues in psycholinguistics today through a combination of seminar-style presentations and discussions. We will have a very "hands-on" approach and will rely to a great extent on doing experiments ourselves. We also have a small class, so we can and should hope to have active, meaningful (and fun!) class discussions.

Content-wise, we will look mostly at two levels of language processing: sounds and words. If time permits and/or there is great interest from the seminar participants, we will also explore the sentence domain.

The major topic of this course will be that of linguistic representations and the role (or lack thereof) they play in real-time language processing. We will briefly review the place of Linguistics within Cognitive Science, and we will explore the consequences that positing or not positing linguistic representations has on psycholinguistic theorizing/model–building. For example, think about the different ways a "linguistic sound" could be defined — is it purely an acoustic event, or is it a more abstract and complicated entity? It is pretty clear that either answer would have different consequences to the way we would model word recognition or how children learn the language of their environment, right?

In order to address these issues, we will review the experimental as well as theoretical literature, and we will draw on a number of research techniques, from behavioral studies to electrophysiological work.

By the end of the semester you should have:

• A solid background in psycholinguistics: what the big questions are; the major phenomena, and opposing viewpoints
• The ability to read, discuss, and write critically about these issues
• An understanding of the important methodologies in psycholinguistics: how they work and their pros and cons
• Practical experience with a range of psycholinguistic techniques: designing and running experiments, and analyzing data

Course Materials

There is no textbook for this course. Our readings will be comprised of primary sources, review articles, and some book chapters. For your convenience, the readings will be made available on the class website. The password to access them will be distributed at the first class, or by e-mail request. However, all of the material is available separately through the University library – either in McKeldin or through the library's researchport.

Requirements and Policies

Evaluations and responsabilities

You have several responsibilities for this seminar, and together they form the basis of your grade:

• 15% Being prepared for class and participating in the discussion
• 25% In-class presentations (2) and commentaries
• 35% Lab write-ups
• 25% Final Paper/Experimental Proposal

I also have a number of responsibilities for this seminar:

• Encouraging interest in and fostering discussion of course topics
• Offering clear explanations of relevant material and background information
• Grading and providing useful feedback on your work
• Returning your work to you within one week of the due date
• Providing reasonable assistance outside of class, either by email or during office hours

Deadlines, Late work, etc

For individual lab write-ups and papers, there is no penalty for late work. However, by turning work in on time you will receive the full benefit of the class — you will follow the material more easily, your work will not build up, and I will be able to provide full and detailed feedback on your work. If you turn in your work late, you waive your right to have it returned to you within one week with significant feedback.

Group work

For individual assignments and labs, you are allowed, and indeed strongly advised, to work in groups. Collaboration with your colleagues is a must in any kind of scientific endeavor. There will also be a number of group assignments. In those cases, work should be equitably distributed amongst group members and credit given to each one's specific contribution. However, assignments are supposed to be written individually. In case you collaborated with colleagues, it is acceptable (not to say polite) to acknowledge their assistance, but please write the assignments yourself. It is not acceptable to copy someone else's written assignment, even if you did the work together.

Extenuating Circumstances

If you have trouble with the course, if you have an emergency where you need to miss class, if you are experiencing an illness or any other situation which is interfering with your ability to participate fully in the course, make sure you contact me as soon as possible to let me know what is happening. If you let me know what is going on, we can work together to come up with a reasonable plan.

Office Hours

If you find yourself struggling with the material, it is important that you seek assistance as soon as possible – either by consulting with your fellow students, or by coming to see me. It is important that you do not hesitate to do this, since this is in fact how research works: by consulting, discussing and collaborating with your peers.

I also welcome anyone who wishes to discuss further any topic that particularly interests them. I will hold office hours on Mondays from 1:30 – 3:00pm or by appointment – please email me so we can find a time that works for both of us.

Academic Integrity

Please review The Code of Academic Integrity used by this university. It defines plagiarism as "intentionally or knowingly representing the words or ideas of another as one's own in any academic exercise." This is regarded as a form of academic dishonesty and suspected cases of plagiarism will be referred to the Honor Council for subsequent action. The grade of XF is listed on the transcripts of individuals found to have plagiarized work; this grade means that the grade of F was received because of academic dishonesty.