Introduction to Psycholinguistics LING196/PSYC196

LING196/PSYC196
Introduction to Psycholinguistics
Professor:
Guillermo A. Rodríguez
Office:
Waterman 517G
Office Hours: Mon & Wed 2-3pm
Phone: (802) 656-0529
E-mail: [email protected]
INTRODUCTION
Psycholinguistics studies the cognitive processes involved in acquiring, understanding and producing human language.
In this course you will learn about what constitutes knowledge of language, how that knowledge is acquired and put to
use in the production and comprehension of words, sentences and pieces of discourse. You will also become familiar
with the empirical tools used by psycholinguists to understand these mostly unconscious phenomena and, by the end of
the course, you should be able to propose your own psycholinguistic experiment. The content covered during the
course will include topics such as: speech perception, speech errors, lexical access, word recognition, sentence
processing, neural representation of language, bilingualism, discourse processing, and language disorders among
others.
OBJECTIVES:
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
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To introduce and discuss theories of language production and comprehension
To understand the evolution of the field
To identify the multiple variables that interact in the study of language as a cognitive construct
To introduce the research methodology used in Psycholinguistics
To familiarize students with current research in the field
To develop research skills through the design of an experiment
RESOURCES:
- Required Textbook:
Traxler, M. (2012). Introduction to Psycholinguistics: Understanding language science. West Sussex, UK:
Wiley-Blackwell.
- Additional readings will be provided by the instructor through Blackboard.
ASSESSMENT
* Attendance and participation: your attendance is crucial. Participation means having done the assigned
readings and being prepared to contribute in class. Part of your participation grade will also include your
interaction with your classmates during group work, if assigned.
* Bboard quizzes (10): you will need to complete these quizzes on-line before coming to class based on your
reading of the materials assigned by the instructor.
* Midterm exam
* Final exam (comprehensive/cumulative)
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* Experiment Design: students in groups (2-3 people per group) will design a study based on their reading of a
topic chosen from the materials covered by the textbook. This will allow students to show their command of the
subject matter, their understanding of a research gap, and their ability to plan a study for implementation.
Students will write a report describing their experiment in a similar format to the background and design
sections of a research article from the field. More details will be provided throughout the course.
ASSESSMENT DISTRIBUTION
- Attendance & Participation
- Bboard quizzes (10)
- Midterm exam
- Final exam
- Experiment Design
GRADING SCALE
5%
20%
20%
30%
25%
A+
A
AB+
B
BC+
C
CD+
D
DF
= 98 – 100
= 94 – 97
= 90 – 93
= 87 – 89
= 84 – 86
= 80 – 83
= 77 – 79
= 74 – 76
= 70 – 73
= 67 – 69
= 64 – 66
= 60 – 63
= 0 – 59
CODE OF ACADEMIC INTEGRITY
Offenses against the Code of Academic Integrity are deemed serious and insult the integrity of the entire academic community.
Any suspected violations of the code are taken very seriously and will be forwarded to the Center for Student Ethics and Standards
for further investigation.
The Code of Academic Integrity identifies four major violations of its standards:
1. plagiarism
2. fabrication
3. collusion
4. cheating
The entire Code of Academic Integrity and information about the Center for Student Ethics and Standards is on their website, at:
http://www.uvm.edu/cses/?Page=ah.html&SM=ahmenu.html
ACCOMMODATIONS
Accommodations in this course can be provided with documentation of a learning or other disability (including a chronic health
problem) through the ACCESS office. I will be glad to talk to you about their services if you believe it would be helpful, or you
may contact them independently. The webpage describing documentation needs, and from which you can obtain information
about the services they can provide is: http://www.uvm.edu/access/?Page=docuguidelines.html
Please note that without the involvement of the ACCESS office, accommodations cannot be offered, even on an informal basis.
RELIGIOUS HOLIDAYS
Students have the right to practice the religion of their choice. By the end of the second full week of classes, you should submit in
writing your documented religious holiday schedule for the semester. If you miss class work for the purpose of religious
observance, you will be allowed to make it up, but you must arrange with me before work is missed to discuss this.
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WEEK 1
01/18
01/20
WEEK 2
01/23
01/25
01/27
WEEK 3
01/30
02/01
02/03
WEEK 4
02/06
02/08
02/10
WEEK 5
02/13
02/15
02/17
WEEK 6
02/20
02/22
02/24
WEEK 7
02/27
02/29
03/02
WEEK 8
03/05
03/07
03/09
WEEK 9
03/12
03/14
03/16
WEEK 10
03/19
03/21
03/23
WEEK 11
03/26
03/28
03/30
WEEK 12
04/02
04/04
04/06
TENTATIVE CALENDAR OF ACTIVITIES
FINAL EXAM: May 4th, 10:30am, BILLINGS LH!!!
TRAX = Traxler (2012)
CONTENT
READINGS
ASSESSMENT
Intro to the course
What is language?
BB Quiz # 1
Intro to Language Science
TRAX 2-18
TRAX 27-29
BB Quiz # 2
Speech production & Comp.
TRAX 38-51
TRAX 51-53
TRAX 54-71
Word Processing
TRAX 80-97
BB Quiz # 3
TRAX 97-119
TRAX 119-128
BB Quiz # 4
Language Development
TRAX 325-344
TRAX 344-360
NO CLASS
Sentence Processing
NO CLASS
TRAX 141-159
TRAX 159-166
Sentence Processing
TRAX 166-172
TRAX 172-181
MIDTERM
NO CLASS
BB Quiz # 5
MIDTERM
MIDTERM
SPRING BREAK
SPRING BREAK
SPRING BREAK
BB Quiz # 6
Discourse Processing
TRAX 187-214
TRAX 214-223
BB Quiz # 7
Reference
TRAX 241-253
TRAX 253-260
Dialogue
TRAX 305-317
BB Quiz # 8
TRAX 317-321
Reading
TRAX 369-384
TRAX 384-398
TRAX 398-404
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WEEK 13
04/09
04/11
04/13
WEEK 14
04/16
04/18
04/20
WEEK 15
04/23
04/25
04/27
WEEK 16
04/30
05/02
05/04
BB Quiz # 9
Bilingual language processing
TRAX 415-429
TRAX 429-439
BB Quiz # 9
Sign Language
TRAX 447-462
TRAX 462-472
Aphasia
TRAX 479-492
TRAX 492-507
BB Quiz # 10
Experiment Proposal due
REVIEW
FINAL EXAM – BILLINGS LH – 10:30AM
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