Psychology G4470. Psychology and Neuropsychology of Language.
Spring 2000.
III. Course requirements
IV. Course Outline
G4470. Psychology and Neuropsychology of Language 3 pts. M. Miozzo. M 4:10 - 6 p.m. 405 Schermerhorn Hall. Prerequisite: instructor’s permission (a course in the psychology of language or linguistics highly recommended). Surveys current models of language production. Studies of word and sentence production with monolingual and bilingual speakers and brain-damaged patients will be examined.
In order to produce a sentence, speakers have to formulate a representation of the message they want to express, retrieve the meaning, syntactic properties and sound of the words, plan the sentence structure, order the words according to specific rules and finally, activate motor plans for articulation. This course reviews the current theories that describe the various processes underlying language production. These theories are traditionally based on the analyses of naming latencies and speech errors, and on the outcomes of computer simulations.
This course also examines the pattern of performance of brain-damaged patients with selective deficits in language production and the rapidly growing body of evidence obtained with neuroimaging techniques (positron emission tomography, functional magnetic resonance and event-related potential). The importance of the latter types of data is twofold: they provide the empirical evidence needed to formulate hypotheses about the organization of processes for language production in the brain and in several cases they challenge dominant psycholinguistic theories.
This course examines both oral and written language production, the organization of mechanisms for language production in bilingual speakers and issues related to cross-linguistic variations. In addition, this course provides a critical examination of the assumptions underlying neuropsychological and neuroimaging investigations. Although this course focuses primarily on language production, it also considers language comprehension to determine to what extent distinct cognitive processes and brain structures are devoted to language production and comprehension.
Grading: The final grade will be determined on the basis of the three following factors: (a) class presentation (25%); class participation (25%); research paper (50%).
(a) Class presentation. For each class, selected members of the class will present the papers assigned for that day. Their task is to provide an introduction of the topics addressed in the papers, a summary of the experimental results and to raise comments about the claims of the papers. This introduction will prepare the class for the open discussion that will follow. Students will meet with me to briefly review the papers the week before their presentation.
(b) Class participation. It is fundamental to the seminar. Everyone is expected to come to class prepared to discuss the assigned articles, to raise questions and comments, and to contribute to the group learning process.
(c) Research paper. Students are expected to write a research paper that will be due at the end of the course. The paper should have the format of a research paper published in a scientific journal in the sense that it has to include "thought experiment(s)" aimed at addressing a question about language processing. The student is expected to outline the hypothesis tested by the experiment, define the design of the experiment, and describe the possible outcomes and their implications. Students are not required to run the experiments they propose. The paper should also include an introduction in which relevant theories and experimental results are reviewed. This project provides students with the opportunity to experience how hypotheses are empirically tested in experimental psychology. The preparation of the final paper comprises three stages: (a) submission of the topic (a page-long description of the topic; it will be due at around the fifth week of the course; I have to approve the topic); (b) brief description of the hypothesis and list of published papers reviewed for the project (due around the ninth week of the course); (c) research paper. The paper should be no longer than 20 pages (double-spaced). Guidelines about the research paper and the design of the experiment will be provided during the course.
Week 1&2: Introduction
What type of information do speakers need to produce a sentence? Description of semantic, syntactic, phonological, and articulatory features processed in speaking
Experimental approach in psycholinguistics: analyses of naming latencies and speakers’ errors
The role of computer models of language production
What is cognitive neuropsychology?
The single case approach in cognitive neuropsychology
Neuroimaging techniques: their functions, values and limits
Week 3&4: Semantic processing
Compositional vs. non-compositional semantic theories
Selective semantic deficits
Semantic category-specific impairments
Neuroimaging investigations: Where is meaning represented in the brain?
Week 5&6: Representation and access of word syntactic features
Models of word syntactic representation and their empirical support
Selective impairments of grammatical classes (nouns and verbs)
Where are nouns and verbs represented in the brain?
Week 7&8: Representation and access of word sounds
Lexical vs. phonological words
Morphologically complex words
Which phonological features are accessed in word production? The role of lexical and sublexical (e.g., syllabic, phonemic) features
Selective impairments of word sound retrieval (anomias)
Week 9&10: Phrases and sentences
The interaction between semantic, grammatical and phonological information
The planning of phrases: The example of verb phrases
The planning of sentences: The example of questions
Selective impairments of grammatical processing ("agrammatisms")
Week 11&12: Bilinguals
Bilinguals’ access of word meaning and lexical forms
Studies of bilingual brain-damaged patients
Neuroimaging investigations of bilingual speakers
Week 13&14: Written Language
Differences between oral and written language production
The diversity of writing systems (alphabetic, logographic, etc.)
Are there autonomous systems for spoken and written language production in the brain?
Central vs. peripheral reading deficits and their implications for theories of writing.
Reading List. The reading list is currently under development. Two or three textbook chapters will be assigned for each topic. Classical neuropsychological studies and recent neuroimaging investigations will be occasionally assigned. The reading list will include suggested empirical papers and review studies for those who seek additional information about particular topics. Two sets of suggested readings will be on reserve in the library and will be available for sign-out and photocopying.
Textbooks:
(a) Levelt, W. J. M. (1989). Speaking: From intention to articulation. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
(b).Ellis, A. W. & Young, A. W. (1988). Human cognitive neuropsychology. Hove, U.K.: Lawrence Erlbaum.