See the most recent syllabus

Course content: 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 recent data obtained with neuroimaging techniques. 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.
 

Classes: Each student is expected to bring a written response (about a page long) to a question about the class topic. The question is e-mailed the week before class. At the beginning of a class, the professor introduces the topic and summarizes the papers assigned for the class. One or more students will read their responses in class. A discussion of the class topic will follow.
 

Readings: The readings include articles from scientific journals and books. Articles can be found in the Psychology Library (409 Schermerhorn Hall) or from the web.
 

Grading: The final grade is determined on the basis of: (a) written questions and class assignments (30%); class participation (30%); research paper (40%).
 

Assignments: (a) Weekly response to topic questions; (b) one class presentation of the assigned articles; (c) a research paper (see below).
 

Research paper. Students are expected to write a research paper. The paper should have the format of a research paper published in a scientific journal, in the sense that it has to include ³thought experiment(s)² aimed at addressing a question about language production. The proposed experiment can be carried out with neurologically intact speakers or neuropsychological patients, of any language. The student is expected to outline the hypothesis tested by the experiment, define its design, 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. Students will submit a topic proposal (max. a page-long description of the topic; it is due on February 23rd; the professors has to approve the topic). Students are also expected to read and summarize ten papers relevant for their research topic. Two classed are devoted to the presentation and discussion of the proposed experiments. The research paper is due on May 7th. The paper should be no longer than 15 pages (double-spaced).