PSYC344 Psychology of Language Spring 2012 TR , 102 Gore Hall

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1 PSYC344 Psychology of Language Spring 2012 TR , 102 Gore Hall Instructor: Dr. Anna Papafragou Office: 109 Wolf Hall Office hour: Thur Tel: (302) Teaching assistant: Dimitris Skordos Office: 401 Wolf Office hour: Tues Course description: This course describes the nature of human language, how it is used to speak and comprehend, and how it is learned. Subtopics include language and thought, language in special populations (such as children born deaf or blind), animal communication, and language acquisition. Course goals: The goals of the course include (a) knowledge of theory and research in the Psychology of Language, (b) understanding of research design, data analysis, and interpretation of empirical findings, (c) the ability to evaluate the adequacy of claims about human language, and (d) the development of the ability to express arguments in a clear and concise fashion and more generally the development of communication skills. Course reading: 1. Book: S. Pinker (1994). The Language Instinct. Penguin Books. 2. Papers (see list below; available from course webpage). 3. Lecture material (lecture slides will appear on webpage). Course webpage: This course has a sakai site,, which you can access via Important course-related information including announcements, changes to the syllabus, lecture slides, and grades will be posted there. Though there will be frequent reminders of course-related news in class, it is ultimately your responsibility to check the Sakai site regularly for updates.. Grading: Your grade will be a weighted sum of the following: Exam 1 24% Exam 2 24% Exam 3 24% Short Quiz 1 (in class) 14% Short Quiz 2 (in class) 14% Exam/test details: Exams and short quizzes will follow the same format and will include, e.g., true/false or multiple choice answers, sentence completion, and short paragraphs. 1

2 Sample quiz and exam questions will be posted on the course webpage. Exam 3 is not cumulative. Grading policies: Do not miss an exam/short quiz. With the exception of authorized university absences, exams/quizzes will not be rescheduled. If you miss an exam/quiz, the corresponding percentage of the grade will be automatically deducted from your final grade. The final exam will never be used to make up a missed exam/quiz. If you have a question or concern that there was an error in grading your work, you must submit a request in writing to have the work regraded, no more than one week after the grades have been announced. No requests will be considered beyond this date. If you submit a request, your work will be regraded in entirety, and your final grade could be higher or lower than your original grade. The grading scale for the course is the following: 97% -100% --- A (University does not award A+) 93% - 96% --- A 90% - 92% --- A- 87% - 89% --- B+ 83% - 86% --- B 80% - 82% --- B- 77% - 79% --- C+ 73% - 76% --- C 70% - 72% --- C- 67% - 69% --- D+ 63% - 66% --- D 60% - 62% --- D- 59% - 0% --- F Other policies: Please silence any device you have that makes noise while in class. Cell phones should be stowed, i.e. no calls or texting during class. Course-related laptop use is fine. Academic integrity: Students are expected to abide by UD s Code of Conduct with respect to Academic Honesty ( Questions: If you have a question about the course (e.g. the lecture material, readings, exams, short tests, grading, or the course webpage), feel free to contact me. Learning outside the classroom: There will be a number of opportunities to participate in events outside of class where you can see real, live psycholinguistics in action. These include: Research participation: Various research projects are now under way in our Language and Cognition lab (401 Wolf). We are always looking for participants for these studies. If you are interested in participating, get in touch with me. Research experience: If you want to get some hands-on experience in designing and running a language study, there are several opportunities to do so in the L&C 2

3 lab. To learn more about how you can get involved (and the eligibility requirements, where appropriate), get in touch with me, or visit: o Colloquia/Seminars: Various groups on campus hold regular talks which are often related to topics in the psychology of language. Attending a talk gives you the opportunity to find out what is happening at the cutting edge of research. You may find talks of interest in: o Department of Psychology: o Department of Linguistics: 3

4 Class Schedule Week Date Topic Assignment 1 Feb 7 Introduction ---- Feb 9 Film: Discovering the Human Language Pinker, Ch. 1: An instinct to acquire an art 2 Feb 14 The nature of language Pinker, Ch. 12: The language mavens Feb 16 Universality of language learning Pinker, Ch. 2: Chatterboxes 3 Feb 21 Language learning: Nature and nurture Gleitman & Newport, The invention of language by children Feb 23 Film: Acquiring the Human Language Finish reading Gleitman & Newport 4 Feb 28 Language and thought Pinker, Ch. 3: Mentalese Mar 1 Language and thought (cont.) Li & Gleitman, Turning the tables Majid et al., Can language restructure cognition? 5 Mar 6 Language and thought (cont.) Papafragou, Massey & Gleitman, Shake, rattle, n roll Mar 8 Structure of language Pinker, Ch. 4: How language works 6 Mar 13 EXAM Mar 15 Sounds of language Pinker, Ch. 6: The sounds of silence 7 Mar 20 Acquiring the sounds of language Werker, Exploring developmental changes in cross-language speech perception Mar 22 Words Pinker, Ch. 5: Words, words, words -- Mar 27, NO CLASS 29 SPRING BREAK 8 April 3 Word learning Markman, Constraints children place on word 4

5 Apr 5 Semantics SHORT QUIZ 1 meanings Armstrong, Gleitman & Gleitman, What some concepts might not be 9 Apr 10 Semantics (cont.) AG&G (cont.) Apr 12 Acquisition of semantics Grimshaw, Lexicon 10 Apr 17 Acquisition of semantics (cont.) Gleitman & Gillette, The role of syntax in verb learning Apr 19 EXAM Apr 24 Syntax Pinker, Ch.9: Baby born talking describes heaven Apr 26 Acquisition of syntax Crain, Language acquisition in the absence of experience 12 May 1 Communication SHORT QUIZ 2 Pinker, Ch. 7: Talking heads May 3 Learning how to use language to communicate Papafragou & Musolino, Scalar implicatures 13 May 8 Language and the brain Pinker, Ch. 10: Language organs and grammar genes May 10 Class picks topic 14 May 15 EXAM Papers Armstrong S., Gleitman L. & Gleitman H. (1983). What some concepts might not be. Cognition 13: Crain S. (1992). Language acquisition in the absence of experience. Behavioral and Brain Sciences 14: Reprinted in P. Bloom, ed. (1993), Language Acquisition: Core readings. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. 5

6 Gleitman L. & Gillette J. (1997). The role of syntax in verb learning. In P. Fletcher & B. MacWhinney (eds.), Handbook of Child Language. Oxford: Blackwell. Gleitman L. & Newport E. (1995). The invention of language by children: environmental and biological influences on the acquisition of language. In L. Gleitman & M. Liberman (eds.), An invitation to Cognitive Science, Vol. 1: Language. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Grimshaw J. (2001). Lexicon. MIT Encyclopedia of Cognitive Sciences. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Li P. & Gleitman L. (2002). Turning the tables: language and spatial reasoning. Cognition 83: Majid A., Bowerman M., Kita S., Haun D. & Levinson S. (2004). Can language restructure cognition? Trends in Cognitive Sciences 8: Markman E. (1990). Constraints children place on word meaning. Cognitive Science 14: Reprinted in P. Bloom, ed. (1993), Language Acquisition: Core readings. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Papafragou A, Massey C. & Gleitman L. (2002). Shake, rattle n roll: The representation of motion in language and cognition. Cognition 84: Papafragou A. & Musolino J. (2003). Scalar implicatures: Experiments at the semanticspragmatics interface. Cognition 86: Werker J. (1995). Exploring developmental changes in cross-language speech perception. In L. Gleitman & M. Liberman (eds.), An invitation to Cognitive Science, Vol. 1: Language. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. 6