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Psychology349/Linguistics 347: Talking Minds
Time: M/W 1:00 – 2:30, 1009 Natural Sciences Building
Instructor: Dr. Julie Boland, East 4443; 764-4488; ,
Office Hours: 2:30-3:30 M/W or by appointment
Teaching Assistant: Meghan Ahern,
Text: The Psychology of Language, Trevor Harley; The Ascent of Babel, Gerry Altmann
Course Webpage: www-personal.umich.edu/~jeboland/talkingminds
Course Description: Human minds are unique in their capacity for language, yet other animals and computers also have communication systems. This course introduces students to theoretical issues in language and memory, conversation, and “primitive language behavior” in young humans, non-human animals, and computers. Are humans unique in their use of language? How do we remember sentences we’ve heard/read? What is the biological basis for language? Why and how do children learn language? What is the relationship between language and thought? We investigate the cognitive processes underlying language processing, comparing human language abilities with those of computers and animals. Students will learn what is known (and what is still unknown!) about language processing in those areas. In addition, students will learn about the relationship between theories and hypotheses, and explore different methodologies by which psycholinguistic hypotheses can be tested.
Please read the assigned material and complete the required homework assignments before coming to class. You may wish to download lecture outlines from the class website and use these for note taking during class. Check the class website at least once a week for class-related information and activities. Periodically, additional readings will be assigned to supplement the textbooks. Check with your classmates if you miss class!
Introduction & Background
Sept 4 Overview, History of Psycholinguistics
Sept 9 Cognitive Psychology, & Cognitive Science Altmann, Chap 1, Harley, Chap 1
Language & Thought
Sept 11 Whorfian Hypothesis
Sept 16 Linguistics: Film + In-class worksheet/discussion Harley, Chap 2
Sept 18 Word Recognition Lab (In-class Experiments & Worksheet-due 9/23)
Meet in East B250 Computer Lab
Sept 23 Neo-whorfianism Harley, Chapter 3, pp 77-87
Sept 25 Persuasion & Language Harley, Chap 6
Language and Memory: Representation and Retrieval
I was in the grocery store. I saw a sign that said "pet supplies". So I did. Then I went outside and saw a sign that said "compact cars".-- Steven Wright
Sept 30 Investigating Word Recognition Harley, Chap 8
Oct 2 Sentence Comprehension Harley, Chapter 9
Oct 7 Semantic Memory & the Lexicon Harley, Chapter 10
Oct 9 Sentence Comprehension Altmann, Chapter 7-8
Oct 14 Fall Break
Oct 16 Midterm Exam
Oct 21 Sentence Memory Harley, Chapter 11
Oct 23 Making and encoding inferences Altmann, Chapter 9
Oct 28 Conversation Altmann, Chapter 10
Language in young children
Oct 30 Children without Language? Altmann, Chap 4
Nov 4 Stages of Acquisition Harley, pp 63-77, Chapter 4
Nov 6 Learning Word Meanings
Nov 11 Word Order & Sentence Meaning
Nov 13 Bilingualism Harley, Chapter 5
Is Language Uniquely Human?
Nov 18 Animal Communication Harley, pp 47-63
Nov 20 Animal Communication
Nov 25 Natural Language & Computers WWW assignment
Nov 27 Natural Language & Computers WWW assignment
Dec 2 Language Disorders Altmann, Chapter 12
Dec 4 Language Disorders Harley, pp 376-387
Dec 9 Neurons and neural net models Altmann, Chap 13; Harley Chap 14
Dec 11 Review
Final Exam
Grading: Midterm = 40%
Final Exam = 45% (cumulative)
Homeworks = 15%
90-100 = A; 80 - 89 = B; 70 - 79 = C; 60 - 69 = D; 0-59 = E
Plusses and Minuses will be awarded, to the extent that the university allows them, on the following basis: If the second digit is 0, 1, or 2, your grade will have a "-" attached to it. If the second digit is 7, 8, or 9, your grade will have a "+" attached to it.
Please note the exam dates. Make-up exams will not be given except in extreme cases. The exams will be a mixture of multiple choice, matching, & short answer. Students with disabilities that affect their performance in class or on exams should alert me early in the quarter, so that we can make whatever adjustments are necessary.