PSYC
346 Psychology of Language
Fall 2004: TTh
Heldenfels 111
Office: 267 Psychology Bldg.
Tel.: 979-845-2576
Office Hrs: TTh 2-3 or by appointment
Textbook: Psychology of Language by David Carroll (2004, 4th Ed.) Brooks/Cole.
E-mail: jvaid@neo.tamu.edu - When you email me, please indicate "PSYC 346" in subject
header. Please do not send any
attachments.
Psycholinguistics is an interdisciplinary field with influences from linguistics, psychology, computer science and neuroscience. Its goal is to understand how the human mind supports the acquisition, comprehension and production of language.
Among the questions we will consider in this course are:
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What properties
characterize all human languages and what properties vary across languages?
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How does the mind
decode, plan, and produce speech?
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How are the
meanings of words, sentences, and text accessed and represented?
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What are the
biological substrates of language?
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How does language
processing interact with the medium of language use (spoken vs. written vs.
signed)?
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How is language
organized in people who know more than one language?
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What is the
relationship between language, culture, and thought?
Lecture/discussion and occasional in-class demonstrations and exercises. Although our class size is large, please feel free to ask questions in class or afterwards.
Class Web Page
This contains links to a copy of the syllabus, course-related announcements, links to other webpages of interest, and review outlines. The outlines are not intended to substitute for coming to class and will not contain the level of detail you are expected to learn.
Preparing for
this Course
The best background for this course would be Cognitive
psychology or Linguistics although neither are required as prerequisites. Since
the course also relies heavily on experimentation, a background in Research
Methods will also be helpful.
Attendance and Participation
Attendance is strongly encouraged. In deciding whether to attend, keep in mind
that both lecture and text material will be on the tests. In the event of an
absence, make sure that you get notes from a classmate since we will
occasionally discuss some research that is not covered in the text. Office
hours provide an opportunity to review material that is unclear, however, do
not expect me to go over a day's lecture due to your absence.
There will be three exams that will cover the text, any assigned
readings, material presented with the in-class experiments, and lecture. Exams
will be mostly multiple choice although there may be some short answer
questions.
Each exam will be worth 30% of your grade. The remaining 10% percent of the grade will be based on in-class exercises and/or assignments.
Exams may include information from the textbook that was not discussed during lectures and information presented in lectures that was not mentioned in the book. Thus, failure to attend class regularly, or failure to complete the required readings will almost certainly result in poor grades for the class. You are allowed to bring 1 sheet (both sides) of typed notes based on the lectures and the readings to each test.
Bonus Credit
You may earn upto 6% bonus credit by participating in upto 3 hours of psycholinguistic experiments in the Psychology Dept. Please indicate to the experimenter(s) that you are enrolled in Psyc of Language and obtain and turn in their signature to ensure that you receive due credit.
Make-Ups
Make-up exams will only be allowed for university-mandated
and officially verified reasons. I am usually
understanding about make-up exams as long as you let me know BEFORE the exam
that you have a problem, and that you provide verifiable evidence of your
problem. The make-up exam may be different in format than the regular in-class
exam.
If an absence can be anticipated in advance, you must inform me of your absence at least a week in advance, to allow time for a makeup to be arranged. If you miss an exam because of an excused event that was unforeseen (e.g., an illness or death in your family), you must notify me within three days by phone or email.
Academic Honesty
Let me know before a test if you have a special need (i.e.,
learning disability, physical handicap) that requires some special testing
consideration. If you feel like you are having problems with this course for
whatever reason, let me know!
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is a federal anti-discrimination statute that provides comprehensive civil rights protection for persons with disabilities. Among other things, this legislation requires that all students with disabilities be guaranteed a learning environment that provides for reasonable accommodation of their disabilities. If you believe you have a disability that requires an accommodation, please contact the Office of Support Services for Students with Disabilities in the Student Services Bldg, Rm. 126, tel. 845-1637.
If you need help with note-taking, reading comprehension or
writing skills please call
The readings noted below are from Carroll, Psychology of Language, 2004, (4th ed.). Supplementary recommended readings and additional links will be posted on the course web page.
Week 1: Course
Overview
8/31 ch. 1, 2 Themes
9/2 chs. 2,3 History and Methods
Week 2: Perception of
Language
9/7 ch. 4
9/9 ch. 4
Week 3: Word
comprehension/Lexical access
9/14 ch. 5
9/16 ch. 5
Week 4: Word meanings
9/21 ch. 5
9/23 TEST 1: chapters 1-5 and class notes
Week 5: Sentence
processing and comprehension
9/28 ch. 6
9/30 ch. 6
Week 6: Discourse
comprehension/Language production
10/5 ch. 7
10/7 ch. 8
Week 7: Conversation
10/12 ch. 9
10/14 ch. 9
Week 8: Communication
Modes
10/19 TBA
10/21 No class.
Week 9: Early Language
Acquisition
10/26 ch. 10
10/28 Test 2: chapters 6-10 and class notes
Week 10: Bilingualism/Language
Acquisition
11/2 ch. 11
11/4 ch. 12
Week 11: Bilingualism/Language,
Culture and Cognition
11/9 TBA
11/11 ch. 14
Week 12: Language,
Culture, and Cognition, contd.
11/16 ch. 14
11/18 No class (Bonfire
dedication)
Week 13: Biological Bases of Language
11/23 ch. 13
11/25 Thanksgiving - NO CLASS
Week 14: Biological
Bases, contd.
11/30 ch. 13
12/2 Test 3: chaps. 11-14 and class notes
Week 15: Wrap-up
12/6 --.