Matt Wagers

Hello

The focus of my research and instruction centers on the mental data structures of syntactic representation and the interface between language structure and memory. The question I'm most interested in is, how are richly-detailed, hierarchically-ordered representations bound together in memory during language processing? Research projects include how linguistic representations are segmented in memory, what the mechanisms are for the prediction and retrieval of syntactic information, and how linguistic feature systems gate access to constituent encodings.

Personal background

• 2008-9 Post-doc, New York University (advisor: Brian McElree )
• 2008 Ph.D in Linguistics, University of Maryland (advisor: Colin Phillips )
• 2003 A.B. (Honors) in Molecular biology, Princeton University, Certificates in Neuroscience and Linguistics (advisor: Sam Wang)
• 1999 North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics

Teaching

Office hours Winter '10: Thursdays, 11am-12n, & by appointment

Fall Quarter, 2009

LING157/257: Psycholinguistics and Linguistic Theory 1

Winter, 2009

LING229: Syntax Seminar/Islands (with Jim McCloskey)

Spring, 2009:

LING158/258: Psycholinguistics and Linguistic Theory 2

Research

Peer-reviewed research papers

• Linguistics
• Wagers, M., & Phillips, C. (2009). Multiple dependencies and the role of the grammar in real-time comprehension. Journal of Linguistics, 45, 395-433. [ DOI | PDF ]
• Wagers, M., Lau, E., Phillips, C. (2009). Agreement attraction in comprehension: representations and processes. Journal of Memory and Language, 61, 206-237.
  [ DOI | PDF ]
• Neuroscience
• Wang, S.S.-H., Shultz, J.R., Burish, M.J., Harrison, K.H., Hof, P.R., Towns, L.C., Wagers, M.W., Wyatt, K.D. (2008). Functional trade-offs in white matter axonal scaling. J Neurosci, 28, 4047-56. [ DOI ]
• Gould, E., Vail, N., Wagers, M., Gross, C.G. (2001). Adult-generated hippocampal and neocortical neurons in macaques have a transient existence. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA, 98, 10910-7. [ DOI ]

Reviews, papers in edited volumes, etc.

• Phillips, C., Lau, E., & Wagers, M. Selective Fallibility in Real-time Grammatical Computation. Ms., submitted to Language and Linguistics Compass. [ LingBuzz ]
• Phillips, C., & Wagers, M. (2007). Relating Structure and Time in Linguistics and Psycholinguistics. In G. Gaskell, ed., Oxford Handbook of Psycholinguistics. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Phillips, C., & Wagers, M. (2006). Constituent structure and the binding problem. Behav Brain Sci 29: 81-2. (commentary on target article by van der Velde & de Kamps)

Presentations and conference proceedings

1. Summary of agreement research

1. Conference talks
2. Wagers, M., & McElree, B. (2009). Focal attention and the timing of memory retrieval in language comprehension. Talk given at the Architectures and Mechanisms for Language Processing Conference, 15, September 7-9, Barcelona. [ PDF]
3. Wagers, M., Lau, E., Stroud, C., McElree, B & Phillips, C., (2009). Encoding syntactic predictions: evidence from the dynamics of agreement. Talk given at the CUNY Sentence Processing Conference, 22, Davis, CA. [ PDF ]
4. Sprouse, J., Wagers, M., & Phillips, C., (2009). Islands and the role of working memory in acceptability. Talk given at GLOW, 32, Nantes, France.
5. Lau, E., Wagers, M., Stroud, C., & Phillips, C., (2008). Agreement and the subject of confusion. Talk given at the CUNY Sentence Processing Conference, 21, March 13-15, Chapel Hill, NC.
6. Wagers, M., Lau, E., & Phillips, C. (2008). Agreement attraction in comprehension: representations and processes. Talk given at the Linguistic Society of America Annual Conference, January, Chicago, IL.
7. Lau, E., Wagers, M., & Phillips, C. (2007). Agreement attraction in comprehension: representations and processes. Talk given at the Mid-America Linguistics Conference. Lawrence, KS: October 2007.
8. Lau, E., Wagers, M., & Phillips, C. (2007). How (not) to get confused in comprehension: the case of agreement attraction. Talk given at the Architectures and Mechanisms for Language Conference, 13, Turku, Finland.
9. Wagers, M. & Phillips, C. (2006). Re-active filling. Talk given at the CUNY Sentence Processing Conference, 19, New York, NY.
10. Invited talks
11. Focal attention and the scope of syntactic representation. Cognitive Psychology Colloquium, Department of Psychology, UC Santa Cruz: 21 October, 2009. [ PDF ]
12. Using the speed-accuracy tradeoff technique to study memory dynamics in language processing. Beijing Normal University, State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, Beijing: 8 July, 2009.
13. Tracing the memory-syntax interface. Princeton University Program in Linguistics, Princeton, NJ: 21 April, 2009.
14. Tracing the memory-syntax interface. NYU Abu Dhabi Institute, Workshop on Neurolinguistics. Abu Dhabi, UAE: 14-15 December, 2008.
15. Accurately recognizing grammatical dependencies in an asyntactic memory. CUNY Graduate Center, Psycholinguistics Supper. New York: 18 November, 2008. -FLASH-
16. Creating and navigating structure in real time. Rutgers University Center for Cognitive Science, Colloquium. New Brunswick, NJ: 4 March, 2008.
17. Representing the control of agreement in real-time. CUNY Graduate Center, Psycholinguistics Supper. New York: 30 October, 2007.
18. Posters
19. Lau, E., Wagers, M., & Phillips, C., (2009). The consequences of number agreement on number interpretation. CUNY Sentence Processing Conference, 22, Davis, CA.
20. Omaki, A., Trock, A., Wagers, M., Lidz, J., Phillips, C. (2009). Active gap search in the visual world with lexical competitors. CUNY Sentence Processing Conference, 22, Davis, CA. -PDF-
21. Wagers, M., Lau, E., & Phillips, C. (2008). Early and late effects of agreement attraction in comprehension. Poster given at the CUNY Sentence Processing Conference, 21, March 13-15, Chapel Hill, NC.
22. Caputo-Nimbark, R., Hines, P., Larson, R., Levy, J., Longini, A., Quon, H., Smith, C., Wagers, M. (2007). The impact of resolved filler-gap dependencies on later dependency formation. Poster given at the CUNY Sentence Processing Conference, 20, La Jolla, CA.
23. Wagers, M. & Phillips, C. (2007). Content-dependent and content-independent processes in filler-gap resolution. Poster given at the CUNY Sentence Processing Conference, 20, La Jolla, CA.
24. Wagers, M. & Phillips, C. (2005). Fillers after the gap. Poster given at the CUNY Sentence Processing Conference, 18, Tucson, AZ.

Dissertation

• Wagers, M. (2008). The Structure of Memory meets Memory for Structure in Linguistic Cognition, Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Maryland. Supervised by Professor Colin Phillips. [ PDF ]