The goal of psycholinguistics is to develop models of language cognition: how is language acquired? how is language comprehended? how is language produced? LING157 will introduce some of these foundational questions. We will examine basic properties of mental processes and representations involved in language processing (primarily perception); consider how those properties constrain or interact with theories of linguistic knowledge; and how linguistic processes unfold over time-scales both small and large.
An important goal of the course is that participants will gain understanding about how knowledge is created in cognitive science. We will be reading many primary articles in the field (see Course materials below) and throughout the course you will achieve facility in reading those articles. But this is a learned skill and it has to be practiced! Course participants will learn the basics of experimental design and core experimental techniques in psychology and linguistics. To do that, we will conduct several psycholinguistic experiments on ourselves and our friends.
There are three core domains we will examine: phonology and sound perception, word structure and word recognition, and syntactic principles and sentence comprehension. This course is not an exhaustive survey of the field; it is deeper rather than broader.
Readings and assignments due will be posted on the course calendar. You can check it here or subscribe to it yourself in various applications. Check it often and carefully.
I expect you to work hard, but I also recognize the material is difficult. You will receive a grade that fairly reflects that fact. The grades and their numerical range are as follows:
I do not competitively scale your grades (i.e., curve them).
Assignments should be turned in at the beginning of class on the day they are due (within the first 10 minutes). If you are unsure whether you will be able to make it to class on time, email me the completed assignment in advance of class. Otherwise, the work is late. Late work is penalized as follows:
As a complement to the late work policy, it is the instructor's responsibility to return your work in a timely manner.
You are expected to take responsibility for your own learning. So here are the usual reminders for optimizing your performance in the class.
Attend class. You are responsible for material in your readings as well as those presented in lecture. Keep in mind that readings will often be primary sources or professional reviews, and it is during class that unfamiliar concepts will be explained and discussed.
Participate. Ask questions and offer ideas in class. Take responsibility in group work.
Complete your written work in a timely manner. Pay attention to instructions and due dates so you can plan the required research. Even in short responses or technical lab reports, the quality of your prose writing matters. It is an important goal of this class to hone your skills in communicating scientifically. You will be in a better position to do so, the less you have to rush. The late work policy is spelled out above.
Adhere to standards of academic honesty. This class involves a fair amount of collaboration in the form of lab work. For each assignment, I will make it clear what is expected of each individual. I will also ask you to list who you worked with. But here are the general guidelines: I encourage you to work together to understand material, to work out design of experiments, to share the responsibility for collecting data, and to help one another understand how to execute the data analysis afterwards. However, all analysis and written work must be completed by the individual.
The Academic Integrity web site contains the policies and procedures that bind us both for suspected academic dishonesty: here.
Request accommodation if necessary. If you qualify for classroom accommodations because of a disability, please obtain an Accommodation Authorization from the Disability Resource Center (DRC) and submit it to me in person within the first two weeks of the quarter. Contact DRC at 459-2089 (voice), 459-4806 (TTY), or http://drc.ucsc.edu for more information on the requirements and process.
Communicate. Lastly, but importantly, never hesitate to get in touch. If you get into difficulty, it is entirely appropriate to seek help. Come by office hours, or send me an email. Likewise, if you are having a problem that adversely affects your classroom participation, contact me.