M. Wagers Research & Data Links

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Research & Data Links

If you cannot find a paper, materials or data you're looking for, I'm happy to help you via email.

▧ ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3139-2380
▨ Open Science Foundation https://osf.io/gn3e8/
▩ Chamorro Psycholinguistics na Project
▦ Animacy & Resumption at the Border (Zapotec & Hebrew Psycholinguistics)

Original research articles
year	title	authors	citation	⿻	⿳
2026	Delayed structural prediction for relative clauses: A new argument for learning to parse from Santiago Laxopa Zapotec	Duff, John, Gomez-Jackson, Delaney, Silva Robles, Fe, Toosarvandani, Maziar, Wagers, Matthew	Cognition, 275, 106599 doi:10.1016/j.cognition.2026.106599
2026	Subject islands do not reduce to construction-specific discourse function	Cartner, Mandy, Kogan, Matthew, Webster, Nikolas, Wagers, Matthew, Sichel, Ivy	Cognition, 271, 106467 doi:10.1016/j.cognition.2026.106467
2025	Predictability of the retrieval site does not modulate interference: evidence from reflexive attraction	Keshev, M., Hinkle, K., Wagers, M., Dillon, B.	Open Mind, 9, 2031-2065 doi:10.1162/OPMI.a.275	Open Access	materials, data, scripts, analysis
2025	How linguistic boundaries form encoding contexts in memory: Evidence from temporal order effects	Balachandran, L., Rich, S., Wagers, M.	Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society, 47	Open Access
2024	A tale of two Tagalogs	Pizarro-Guevara, J.S., Wagers, M.	Glossa: a journal of general linguistics, 9(1) doi:10.16995/glossa.11032	Open Access	materials, data, scripts, analysis
2022	Processing reflexive pronouns when they don’t announce themselves.	Wagers, M., Borja, M., Chung, S.	Glossa Psycholinguistics, 1(1) doi:10.5070/G601174	Open Access	materials, data, scripts, analysis
2022	Extraction from English RCs and Cross-Linguistic Similarities in the Environments That Facilitate Extraction	Vincent, J. W., Sichel, I., Wagers, M.	Languages, 7(2), 117 doi:10.3390/languages7020117	Open Access
2022	Memory for linguistic features and the focus of attention: evidence from the dynamics of agreement inside DP	Wagers, M., McElree, B.	Language, Cognition and Neuroscience, 39(9), 1191-1206. doi:10.1080/23273798.2022.2057559	Postprint
2021	(A)symmetries in Tagalog relative clause processing.	Pizarro-Guevara, J. S., Wagers, M.	AFLA 27: The Proceedings of the 27th Meeting of the Austronesian Formal Linguistics Association, pp. 113-128 Hsieh, H., & New, K., Eds. London, Ontario: University of Western Ontario	Open Access
2020	On the universality of intrusive Resumption: Evidence from Chamorro and Palauan	Chung, S., Wagers, M.	Natural Language and Linguistic Theory, 39, 759-801	Postprint (authors' copy)	Materials & data
2020	Hierarchical structure and memory mechanisms in agreement attraction	Franck, J., Wagers, M.	PLoS ONE, 15, e0232163	Open Access	materials, data, scripts
2020	The predictive value of Tagalog voice morphology in filler-gap dependency formation	Pizarro-Guevara, J.S., Wagers, M.	Frontiers in Psychology, 11, 517 doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00517	Open Access	<at journal>
2019	A new argument for distinct, co-active parses during language comprehension	Dillon, B., Andrews, C., Rotello, C., Wagers, M.	Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 45, 1271-1286	preprint	materials, data, scripts
2018	Grammatical licensing and relative clause parsing in a flexible word-order language	Wagers, M.W., Borja, M.F., Chung, S.	Cognition, 178, 207-221	postprint	materials, data, scripts
2018	English resumptive pronouns are more common where gaps are less acceptable	Morgan, A., Wagers, M.	Linguistic Inquiry, 49, 861-876	postprint
2018	Developing incrementality in filler-gap dependency processing	Atkinson, E., Wagers, M.W., Lidz, J., Phillips, C., Omaki, A.	Cognition, 179, 132-149	postprint
2017	Subject encodings and retrieval interference	Arnett, N., Wagers, M.W.	Journal of Memory and Language, 93, 22-54	postprint
2017	The role of voice morphology in processing Tagalog A-bar dependencies	Pizarro-Guevara, J.S., Wagers, M.	AFLA 23: The Proceedings of the 23rd Meeting of the Austronesian Formal Linguistics Association, pp. 228-242 Nomoto, A., Miyauchi, T., & Shiohara, A., Eds. Canberra: Asia-Pacific Linguistics
2017	Persons, pronouns, and processing asymmetries	Clothier-Goldschmidt, S., Wagers, M.	Asking the Right Question: Essays in Honor of Sandra Chung, pp. 115-125 J. Ostrove, R. Kramer, & J. Sabbagh (Eds.). UC Santa Cruz.	Open Access
2016	Structuring expectation: licensing animacy in relative clause comprehension	Wagers, M.W., Pendleton E.	Proceedings of the 33rd West Coast Conference on Formal Linguistics, 33	postprint	materials, corpus queries
2015	The real-time comprehension of wh-dependencies in a Wh-Agreement language	Wagers, M., Borja, M.F., Chung, S.	Language, 91 doi:10.1353/lan.2015.0001	postprint
2015	Ergativity and the complexity of extraction: a view from Mayan	Clemens, L.E., Coon, J., Mateo Pedro, P., Morgan, A.M., Polinsky, M., Tandet, G., Wagers, M.	Natural Language and Linguistic Theory, 33, 417-467 doi:10.1007/s11049-014-9260-x
2015	Constituent order and parser control processes in Chamorro	Borja, M.F., Chung, S., Wagers, M.	AFLA 21: The Proceedings of the 21st Meeting of Austronesian Formal Linguistics Association	Open Access
2014	Going the distance: memory and control processes in active dependency construction	Wagers, M.W., Phillips, C.	Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 67, 1274-1304 doi:10.1080/17470218.2013.858363	postprint	materials
2014	The structure-sensitivity of memory access: evidence from Mandarin Chinese	Dillon, B., Chow, W.Y., Wagers, M., Guo, T., Liu, F., Phillips, C.	Frontiers in Psychology, 5, 1025. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2014.01025	Open Access
2013	Processing covert dependencies: an SAT study on Mandarin Wh-in-situ questions	Xiang, M., Dillon, B., Wagers, M., Liu, F., Guo, T.	Journal of East Asian Linguistics, 23, 207-232 doi:10.1007/s10831-013-9115-1	postprint
2012	A test of the relation between working memory constraints and syntactic island effects	Sprouse, J., Wagers, M., Phillips, C.	Language, 88, 82-123
2012	Working-memory capacity and island effects: a reminder of the issues and the facts.	Sprouse, J., Wagers, M., Phillips, C.	Language, 88, 401-407.
2011	The exclusive interpretation of plural nominals in quantificational environments	Anand, P., Andrews, C., Farkas, D., Wagers, M.	Proceedings of the 21st Semantics and Linguistic Theory Conference, 176-196 N. Ashton, A. Chereches, & D. Lutz (Eds.)
2009	Agreement attraction in comprehension: representations and processes	Wagers, M. , Lau, E., Phillips, C.	Journal of Memory and Language, 61, 206-237.		Materials, data
2009	Multiple dependencies and the role of the grammar in real-time comprehension	Wagers, M., Phillips, C.	Journal of Linguistics, 45, 395-433

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Chapters, tutorials & commentary

Chapters, tutorials & commentary
year	title	authors	citation	⿻
2025	Sentence processing	Wagers, M., Dillon, B.	Open Encyclopedia of Cognitive Science M.C. Frank & A. Majid (Ed.s)	Open Access
2023	Language processing experiments in the field	Wagers, M., Chung, S.	Oxford Handbook of Experimental Syntax J. Sprouse (Ed.)	postprint
2022	Managing experimental data in a study of syntax	Wagers, M.	The Open Handbook of Linguistic Data Management A. Berez-Kroeker, B. McDonnell, E. Koller, & L. Collister (Eds.) Cambridge, MA: MIT Press doi:10.7551/mitpress/12200.003.0051	Open Access
2021	Acceptability with the tools of signal detection theory	Dillon, B., Wagers, M.	Cambridge Handbook of Experimental Syntax G. Goodall (Ed.)	preprint
2017	Sources of variability in linguistic memory systems (Commentary on target article by Ian Cunnings)	Wagers, M. W.	Bilingualism: Language and Cognition doi:10.1017/S1366728916000997
2016	Psychology of Syntax	Wagers, M.	H. Miller (Ed.), The Sage Encyclopedia of Theory in Psychology. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.
2014	Syntax in Forward and in Reverse: Form, Memory and Language Processing	Wagers, M.	The Routledge Handbook of Syntax A. Carnie, D. Siddiqi, & Y. Sato (Eds.), New York: Taylor & Francis	preprint
2013	Memory mechanisms for wh-dependency formation and their implications for islandhood	Wagers, M.	Experimental Syntax and Island Effects J. Sprouse & N. Hornstein (Eds.), Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press	postprint
2013	Working memory and language processing: theory, data, and directions for future research	Wagers, M., McElree, B.	The Cambridge Handbook for Biolinguistics C. Boeckx & K. Grohmann (Eds.) Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press
2011	Grammatical illusions and selective fallibility in real-time language comprehension	Phillips, C., Wagers, M., Lau, E.	Experiments at the Interfaces, Syntax & Semantics, vol. 37, pp. 153-186. J. Runner (Ed.) Bingley: UK: Emerald Publications.	postprint
2007	Relating structure and time in linguistics and psycholinguistics	Phillips, C., Wagers, M.	Oxford Handbook of Psycholinguistics G. Gaskell (Ed.). Oxford: Oxford UP.	PDF
2006	Constituent structure and the binding problem (Commentary on target article by van der Velde & de Kamps)	Phillips, C., Wagers, M.	Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 29(1), 81

Older posters and talk slides (selected)

A selection of older posters & slides reporting interesting but unpublished work [more than 5 years old]

Chamorro Psycholinguistics Project

The Chamorro language across islands and generations. 2014. Presentation delivered to a series of community groups on Rota (Ufisinan Mayot), Tinian (Public Library) and Saipan (American Memorial Park) in September 2014. Documents change and constancy in the comprehension of complex sentences and word structure across generations, and islands, of the Marianas.

Memory & Prediction

Which sentences do speakers favor? ROC analysis of d-linking in filler-gap integration. With Brian Dillon. 2020 Context and Episodic Memory Symposium, University of Pennsylvania, August 17-19, 2020. D-linking doesn't improve acceptability of extraction 😬.
Prominence scales guide incremental sentence comprehension in Georgian. With Steven Foley*. Thirty-third Annual CUNY Conference on Human Sentence Processing, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA, March 19-21, 2020.
Reassessing the grammaticality asymmetry in agreement attraction: an ROC analysis. With Christopher Hammerley* & Brian Dillon. Thirty-second Annual CUNY Conference on Human Sentence Processing, Boulder, CO.
Verbs retrieve subjects, not clausal attachment sites. With Netta Ben-Meir* & Nick Van Handel*. Thirty-second Annual CUNY Conference on Human Sentence Processing, Boulder, CO, March 29-31, 2019.
Limited reactivation in noun phrase ellipsis. With Chelsea Miller*. Twenty-ninth Annual CUNY Conference on Human Sentence Processing, Gainesville, FL, March 3-5, 2016.
Structuring expectation. Invited address, WCCFL 33, Simon Fraser University, Vancouver: March 27-29, 2015.
Temporal dynamics of weak islands: a speed-accuracy tradeoff study. With Sandra Villata*, Brian McElree and Julie Franck, Twenty-eighth Annual CUNY Conference on Human Sentence Processing, Los Angeles, CA, March 19-21, 2015.
Do reflexives always find a grammatical antecedent for themselves? With Joseph King* and Caroline Andrews. Twenty-fifth Annual CUNY Conference for Human Sentence Processing, New York, March 14-16, 2012.
Anti-local contexts increase the overall speed of dependency completion.
Talk slides from Twenty-third Annual CUNY Conference on Human Sentence Processing, New York, NY, March 19-21, 2010.
Focal attention and the timing of memory retrieval in language comprehension. With Brian McElree. Talk slides from the Fifteenth Annual Architectures and Mechanisms for Language Processing Conference, Barcelona, Spain, September 7-9, 2009.

Agreement and Wh-Movement

Subject gaps are still easiest: relative clause processing and Georgian split ergativity, With Steven Foley*, Thirtieth Annual CUNY Conference on Human Sentence Processing, Cambridge, MA, March 30-April 1, 2017.
The consequences of number agreement on number interpretation. 2009. With Ellen Lau* & Colin Phillips. Poster given at the 22nd Annual CUNY Conference on Human Sentence Processing, Davis, CA, March 26-28.
Agreement and the subject of confusion. 2008. With Ellen Lau*, Clare Stroud & Colin Phillips. Talk presented at the 21st Annual CUNY Conference on Human Sentence Processing, Chapel Hill, NC, March 13-15.
The impact of resolved filler-gap dependencies on later dependency completion. 2007. With Roshni Caputo-Nimbark, Paul Hines, Rebecca Larson, Jessica Levy, Andrea Longini, Hana Quon & Claude Smith. Poster presented at the 20th Annual CUNY Conference on Human Sentence Processing, La Jolla, CA, March 29-31.

Pragmatics

Interaction of parentheticals, (not-)at-issue content, and working memory. With Margaret Kroll*. Seventh Biennial Experimental Pragmatics Conference, Cologne, June 21-23, 2017.
Implicature calculation and the pragmatics of experiments. 2011. With Pranav Anand and Caroline Andrews. 4th Experimental Pragmatics (XPRAG) meeting, Barcelona, June 2-4, 2011.

Neuroscience

As an undergraduate I was fortunate to work on two very interesting projects on the anatomy of the brain. The first, while I was an RA in the lab of Charles Gross, concerned the life-cycle and spatial distribution of newly-born neurons in the adult neocortex. The principal investigator of the project was Elizabeth Gould. It was an exciting time to be involved in this kind of research since the existence and extent of adult neurogenesis was still controversial and not well understood.

Gould, E., Vail, N., Wagers, M., Gross, C.G. (2001). Adult-generated hippocampal and neocortical neurons in macaques have a transient existence. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA, 98, 10910-7.

The second project was about white matter scaling, while I was a part of Sam Wang's lab: how the axon size distribution and fraction of myelinated axons changes with increasing brain size. Part of this paper was developed in my A.B. thesis, Optimization of Neocortical White Matter under Constraints of Time and Space. This part of the research showed that as brain size increases, the center of the size distribution of myelinated axons does not shift, but its positive skew does: the fraction of very large axons grows. This has the consequence that the minimum cross-brain conduction time is essentially preserved across brain sizes.

Wang, S.S., 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. Journal of Neuroscience, 28, 4047-56.

Although my core interests shifted to linguistics and cognitive science, my inchoate life as a neuroscientist did inspire my linguistic interests - particular, in thinking about how compositional representations are biologically encoded.