(Hybrid) Dynamic Language Updating and Use

Presenters: Malathi Thothathiri

T1MRD1

This workshop will offer a psycholinguistic and neurolinguistic perspective on how sentence comprehension and production adjust to continual language experience. Which sentence structures we produce or understand easily depends on the current context. Language use is not static in L1 speakers – it can change dynamically depending on verb bias, structural priming, and the recruitment of extralinguistic abilities like cognitive control. The workshop will cover statistical learning, error-based learning, structural priming, conflict adaptation, and other topics as they pertain to sentence comprehension and production. We will discuss a variety of methodologies including behavioral techniques, eye-tracking, and fMRI. The format will be a combination of lectures and seminar-style readings and discussions with a focus towards empirical research, including posing new questions and designing thought experiments to address those questions.

Keywords: Psycholinguistics, Learning, Syntax, Experimental Methods, First Language Acquisition, Neurolinguistics, Processing

Presenters

Malathi Thothathiri

The George Washington University

Malathi Thothathiri is an Associate Professor in the Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences department at GWU. Her research focuses on the neural basis of language and other higher level cognitive functions. Studies in the lab examine three different populations (healthy adults, patients with brain lesions, typically developing children) and employ neuroimaging (fMRI), eye-tracking, and other behavioral methods. Important research questions include the role of language experience in shaping language use, the neural basis of sentence production and language processing, and the interaction between language and cognitive control (or executive function).