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The Experimental Psycholinguistics Lab
The Experimental Psycholinguistics laboratory examines the millisecond-by-millisecond incremental representation building that the mind/brain performs in response to language stimuli. Questions include:
- What are the components of the human language processing system?
- What is the relative timing of these components' activity during linguistic representation building?
- What can parsing tell us about grammar?
- How do the language processing mechanisms develop in children?
- How does this development interact with children's induction of grammatical rules?
- Do language impaired children process language differently and is this the source of their acquisition impairment?
The research uses behavioral (reaction time and categorical data) and electrophysiological measures of brain activity (EEG and event-related brain potentials) to address these questions.
BOLD Lab: Brain Organization for Language and Literacy Development
The BOLD Lab, directed by Dr. Kaja Jasińska, studies the development of neural
systems that support language (monolingual or bilingual, signed or
spoken), reading, and cognition across the lifespan. We ask questions
such as how does early life experience change the brain’s capacity for
language and learning? How does experience interact with biological
development? One
of our main research areas focuses on global child literacy and
understanding child development in environments with high risk of
illiteracy and poor developmental outcomes (e.g. rural communities in
sub-Saharan Africa). The
lab uses s/fMRI and functional Near Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS)
neuroimaging (including field neuroimaging) technology in combination
with genetic and behavioral analyses.
The Language Acquisition and Brain Lab (QLAB)
The QLAB
directed by Dr. Zhenghan Qi, is dedicated to studying the brain
organization of language development. We ask: how the neural
organization for language processing changes from childhood through
adulthood; how differently the language networks function in
neurodevelopmental disorders, such as autism spectrum disorder,
dyslexia, language impairment, and schizophrenia; how knowledge of our
brain might enhance language learning and language intervention. We use a
variety of behavioral and neuroimaging techniques , including
eye-tracking, EEG, MRI, and functional MRI.
Faculty Contact:
Arild Hestvik
Kaja Jasinska
Zhenghan Qi
