Our laboratory conducts research on the processing of spoken and written language. We explore how listeners and readers recognize the words they hear and read, how they access the lexical units (phonology, orthography, and semantic) of words, and how individuals encode letter and word positions during incremental word and sentence processing. We investigate these processes in various groups, including children and adults, individuals with disabilities (e.g., reading difficulties), and linguistically and historically underrepresented populations who are bilingual or multilingual speakers. In our research, we employ tools such as mouse-tracking, eye-tracking, and statistical and computational modeling. Additionally, we have played a role in advancing cutting-edge statistical approaches for analyzing time series data. Our overarching goal is to develop a theory of word recognition and language processing. This theory not only seeks to clarify how typical monolingual adult listeners process language but also aspires to be ecologically valid enough to be applied to children and to multilingual and linguistically and historically underrepresented populations.
Learn more about our research by clicking the links above. If you are interested in working in our Lab see the join us page for more information.
In this lab,
WE BELIEVE
The Cognitive Sciences of Language Lab investigates the cognitive mechanisms that underlie language processing. We integrate insights and techniques across cognitive psychology, linguistics, and educational science. Over the past decade, our lab's research has been dedicated to promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion in cognitive science and education by addressing crucial research questions related to underrepresented language groups. Our commitment extends beyond the United States to include Asian countries such as Taiwan, Japan, and Malaysia. By examining lexical processing in written and spoken word recognition across multiple languages, our research aims to differentiate between language-specific and language-general processes in phonological processing. This contributes to the development of comprehensive theories that go beyond the study of native English listeners from the United States and Western European countries.In the lab, we believe that our scientific endeavors thrive when we have a diverse team. We actively welcome and support the unique qualities of our lab members, which encompass a broad range of attributes such as race, ethnicity, disability, language, age, national origin, abilities, socio-economic background, family or marital status, gender identity or expression, political beliefs, religion, sexual orientation, veteran status, and any other traits that define who our lab members are. It's these differences that make our lab members special, and they are what make our team stronger and more successful.