 2014 - 2015 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 0627-4027-01 | Psycholinguistics: Research Methods and Experimental Design | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| FACULTY OF HUMANITIES | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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University credit hours: 4.0
Course description
Psycholinguistics: Research methods and experimental design
Aya Meltzer-Asscher
Performing successful psycholinguistic experiments requires critical thinking and careful planning of all aspects of the design. In this class we’ll acquire theoretical knowledge and practical skills required to carry out psycholinguistic research. The class will focus mainly on sentence processing, but the methodological aspects covered are relevant to any psycholinguistic experiment.
The class covers the following topics:
Week 1: Setting the stage - a short introduction to the field of psycholinguistics, its history and its relation to theoretical linguistics
Week 2: Fundamentals of quantitative analysis – short review of statistics for linguists
Weeks 3-4: Hypothesis formation and testing
Week 5-6: Different experimental techniques and how to select among them. Some techniques that will be discussed:
o Accuracy measures
o Rating tasks
o Reaction time measures (e.g. self-paced reading)
o Indirect and concurrent tasks
Weeks 7-8-9: Constructing experimental materials
Week 10: Running an experiment
Weeks 11-12-13: Data processing and statistical analysis
Weeks 14: Essential steps in carrying out and reporting an experiment, ethical considerations in research with humans
Prerequisites: Introduction to Linguistics, Beginners Phonology, Statistics, Beginners Syntax
Course requirements: assignments, midterm and final exam
Note: the course requires working with the SPSS program, which is available in the university’s computer labs
Selected References
Harley, T.A. (2008). The Psychology of Language: From Data to Theory, 3rd edition. Hove: Psychology Press.
Johnson, K. (2008). Quantitative Methods in Linguistics. Blackwell Publishing.
Stowe, L. & Kaan, E. (2001). Developing an Experiment: Techniques and Design. Unpublished manuscript.
Aya Meltzer-Asscher
Performing successful psycholinguistic experiments requires critical thinking and careful planning of all aspects of the design. In this class we’ll acquire theoretical knowledge and practical skills required to carry out psycholinguistic research. The class will focus mainly on sentence processing, but the methodological aspects covered are relevant to any psycholinguistic experiment.
The class covers the following topics:
Week 1: Setting the stage - a short introduction to the field of psycholinguistics, its history and its relation to theoretical linguistics
Week 2: Fundamentals of quantitative analysis – short review of statistics for linguists
Weeks 3-4: Hypothesis formation and testing
Week 5-6: Different experimental techniques and how to select among them. Some techniques that will be discussed:
o Accuracy measures
o Rating tasks
o Reaction time measures (e.g. self-paced reading)
o Indirect and concurrent tasks
Weeks 7-8-9: Constructing experimental materials
Week 10: Running an experiment
Weeks 11-12-13: Data processing and statistical analysis
Weeks 14: Essential steps in carrying out and reporting an experiment, ethical considerations in research with humans
Prerequisites: Introduction to Linguistics, Beginners Phonology, Statistics, Beginners Syntax
Course requirements: assignments, midterm and final exam
Note: the course requires working with the SPSS program, which is available in the university’s computer labs
Selected References
Harley, T.A. (2008). The Psychology of Language: From Data to Theory, 3rd edition. Hove: Psychology Press.
Johnson, K. (2008). Quantitative Methods in Linguistics. Blackwell Publishing.
Stowe, L. & Kaan, E. (2001). Developing an Experiment: Techniques and Design. Unpublished manuscript.