COURSE SYLLABUS: PSYCHOLOGY 124E
LANGUAGE AND COGNITION
FALL 2010
Tues. Thurs. 2:00- 3:15
Franz Hall RM 3534
PROFESSOR:
EMAIL:
OFFICE:
PHONE:
OFFICE HOURS:
Don MacKay, PhD
mackay@ucla.edu (NB*: Please indicate Psych 124e in the subject line)
Franz Hall 7629
825-8465
Times by arrangement with Professor MacKay
INTRODUCTION: PURPOSE OF THE COURSE
The goal of this course is to develop skill in thinking about, discussing, developing, and presenting
current findings and theoretical issues in language and cognition. Issues associated with five main topics
will be discussed: language production, language perception, language acquisition (at any age), relations
between language and other aspects of cognition, and relations between language and brain. In general,
each week will consist of two parts: presentation(s), and class discussion.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS
IN BROAD OUTLINE: Students will read, present and discuss findings and theoretical issues related to
language and cognition. Goals: to help develop thought processes and other intellectual skills, as well as
written and oral communication skills. Students are expected to attend regularly, give at least one
presentation, do the reading and hand in written assignments on time, participate in discussion each
week, and take the quizzes.
A. Weekly Formal Questions: Students are required to formulate at least two formal questions per week.
The questions are to be based on the assigned reading, either issues that you would like to hear
discussed further, or aspects that you had difficulty understanding. The questions are to be typed and
printed out, along with the appropriate source and page numbers. Questions for each reading assignment
are to be handed in at the end of first class on the week that the reading assignment is due. LATE
QUESTIONS CANNOT BE ACCEPTED FOR THE PURPOSE OF GRADING.
The purposes of the questions are (1). to encourage active rather than passive reading and thinking about
the assigned reading, (2). to ensure that everyone has examined the reading prior to class, (3). to provide
feedback as to where students are experiencing difficulty, so that these sources of difficulty can be
directly addressed. (4) to introduce an interactive dimension to the class.
B. Presentations: Students will do a presentation as part of a team, with max time per student to be
determined based on class and team size. Each team will have regular presenters, plus an organizer who
will be rewarded for class participation. Regular presenters will provide a selective summary of the
required reading in the text, together with thoughts on that information. Presentation topics are listed in
the class schedule. If you do not sign up for a presentation date by the second class of week 2, you will
be assigned one. If your team does not have an organizer by the second class of week 2, your team will
be assigned one. Week 4 presentations will provide a model for the student presentations in the
remaining weeks and so deserve more lenient grading.
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C. Written assignments:
1). Just prior to your presentation, please hand in a slide sorter printout of the overheads you will be
presenting.
2). By the last day of class AT LATEST, email Dr. MacKay a summary of how you participated in the
class, including your contributions to your presentation team.
3). Formal questions each week.
D. Quizzes
The quizzes will consist of multiple choice questions based on the reading up to the day of the quiz (see
the class schedule).
GRADING:
The course grade will be broken down according to the following percentages:
Class participation:
25%
(including formal questions)
Seminar presentation:
25%
Slide sorter printout:
5%
Quiz 1
15%
Quiz 2
15%
15%
Quiz 3
100% Total
STRUCTURE OF THE SESSIONS
In general, class time each week will consist of a presentation day and a research presentation, question
and discussion day. On presentation day a student team will summarize the assigned Carroll Chapter
(with 2 minutes for questions following each presentation). The goal is to prepare the class for the quiz
on that week’s readings. On presentation day, the team organizer will also have 5 minutes (max.) to
introduce the members of his or her team, and give an overview or integrate the team presentations.
On the research presentation, question and discussion day, the team organizer will have 30 minutes
(max including 2 minutes for questions) to summarize the second (current research) reading and prepare
the class for the quiz on that reading. Then Dr. MacKay will either lead the discussion and field
questions or distribute a quiz (on the days indicated in the class schedule).
Students registered with the OSD. If you are registered with OSD or have a debilitating condition that
might interfere with your performance in this class, please contact Dr. MacKay as soon as possible after
the beginning of the quarter.
ASSIGNED READING
1). Carroll, D.W. (2008). The psychology of language. 5th Edition. Belmont, CA: NJ: Thomson
Wadsworth. This text is available for purchase in the ASUCLA bookstore and for loan from the Biomed
Library.
2). Other assigned readings are indicated in the CLASS SCHEDULE and REQUIRED READING
section. These required readings are available at /www.mackay.bol.ucla.edu/ (click on the
relevant reference under the publications tab).
.
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CLASS SCHEDULE and REQUIRED READING (available at /www.mackay.bol.ucla.edu/ under
appropriate category listed by year)
WEEK 1: 9/23: OVERVIEW, ORGANIZATION AND INTRODUCTION
(***NOTE SHORT WEEK)
Organizational Meeting
WEEK 2: 9/28-9/30: BIOLOGICAL BASES OF LANGUAGE I
1). Carroll, Ch 1 Introduction: Themes of Psycholinguistics
2). MacKay, D. G., James, L.E., Taylor, J.K. & Marian, D.E. (2007). Amnesic H.M.
exhibits parallel deficits and sparing in languageComprehension, Production, and
memory: Systems versus binding theory accounts. Language and Cognitive Processes,
22(3), 377-452.
WEEK 3: 10/5-10/7: BIOLOGICAL BASES OF LANGUAGE II
1). Carroll, Ch 3 Psychological mechanisms, pp. 45-65
2). MacKay, D.G. & Hadley, C. (2009). Supra-normal age-linked retrograde amnesia:
Lessons from an older amnesic (H.M.). Hippocampus, 19, 424-45.
WEEK 4: 10/12-10/14: BIOLOGICAL BASES OF LANGUAGE III
1). Carroll, Ch 13 Biological Foundations of Language
2). MacKay, D.G., Burke, D.M., & Stewart, R. (1998). H.M.’s Language production
deficits: Implications for relations between memory, semantic binding, and the
hippocampal system. Journal of Memory and Language, 38, 28-69.
QUIZ 1
WEEK 5: 10/19-10/21: LANGUAGE PERCEPTION AND RETRIEVAL
1). Carroll, Ch 4 Perception of Language
2). MacKay, D.G., and James, L.E. (2002). Aging, retrograde amnesia, and the binding
problem for phonology and orthography: A longitudinal study of "hippocampal
amnesic" H.M. Aging, Neuropsychology and Cognition, 9, 298-333.
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ORGANIZER
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ORGANIZER
WEEK 6: 10/26-10/28: WORDS: ORTHOGRAPHY, PHONOLOGY AND MEANING
1). Carroll, Ch 5 The Internal Lexicon
STUDENTS
2). Ch 1 and 2 in MacKay, (1987). The organization of perception and action: A theory
TEAM
for language and other cognitive skills. New York: Springer-Verlag.
ORGANIZER
WEEK 7: 11/2-11/4: LANGUAGE PRODUCTION AND SPEECH ERRORS
1). Carroll, Ch 8 Production of Speech and Language
2). Ch 3 in MacKay, (1987). The organization of perception and action: A theory for
language and other cognitive skills. New York: Springer-Verlag.
QUIZ 2
WEEK 8: 11/9-11/11: LANGUAGE AND MEMORY I
1). Carroll, Ch 6 Sentence Comprehension and Memory
2). Shafto, M. & MacKay, D.G. (2000). The Moses, Mega-Moses and Armstrong
illusions: Integrating language comprehension and semantic memory. Psychological
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ORGANIZER
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Science, 11, 372-378.
WEEK 9: 11/16-11/23: LANGUAGE AND MEMORY II
**NOTE: NO CLASS ON THURS. 18 NOV.
1). Carroll, Ch 7 Discourse Comprehension and Memory
2). MacKay, D.G., & James, L.E. (2001). The binding problem for syntax,
semantics, and prosody: H.M.’s selective sentence-reading deficits under the
theoretical-syndrome approach. Language and Cognitive Processes, 16, 419-460.
WEEK : 11/30-12/2: LANGAUGE AND THOUGHT
**NOTE: NO CLASS ON THURS. 25 NOV.: THANKSGIVING
1). Carroll, Ch 14 Language, culture and cognition
2). MacKay, D.G. (1999). Gender in English, German, and other languages: Problems
with the old theory, opportunities for the new. In U. Pasero & F. Braun (Eds.),
Perceiving and Performing Gender (pp 73-87). Wiesbaden: Westdeutscher Verlag.
QUIZ 3
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