Language Processing in the Visual World (P02291)

? Credit Points : 10 ? SCQF Level : 11 ? Acronym : PPL-P-LVWPSY

Language comprehension often takes place in the context of a complex visual world, with utterances making reference to objects and events in the immediate visual environment. In this course, we will focus on two basic questions:
(1) How does the language comprehension system connect linguistic information to co-present visual information during online processing, and
(2) What effect does linking visual and linguistic content have on resulting memory representations? These questions can be approached using a variety of methods, and these will be evaluated in detail. One popular technique is eye movement monitoring, which allows psycholinguists to record the objects people examine as they listen to speech. It is often found that people look at objects as they are mentioned and sometimes even before (if objects can be anticipated given the linguistic input). We will discuss the implications of these findings for theories of cognitive architecture and we'll consider what factors might modulate these tendencies.

The first meeting will present an overview of the so-called Visual World Paradigm, the assumptions behind its use, and the main findings that have emerged from the studies employing it. In the following meetings, we will critically evaluate this work by considering papers from the literature on visual cognition, oculomotor control, and attention. We will end by considering what sorts of studies could be done to further illuminate the links between language and vision, especially in realistically complex linguistic and visual environments.

Venue: 1.01 Dugald Stewart Building
(Tutorials: 1.01 Dugald Stewart Building)

Entry Requirements

none

Subject Areas

Home subject area

Psychology, (School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences, Schedule I)

Delivery Information

? Normal year taken : Postgraduate

? Delivery Period : Not being delivered

? Contact Teaching Time : 3 hour(s) per week for 5 weeks

Summary of Intended Learning Outcomes

Students will obtain an advanced understanding of spoken language comprehension, eye movements in scenes, the relationship between eye movements and attention, and the interactions between language and vision. Students will understand some key findings in sentence comprehension, scene processing, and eye movements. Consideration of these literatures will allow students to read primary scientific literature in psycholinguistics and cognitive psychology independently and critically. These skills are essential for students to be able to design their own research projects and to write clear and persuasive scholarly reports.