Postgraduate Course: Sentence Comprehension (PSYL11001)
Course Outline
| School | School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences |
College | College of Humanities and Social Science |
| Course type | Standard |
Availability | Available to all students |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Credits | 10 |
| Home subject area | Psychology |
Other subject area | None |
| Course website |
None |
Taught in Gaelic? | No |
| Course description | This course is designed to provide an advanced understanding of current psycholinguistic research in sentence comprehension. We study the nature of the human sentence processor, looking at its architecture particularly in relation to the mechanisms used to resolve syntactic and semantic ambiguities. Methodological and theoretical issues are considered alongside each other.
The course pays special attention to evidence for the ways in which different types of information come into play as sentences are understood, looking in turn at syntactic, semantic, and frequency information and their effects on the processing of local and long-distance (unbounded) dependencies. Evidence is presented from studies which use a number of methodologies, including self-paced reading, eyetracking, and event-related potentials (ERPs).
Where relevant, we will discuss the interaction between sentence processing and other levels of processing, such as lexical processing.
Taught by Dr Ian Cunnings. |
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
| Additional Costs | None |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | None |
| Displayed in Visiting Students Prospectus? | No |
Course Delivery Information
| Not being delivered |
Summary of Intended Learning Outcomes
Students will obtain an advanced understanding of the core issues in current research on sentence processing. They will understand some of the key findings relating to garden path sentences, unbounded dependencies, and syntactic and semantic anomalies, and they will appreciate the main experimental techniques that are used in the field.
Students will also be able to evaluate the primary scientific literature critically and independently. These skills are essential for students to be able to design their own research projects and to write clear and persuasive scholarly reports. |
Assessment Information
| One 2500 word assignment and satisfactory course presentation |
Special Arrangements
| None |
Additional Information
| Academic description |
Not entered |
| Syllabus |
Not entered |
| Transferable skills |
Not entered |
| Reading list |
Not entered |
| Study Abroad |
Not entered |
| Study Pattern |
Not entered |
| Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Patrick Sturt
Tel: (0131 6)51 1712
Email: |
Course secretary | Miss Toni Noble
Tel: (0131 6)51 3188
Email: |
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