LG462-7-AU-CO:
Topics in Psycholinguistics
2025/26
Language and Linguistics
Colchester Campus
Autumn
Postgraduate: Level 7
Current
Thursday 02 October 2025
Friday 12 December 2025
15
21 March 2022
Requisites for this module
(none)
(none)
(none)
(none)
(none)
MA Q15012 Psycholinguistics,
MPHDQ15048 Psycholinguistics,
PHD Q15048 Psycholinguistics
Understanding spoken or written language requires the rapid, incremental processing of novel compositional structures. On top of this, we must also integrate multiple sources of additional information, such as the prior discourse, physical context, social information, etc.
How are humans able to efficiently accomplish this task? To address this question, this module will consider principles of sentence processing that guide language understanding and features of lexical & sentence structure that facilitate comprehension. Specific topics are likely to include lexical access, reference processing, the role of working memory, the use of visual context, and computational models of language comprehension.
Because this module may be the first look into the study of language processing or cognitive psychology for students, a focus on research methods and paradigms available in psycholinguistics will also be introduced.
This course aims to:
1. Provide students with an introduction to current theories of language processing
2. Enable students to think critically about research methods used in psycholinguistics
3. Promote the acquisition of ‘transferable skills’, including data literacy, academic writing, and theoretical argumentation which will be useful beyond the scope of this module.
4. Cultivate written and oral presentation skills.
On completion of the module, students will be able to:
1. understand and assess current scientific debates psycholinguistics
2. summarise and present empirical results clearly and accurately;
3. critically evaluate theoretical approaches and research methods used in sentence processing research
4. understand and appreciate the relationship between linguistic theory and language processing.
5. present ideas in a structured and coherent way, using appropriate style and terminology, and demonstrating clarity, precision, accuracy and originality.
Example syllabus:
1 – Introduction to sentence processing (LL)
2 – Incremental models (the Sausage Machine) (LL)
3 – The Garden Path model (LL)
4 – Constraint-based models (LL)
5 – Depedency Locality Theory (LL)
6 – Processing long-distance dependencies (LL)
7 – Anaphora and reference (CDL)
8 – The role of working memory (CDL)
9 – Individual differences (CDL)
10 – Developmental aspects of sentence processing (LL)
This course consists of 10 weekly 2-hour lectures.
This module does not appear to have a published bibliography for this year.
Assessment items, weightings and deadlines
| Coursework / exam |
Description |
Deadline |
Coursework weighting |
| Coursework |
Oral Presentation |
|
30% |
| Coursework |
Essay |
|
70% |
Additional coursework information
N/A
Exam format definitions
- Remote, open book: Your exam will take place remotely via an online learning platform. You may refer to any physical or electronic materials during the exam.
- In-person, open book: Your exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may refer to any physical materials such as paper study notes or a textbook during the exam. Electronic devices may not be used in the exam.
- In-person, open book (restricted): The exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may refer only to specific physical materials such as a named textbook during the exam. Permitted materials will be specified by your department. Electronic devices may not be used in the exam.
- In-person, closed book: The exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may not refer to any physical materials or electronic devices during the exam. There may be times when a paper dictionary,
for example, may be permitted in an otherwise closed book exam. Any exceptions will be specified by your department.
Your department will provide further guidance before your exams.
Overall assessment
Reassessment
Module supervisor and teaching staff
Dr Laurel Lawyer, email: l.lawyer@essex.ac.uk.
Laurel Lawyer & Claire Delle Luche
4.340; l.lawyer@essex.ac.uk
Yes
No
Yes
Dr Ian Cunnings
University of Reading
Associate Professor in Psycholinguistics
Available via Moodle
Of 20 hours, 18 (90%) hours available to students:
2 hours not recorded due to service coverage or fault;
0 hours not recorded due to opt-out by lecturer(s).
* Please note: due to differing publication schedules, items marked with an asterisk (*) base their information upon the previous academic year.
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