Mentor Areas
The lab studies the nature and development of human language, and the relation between language and thought. In the past, undergraduates in our lab have won intramural and extramural thesis awards, have published with the PI and collaborators when involved long-term with a project, and have gone on to top-tier graduate programs or post-bac research coordinator positions in cognitive science fields.
Description:
Our lab studies the nature and growth of human language across different communities of learners and language speakers. We ask how children acquire the meaning of words and sentences in their language, how children and adults use language to communicate in different contexts, and how both universal and language-specific aspects of meaning come together to produce human language. We also study how language interfaces with other cognitive systems in both children and adults: Does language make us smarter? And do people who speak different languages think differently? To investigate these questions, we conduct experiments with both preschoolers and adults in the lab, in local daycares and museums, as well as in sites across the world (e.g., in Greece, Germany, Korea, China and indigenous Mayan communities in Mexico). We examine a broad variety of phenomena including the language of space, motion, time, quantity, and mental states, among others. Undergraduates typically work closely with other lab members to help design, run, analyze and interpret behavioral experiments.
Preferred Qualifications
Background in Linguistics, Cognitive Science, Psychology or related fields is an advantage. Statistical and quantitative skills are a plus but not required.
Project Website
Learn more about the researcher and/or the project here. Language and Cognition Lab
Details:
Preferred Student Year
Second-Year, Junior, Senior
Academic Term
Fall, Spring, Summer
I prefer to have students start during the above term(s).Volunteer
Yes
Yes indicates that faculty are open to volunteers.Paid
No
Yes indicates that faculty are open to paying students they engage in their research, regardless of their work-study eligibility.Work Study
No
Yes indicates that faculty are open to hiring work-study-eligible students.