Lectures found here relate to the broad subjects of language and learning. Courses will explore these areas, and their overlapping disciplines, from the perspective of neural mechanisms to cultural influences. The rating represents the breadth of material available, the effectiveness of the lecturer, and the accessibility of the website and lecture topics in general. If you have comments or suggestions, feel free to email me at eric@psychlectures.com. Enjoy!
Language, Culture, and Education
Prof. Amanda Datnow, Spring 2009 – UCSD podcasts
[mp3 audio]
Neural Basis of Learning and Memory
Prof. Suzanne Corkin & Prof. Matt Wilson, Fall 2007 – MIT OpenCourseWare
“This course highlights the interplay between cellular and molecular storage mechanisms and the cognitive neuroscience of memory, with an emphasis on human and animal models of hippocampal mechanisms and function. Class sessions include lectures and discussion of papers.“
[syllabus] – [required readings] – [lecture notes] – [assignments] -[study materials] -[related resources] – [downloadable content]
Psycholinguistics
Prof. Edward Gibson, Spring 2005 – MIT OpenCourseWare
“This course covers central topics in language processing, including: the structure of language; sentence, discourse, and morphological processing; storage and access of words in the mental dictionary; speech processing; the relationship between the computational resources available in working memory and the language processing mechanism; and ambiguity resolution. The course also considers computational modeling, including connectionist models; the relationship between language and thought; and issues in language acquisition including critical period phenomena, the acquisition of speech, and the acquisition of words. Experimental methodologies such as self-paced reading, eye-tracking, cross-modal priming, and neural imaging methods are also examined.”
[syllabus] – [calendar] – [required readings] – [lecture notes] – [assignments] – [downloadable content]
Abnormal Language
Prof. Ken Wexler & Mr. Christopher Hirsch, Fall 2004 – MIT OpenCourseWare
“Introduction to the linguistic study of language pathology, concentrating on experimental approaches and theoretical explanations. Discussion of Specific Language Impairment, autism, Down syndrome, Williams syndrome, normal aging, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, hemispherectomy and aphasia. Focuses on the comparison of linguistic abilities among these syndromes, while drawing clear comparisons with first and second language acquisition. Topics include the lexicon, morphology, syntax, semantics and pragmatics. Relates the lost linguistic abilities in these syndromes to properties of the brain.”
[syllabus] – [calendar] – [required readings] – [assignments] – [downloadable content]
Language and Mind
Prof. Ted Gibson, January 2003 – MIT OpenCourseWare
“This course will address some fundamental questions regarding human language: (1) how language is represented in our minds; (2) how language is acquired by children; (3) how language is processed by adults; (4) the relationship between language and thought; (5) exploring how language is represented and processed using brain imaging methods; and (6) computational modeling of human language acquisition and processing.”
[syllabus] – [calendar] – [lecture notes] – [study materials] – [related resources] – [downloadable content]
Foundations of Human Memory and Learning
Prof. Anthony Wagner, Spring 2002 – MIT OpenCourseWare
“Surveys literature on human memory and learning. Focuses on the organization of memory at cognitive and neural levels, the basis of remembering and forgetting, and false memories. Cognitive theory and behavioral evidence are integrated with data from neuro-psychology and neuroimaging.”
[syllabus] – [calendar] – [required readings] – [assignments] – [downloadable content]
Language Acquisition
Prof. Ken Wexler, Fall 2001 – MIT OpenCourseWare
“Covers the major results in the study of first language acquisition concentrating on the development of linguistic structure, including sentence structure and morphology. Universal aspects of development are discussed, as well as a variety of cross-linguistic phenomena. Theories of language learning are considered, including parameter-setting and maturation.”
[syllabus] – [calendar] – [required readings] – [assignments] – [study materials] – [downloadable content]
