Psychology of Language

Code:

P400

Acronym:

PL

Keywords
Classification	Keyword
OFICIAL	Psychology

Instance: 2016/2017 - 2S

Active?	Yes
Web Page:	https://moodle.up.pt/course/view.php?id=882
Responsible unit:	Psychology
Course/CS Responsible:	Integrated Master Psychology

Cycles of Study/Courses

Acronym	No. of Students	Study Plan	Curricular Years	Credits UCN	Credits ECTS	Contact hours	Total Time
MIPSI	184	Official Curricular Structure	2	-	6	54	162

Teaching language

Suitable for English-speaking students

Objectives

1. To be familiar with the main concepts, problems and methods of the Psychology of Language, viewed as foundational knowledge of psychological science.

2. To know the main steps involved in conducting experimental research as a result of having taken part as an experimental participant in ongoing research at the Speech Laboratory, and to be able to critically reflect on that experience.

3. To be knowledgeable about, and able to explain or demonstrate, classical psychological effects related to language (e.g., audiovisual integration, categorical perception, the problems of segmentation and lack of invariance).

4. To be able to interpret, analyze, and critically review specialized literature (scientific articles) in the domain.

5. To be familiar with the main conventions of science writing in Psychology and to be able to use them, in toto or in part.

Learning outcomes and competences

The objectives were defined above as learning outcomes. Please see above.


Working method

Presencial

Pre-requirements (prior knowledge) and co-requirements (common knowledge)

Good understanding of written English is recommended.

Program

Introduction to language
Language, communication, and cognition.
Language design features. Language as a multicomponential system.

Fundamentals of voice and speech production
Glotic, subglotic and supraglotic components. The diversity of phones.
Coarticulation and articulatory variability.

Introduction to speech perception
Speech science. Categorical perception.
Audio-visual integration. Motor theory and auditory theories.

Mental lexicon and comprehension
Word recognition. Phonemic restauration effect.
Parsing and sentence comprehension. Discourse/ text comprehension.

Language acquisition
Main phase. Phonological, lexico-semantic and mopho-syntactic developement.

Reading and writing
Morpho-syllabic, syllabic and alphabetic writing systems.
Expert reading. Learning how to read, phases and issues.

Dyslexias and aphasias
Acquired language disorders. Biological basis of language.
Acquired dyslexias. Major types of aphasia. Neurocognitive models of language.

Mandatory literature

Harley Trevor A.; The^psychology of language. ISBN: 978-1-84169-382-8
Eysenck Michael W.; Cognitive psychology. ISBN: 978-1-84872-416-7

Complementary Bibliography

São Luis Castro e Inês Gomes; Dificuldades de Aprendizagem da Língua Materna, Universidade Aberta, 2000. ISBN: 972-679-283-8
Denes, G.; Talking Heads. The neuroscience of language., Psychology Press., 2011

Comments from the literature

Castro, S.L. (2004). Elementos de estudo em psicologia da linguagem e da cognição, Edição Revista. Laboratório de Fala, FPCE-UP. (Primeira edição em papel de 1997). Disponível no curso PL Online.

Denes, G. (2011). Talking heads. The neuroscience of language. New York: Psychology Press.

Eysenck, M. W., & Keane, M. T. (2015). Cognitive Psychology. A student's handbook, 7th edition. London: Psychology Press.

Harley, T. A. (2013). The psychology of language. From data to theory (4th ed.). Hove: Psychology Press.


Further readings include articles on selected topics published in high profile journals. They are available in the Moodle course (PL Online).

Teaching methods and learning activities

Weekly lectures for all enrolled students (about 150), weekly lab classes in subgroups (about 30 each), and, if available*, participation as subject in ongoing investigations in the Speech Lab, preference being given to studies within funded research projects.

E-learning component at the University of Porto Moodle platform: http://moodle.up.pt/ (visitor’s access with password “ visitaPL “), where materials used in the course are available: handouts, recommended readings and useful links.

*Students may be called to participate as experimental subjects in ongoing research at the Speech Lab / Neurocognition and Language Research Group (NCL Group).



They may also be called to prepare a critical review of recommended scientific articles related to the topics of the course.

Software

Socrative Student
moodle

keywords

Social sciences > Psychological sciences > Cognitive science
Social sciences > Psychological sciences > Psychology > Experimental psychology
Health sciences > Neuroscience

Evaluation Type

Distributed evaluation with final exam

Assessment Components

designation	Weight (%)
Exame	70,00
Participação presencial	10,00
Trabalho laboratorial	20,00
Total:	100,00

Eligibility for exams

Attending at least 75% of lectures is recommended.
Attending at  least 75% of lab classes is mandatory.

Calculation formula of final grade

The final grade is attributed according to (1) the grade in the final exam, (2) the grade in the report of lab class assignments*, and, when applicable (3) credits for the participation as subject in ongoing research. Minima for (1) and (2) are 35% in each case.

Specific conditions are defined each year. Unless otherwise specified until at least one month before the exam date in Psychology of Language Online in Moodle, the scheme that follows will be used.



It the student has the three components, the weights are, respectivelly: 70% + 20% +10%. Otherwise, either 80% + 20% (exam + lab report) or 90% + 10% (exam + credits).

The final exam consists mostly of  multiple choice questions, and it is responded to using the Moodle platform in the computer room.



*This grade is valid in the year in which it is obtained and in the subsequent year only.

Special assessment (TE, DA, ...)

Special and unexpected situations to be discussed with the professor.

Classification improvement

Through exam only, and requires pre-registration in the Academic Office.

For more information, please contact the professor and/or consult the UP Regulation on Student Assessment, namely its Art. nº 10, point 1.