Educational offer - University of Padova

Syllabus

Prerequisites:	Basic knowledge of cognitive psychology and methodology
Target skills and knowledge:	The aim of the course is to introduce the student to the psychology of language. The course mostly regards the description of the processes underlying the comprehension and production of language. The psychology of reading will be discussed in detail. We will mantain an approach close to functional psychology: the theories we will discuss are functional in spirit and therefore focused on explaining behavioural data. Some concepts at the basis of computational psychology will also be introduced. By the end of the course the student will be able to recognize psycholignuistics phenomena, to make inferences from them, to contextualize them within the adequate theoretical frameworks, and to formulate theory-driven hypotheses.
Examination methods:	Attending students: The exam consists of a written pen and pencil test made of 40 multiple choice questions to be completed within 60 minutes. Incorrect responses do not result in subtraction of points. Non-attending students. The exam consists of a written pen and pencil test, consisting of 8 open questions, to be completed within 60 minutes.
Assessment criteria:	The assessment will be based on the understanding of the topics presented during the lessons and considering the provided material. Author names or publication dates are not relevant (except when an author's name defines a particular model, such as Morton's Model). It is important to know the models, how they depend on the data and how they explain the data. It is important therefore to know the models and that is their architecture and their dynamics of functioning. It is also important to know the specific methodologies. In addition, student's ability to apply in an autonomous and aware manner what has been learned (for example, evaluating a possible prediction of a theoretical model) will also be evaluated.
Course unit contents:	Phonetics and phonology. [Morphology]. The acquisition of language. Access to the mental lexicon: visual word recognition, auditory word recognition, word production. Access to the semantic system. Semantic memory: models. Semantic priming. [The perception and comprehension of sentences]. [Sentence production]. [The text]. [The pathology of language]. Language and cognitive processes. The psychology of reading. Neural networks.
Planned learning activities and teaching methods:	In class lessons, readings of original papers and seminars. Lectures will have an interactive style. Topics will be approached progressively, so that the student will build on the knowledge progressively accumulated to the aim of deepening the understanding of the mechanisms and of the phenomena presented.
Additional notes about suggested reading:	If you attend to the in class lessons, the material will be entirely provided during the course. If you do not attend to the lessons, you'll have to study two books (see "Testi di riferimento"). Suggestions: Cummins, R. (1996). “Significato e rappresentazione mentale”. Bologna: Il Mulino. Jackendoff, R. (1989). “Semantica e Cognizione”. Bologna: Il Mulino. Fodor, J. (1999). “La mente modulare. Saggio di psicologia delle facoltà”. Bologna: Il Mulino.
Textbooks (and optional supplementary readings)	Cacciari, C., La psicologia del linguaggio. Bologna: Il Mulino, 2011. Obbligatorio per i non frequentanti Scott-Phillips, Thom, Di' quello che hai in mente. Roma: Carocci, 2017. Obbligatorio per i non frequentanti