Language in Mind

Additional Book Details

The field of psycholinguistics has grown considerably over the past decades, and is of relevance to various disciplines. Courses in psycholinguistics/psychology of language range from large, lower-level courses to specialized seminar-style courses, taught within Psychology departments, Linguistics departments, and other departments or programs that deal with aspects of language and communication. This new book provides a broad, introductory survey to psycholinguistics that will remain relevant to students whether or not they continue on in the field. Language in Mind addresses important questions and approaches, reflecting a variety of theoretical orientations and viewpoints and provoking a sense of curiosity about language and the structures in the mind and brain that give rise to it. Intriguing storiespresented in an accessible, energetic writing styleset the stage with a question; students then work through a series of theoretical refinements and counterarguments, guided through these unfolding stories with the help of suggested classroom demonstrations and activities. The result is a creative, pleasurable, and deep level of engagement by the student. Throughout, the author communicates the dynamic and evolving nature of the field, synthesizing the key ideas underpinning psycholinguistics research. This approach, in conjunction with the presentation of actual sample stimuli and results, prepares students to be more successful consumers of primary source material.

Summary of key features

Well-crafted prose presents the material in a plot-driven way that makes the text one that students (and instructors) want to read.

A range of simple to in-depth fieldwork and in-class Web Activities and Projects encourages students to work with data, to notice patterns and generalizations, and to generate hypotheses. Brief summaries of the Web Activities in the text are supported by materials on the books Companion Website.

Special boxes (1) provide sample stimuli and key data, to assist students in reconstructing the logic of complex experiments and (2) address specific methods implemented by researchers.

Language at Large text modules relate key concepts to fascinating examples pertinent to the world outside of academiae.g., advertising, popular culture, the law. These modules are intended to reinforce newly-learned concepts and to stimulate thinking about how abstract ideas can be applied to concrete questions. Additional, updated examples, some drawn from the authors various blogs, will reside on the Companion Website.

End-of-chapter Digging Deeper modules present topics of outstanding debate in the literature and point to additional readings. Students are encouraged to consider what kind of data or experimental design might help advance the debate. The modular structure of these sections gives instructors the flexibility to assign them or not, without sacrificing students grasp of material in subsequent chapters.

Full-color illustrations support the concepts presented in the text, and create a visually compelling layout.