This course is part of HFs PhD week. This is a 1 ECTS course.
Course description
Session 1: Introduction to experimental pragmatics
In this session, students will get an introduction to the field of experimental pragmatics and some of the main methods used to investigate theoretical claims about human language processing/comprehension and production.
Session 2: Using sentence continuation tasks to investigate expectations about upcoming content
Sentence continuation tasks, also known as Cloze tasks (Taylor 1953), are a widely used tool in psycholinguistics and related fields in which a participant is tasked with completing sentence fragments where at least one word is missing. The method is traditionally used to assess the probability of a word in a given linguistic context and thereby investigate how different aspects of meaning might influence processing. This session will cover some of the main ways sentence continuation tasks have been used in linguistic research, with a particular focus on what role the wider context plays for people’s behaviour in the task (Reksnes et al. 2024).
Session 3: Future directions for experiments on meaning: The case of cognitive pupillometry
Cognitive pupillometry is the measurement of changes in pupil diameter as a response to a stimulus that triggers cognitive processing. Though this method has been around for over four decades, recent technical advances has made it more accesible to use in a way that is better suited for testing theoretical accounts on the derivation of meaning in language use. In this session, we will go through the features of a pupillometry experiment and discuss advantages and disadvantages in comparison to other popular methods in experimental pragmatics such as eye-tracking and reaction times.
Session 4: Student presentations
In this sessions students are asked to present their own experimental research projects (5-10 mins). Each presentation will receive feedback from lecturers and peers.
Course preparation
Click here to download a list of the curriculum.
In class
10.00-10.45: Session 1: Introduction to experimental pragmatics
Ingrid Lossius Falkum
11.00-11.45: Session 2: Using sentence continuation tasks to investigate expectations about upcoming content
Vilde Reksnes
12.00-13.00: Lunch
13.00-13.45: Session 3: Future directions for experiments on meaning: The case of cognitive pupillometry
Camilo Rodriguez Ronderos
14.00-15.30: Session 4: Student presentations
Students should prepare a 5-10 minute presentation of a study design/project for feedback.
Language
The course language is English.
Registration
Courses are open for PhD fellows, completion grant holders, and post-doctoral fellows at the Faculty of Humanities, other UiO faculties and external PhD fellows. Candidates admitted to the PhD programme at HF are given priority. Registration opens at noon on October 6.
Course instructors
- Professor Ingrid Lossius Falkum, Department of Philosophy, Classics, History of Art and Ideas, Department of Linguistic and Scandinavian Studies.
Assistant Professor Camilo Rodriguez Ronderos, Lund University.
Dr. Vilde Reksnes, Department of Philosophy, Classics, History of Art and Ideas.