Psychological mechanisms

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Module overview

The goal of this module is for you to become familiar with some of the core cognitive components that are relevant in language processing, and of the challenges in how we can measure and identify them. By the end of the module, hopefully you will be able to do the following things:

• Identify core cognitive abilities that are relevant in psycholinguistics;
• Explain how these abilities can be measured;
• Explain how these cognitive abilities can impact language processing.

Module instructions

This module includes four tasks. For the first task of this module, you have to perform some tests on some volunteers and then do some reflection about your findings. After that, you'll complete the module on working memory. The content of the other two modules will be completed in class, but it's here for you if you're curious or for future-you to review.

Module activities

1. Test your friends (COMPLETE BEFORE CLASS AND SUBMIT YOUR DATA TO THE GOOGLE SPREADSHEET: about 2 hours)
2. Several basic psychological mechanisms (Complete 'Working memory' before class)
   • Working memory (COMPLETE BEFORE CLASS AND SUBMIT YOUR QUIZ RESULTS ON BLACKBOARD: 1-2 hours)
   • Executive function (will be completed in class)
   • Top-down vs. bottom-up processing (will be completed in class)

modified by Eric Pelzl, based on content from Stephen Politzer-Ahles. Last modified on 2026-Jan-9. CC-BY-4.0.