Topics in Psycholinguistics

A 'topics' course is a course where students acquire specialized knowledge concerning a specific topic within a wider theme and where they acquire the specific skills needed to conduct research concerning this topic.  

Psycholinguistics is the study of how people process, produce and comprehend language. In this course, we will specifically discuss atypical processing, production and comprehension of language. The course will focus on open dilemma's in the field of language disorders, through which we address important theoretical approaches and research methods as well as engage in outreach activities. The course will include a discussion of a wide range of (1) populations (e.g., children with developmental language disorder, premature children, children with a genetic condition affecting language skills, patients with aphasia), (2) disorder-related mechanisms (e.g., brain development, cognitive and executive functioning, environmental factors) and (3) disorder-related characteristics (e.g, specific strengths and weaknesses, progress after intervention/therapy, development over time). The focus will be on acquiring the theoretical and methodological knowledge needed to do research in some part of this broad field in an interdisciplinary context, and, in addition, to translate this knowledge to society.