Research: PAST research questions / areas

Language is a tool for communication

 
All Publications
Grammatical cues to subjecthood are redundant in a majority of simple clauses across languages

Mahowald, K.*, Diachek, E.*, Gibson, E., Fedorenko, E.^, & Futrell, R.^ 2023. Cognition, 241, 105543. DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2023.105543. PMID: 37713956.
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An ERP index of real-time error correction within a noisy-channel framework of human communication

Ryskin, R., Stearns, L., Bergen, L., Eddy, M., Fedorenko, E. & Gibson, E. 2021. Neuropsychologia, 158, 107855. DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2021.107855. PMID: 33865848.
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Don’t underestimate the benefits of being misunderstood

Gibson, E., Tan, C., Futrell, R., Mahowald, K., Konieczny, L., Hemforth, B. & Fedorenko, E. 2017. Psychological Science, 28(6), 703-712. DOI: 10.1177/0956797617690277. PMID: 28394708.
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Infinitely productive language can arise from chance under communicative pressure

Piantadosi, S. & Fedorenko, E. 2017. Journal of Language Evolution, 2(2), 141-147. DOI: 10.1093/jole/lzw013.
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Info/information theory: Speakers choose shorter words in predictive contexts

Mahowald, K., Fedorenko, E., Piantadosi, S. & Gibson, E. 2013. Cognition, 126(2), 313-318. DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2012.09.010. PMID: 23116925.
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Cognition and neural architecture of individuals with developmental communication disorders

Work on individuals with 16p11.2 deletion syndrome:

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Deep phenotyping of speech and language skills in 16p11.2 deletion syndrome

Mei, C., Fedorenko, E., Amor, D., Boys, A., Hoeflin, C., Carew, P., Burgess, T., Fisher, S. & Morgan, A. 2018. European Journal of Human Genetics, 26(5), 676-686. DOI: 10.1038/s41431-018-0102-x. PMID: 29445122. PMC5945616.
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A highly penetrant form of childhood apraxia of speech due to deletion of 16p11.2

Fedorenko, E.*, Morgan, A.*, Murray, E., Cardinaux, A., Mei, C., Tager-Flusberg, H., Fisher, S. & Kanwisher, N. 2016. European Journal of Human Genetics, 24(2), 302-306. DOI: 10.1038/ejhg.2015.149. PMID: 26763793. PMC4717201.
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Work on individuals with autism spectrum disorders:

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Reduced language lateralization is a robust marker of the broader autism phenotype

Jouravlev, O., Kell, A., Mineroff, Z., Haskins, AJ, Ayyash, D., Kanwisher, N. & Fedorenko, E. 2020. Autism Research, 13(10), 1746-1761. DOI: 10.1002/aur.2393. PMID: 32935455.
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Ev’s early linguistic and psycholinguistic work

Most of this work was carried out during the first few years of graduate school in collaboration with Ted Gibson.

 

These papers argue that quantitative approaches are critical in language research.

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Quantitative methods in syntax / semantics research: A response to Sprouse & Almeida (2013)

Gibson, E., Piantadosi, S. & Fedorenko, E. 2013. Language and Cognitive Processes, 28(3), 229-240. DOI: 10.1080/01690965.2012.704385.
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The need for quantitative methods in syntax and semantics research

Gibson, E. & Fedorenko, E. 2013. Language and Cognitive Processes, 28(1-2), 88-124. DOI: 10.1080/01690965.2010.515080.
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Weak quantitative standards in linguistics research

Gibson, E. & Fedorenko, E. 2010. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 14(6), 233-234. DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2010.03.005. PMID: 20363175.
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These papers investigate the nature of working memory resources that support language comprehension.

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Structural integration in language and music: Evidence for a shared system

Fedorenko, E., Patel, A., Casasanto, D., Winawer, J. & Gibson, E. 2009. Memory and Cognition, 37(1), 1-9. DOI: 10.3758/MC.37.1.1. PMID: 19103970.
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The nature of working memory in linguistic, arithmetic and spatial integration processes

Fedorenko, E., Gibson, E. & Rohde, D. 2007. Journal of Memory and Language, 56(2), 246-269. DOI: 10.1016/j.jml.2006.06.007.
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The nature of working memory capacity in sentence comprehension: Evidence against domain-specific resources

Fedorenko, E., Gibson, E. & Rohde, D. 2006. Journal of Memory and Language, 54(4), 541-553. DOI: 10.1016/j.jml.2005.12.006.
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As discussed in Language vs. thought/non-linguistic cognition and perception, fMRI evidence strongly suggests that language processing recruits a highly specialized brain network. These early behavioral dual-task studies have instead suggested that language shares working memory resources with some non-linguistic tasks. However, evidence from these paradigms is indirect and the putative overlap cannot be unambiguously attributed to a particular cognitive system. One likely possibility is that the effects observed in these dual-task studies originate within the domain-general Multiple Demand system given that task demands in both language and non-linguistic domains engage this system.

 

These papers evaluate memory-based and surprisal-based accounts of syntactic complexity.

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Syntactic complexity effects in sentence production: A reply to MacDonald et al. (2016)

Scontras, G., Badecker W. & Fedorenko, E. 2017. Cognitive Science, 41(8), 2280-2287. DOI: 10.1111/cogs.12495. PMID: 28397342. 
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Syntactic complexity effects in sentence production

Scontras, G., Badecker, W., Shank, L., Lim, E. & Fedorenko, E. 2015. Cognitive Science, 39(3), 559-583. DOI: 10.1111/cogs.12168. PMID: 25256303.
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The syntactic complexity of Russian relative clauses

Levy, R., Fedorenko, E. & Gibson, E. 2013. Journal of Memory and Language, 69(4), 461-495. DOI: 10.1016/j.jml.2012.10.005. PMID: 24711687. PMC3975271.
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Direct evidence of memory retrieval as a source of difficulty in long-distance structural dependencies in language

Fedorenko, E., Woodbury, R. & Gibson, E. 2013. Cognitive Science, 37(2), 378-394. DOI: 10.1111/cogs.12021. PMiD: 23362990.
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The processing of extraposed structures in English

Levy, R., Fedorenko, E., Breen, M. & Gibson, E. 2012. Cognition, 122(1), 12-36. DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2011.07.012. PMID: 22035959. PMC3857735.
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Processing relative clauses in supportive contexts

Fedorenko, E., Piantadosi, S. & Gibson, E. 2012. Cognitive Science, 36(3), 471-497. DOI: 10.1111/j.1551-6709.2011.01217.x. PMID: 22256956.
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These papers examine numerical cognitive abilities and the role of language in numerical cognition.

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Language as a cognitive technology: English-speakers match like Pirahã when you don’t let them count

Frank, M., Fedorenko, E. & Gibson, E. 2008. Proceedings of the 30th Annual Meeting of Cognitive Science Society, 439-444.
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Verbal interference suppresses exact numerical representation

Frank, M., Fedorenko, E., Lai, P., Saxe, R. & Gibson, E. 2012. Cognitive Psychology, 64(1-2), 74-92. DOI: 10.1016/j.cogpsych.2011.10.004. PMID: 22112644.
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Number as a cognitive technology: Evidence from Pirahã language and cognition

Frank, M., Everett, D., Fedorenko, E. & Gibson, E. 2008. Cognition, 108(3), 819-824. DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2008.04.007. PMID: 18547557.
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This paper examines how information structure (what is old vs. new vs. contrastive in an utterance) is realized prosodically during language production.

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Acoustic correlates of information structure

Breen, M., Fedorenko, E., Wagner, M. & Gibson, E. 2010. Language and Cognitive Processes, 25(7/8/9), 1044-1098. DOI: 10.1080/01690965.2010.504378.
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These papers investigate the relationship between lexical and syntactic processing.

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The interaction of syntactic and lexical information sources in language processing: The case of the noun-verb ambiguity

Fedorenko, E., Piantadosi, S. & Gibson, E. 2012. Journal of Cognitive Science, 13(3), 249-285. DOI: 10.17791/jcs.2012.13.3.249.
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The time-course of lexical and structural processes in sentence comprehension

Tily, H., Fedorenko, E. & Gibson, E. 2010. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 63(5), 910-927. DOI: 10.1080/17470210903114866. PMID: 19746299.
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These papers investigate various linguistic phenomena using experimental approaches.

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Accommodating presuppositions is inappropriate in implausible contexts

Singh, R., Fedorenko, E., Mahowald, K. & Gibson, E. 2015. Cognitive Science, 40(3), 607-634. DOI: 10.1111/cogs.12260. PMID: 26153044.
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Constraints on Donkey pronouns

Grosz, P., Patel-Grosz, P., Fedorenko, E. & Gibson, E. 2015, Journal of Semantics, 32(4), 619-648. DOI: 10.1093/jos/ffu009.
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A pragmatic account of complexity in definite Antecedent-Contained-Deletion relative clauses

Gibson, E., Jacobson, P., Graff, P., Mahowald, K., Fedorenko, E. & Piantadosi, S. 2015. Journal of Semantics, 32(4), 579-618. DOI: 10.1093/jos/ffu006.
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Adding a third wh-element does not increase the acceptability of object-initial multiple-wh questions

Fedorenko, E. & Gibson, E. 2010. Syntax, 13(3), 183-195. DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-9612.2010.00138.x.
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This paper on morphological selection is from Ev’s undergraduate years in Alfonso Caramazza’s lab.

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The gender congruency effect and the selection of freestanding and bound morphemes: Evidence from Croatian

Costa, A., Kovacic, D., Fedorenko, E. & Caramazza, A. 2003. Journal of Experimental Psychology: LMC, 29(6), 1270-1282. DOI: 10.1037/0278-7393.29.6.1270. PMID: 14622060.
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Miscellaneous research papers

These papers investigate diverse questions about language but do not fall cleanly into any “bucket” above.

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Breakdowns in informativeness of naturalistic speech production in primary progressive aphasia

Gallée, J., Cordella, C., Fedorenko, E., Hochberg, D., Touroutoglou, A., Quimby, A. & Dickerson, B. 2021. Brain Sciences, 11(2), 130. DOI: 10.3390/brainsci11020130. PMID: 33498260. PMC7909266.
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An asymmetrical relationship between verbal and visual thinking: Converging evidence from behavior and fMRI

Amit, E., Hoeflin, C., Hamzah, N. & Fedorenko, E. 2017. NeuroImage, 152, 619-627. DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2017.03.029. PMID: 28323162. PMC5448978.
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