Find Academic Supervisors

Patrick SturtView profile

Associate Professor

• Psycholinguistics
• Syntactic processing
• Language comprehension
• +5 more

Patrick Sturt is a Reader in Psychology at the University of Edinburgh's School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences. His research focuses on syntactic processing in language comprehension, computational models of incremental parsing, anaphor resolution, and eye movements in reading. With over 100 publications and more than 3,300 citations, he is a recognized expert in psycholinguistics and language processing. Dr. Sturt's research interests span multiple areas of language processing. He investigates how humans comprehend sentences in real-time, with particular focus on syntactic structures, agreement phenomena, and anaphoric reference. His work often employs eye-tracking methodologies to examine the moment-by-moment processing of linguistic information. He has made significant contributions to understanding how readers handle syntactic ambiguities, garden-path sentences, and the role of prediction in language comprehension. His recent publications demonstrate a strong focus on cross-linguistic studies, particularly examining language processing in Mandarin Chinese and Korean. Many of his studies investigate how syntactic and semantic information interact during comprehension, and how linguistic structures like honorifics, classifiers, and non-canonical word orders are processed. His work bridges theoretical linguistics with experimental psycholinguistics, providing empirical evidence for models of sentence processing. Dr. Sturt actively supervises PhD students including Carine Abraham, Wenjia Cai, Chiuchou Hao, Ruomeng Zhu, and Christy Gu. He teaches Psychology of Language 1 and 2 at the MSc level, as well as Data Analysis for Psychology in R for first-year undergraduates. His teaching reflects his research expertise, providing students with both theoretical knowledge and practical analytical skills. Based in Room G29 of the Psychology Building at 7 George Square, Edinburgh, Dr. Sturt maintains regular office hours on Tuesdays from 3-4pm, providing accessibility to students and colleagues. His email address is patrick.sturt@ed.ac.uk.

Nicole Y. WichaView profile

Professor

• Cognitive Neuroscience
• Neurobiology of Language
• Bilingualism
• +7 more

Nicole Y. Wicha is a Professor in the Department of Neuroscience, Developmental and Regenerative Biology at the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA), within the College of Sciences. She leads the Wicha Lab, which is dedicated to understanding the neural mechanisms of language and math cognition, with a special focus on bilingual populations. Her lab is based in the Biotechnology, Sciences and Engineering Building (BSE 2.206), and she is actively involved in research, teaching, and mentoring. Her research interests center on the cognitive neuroscience of language comprehension, bilingualism, and the interface between language and other cognitive systems such as mathematics. Using electrophysiological techniques like EEG and ERP, Dr. Wicha investigates the real-time neural dynamics of language and arithmetic processing across development. Her work spans diverse populations, from children to older adults, and includes both neurotypical and neurodivergent individuals through collaboration. The recent publications from her lab highlight a strong trend in exploring how bilingual individuals process arithmetic in their two languages, examining retrieval strategies, neural time courses, and developmental trajectories. These studies integrate behavioral and brain imaging data to understand language-dependent memory access in math and the cognitive control mechanisms involved in switching between languages during calculation. Dr. Wicha has advised numerous graduate students, including PhD candidates like Vanessa Cerda, Amandine Grenier, and Matt Wood, all of whom have successfully defended their dissertations. She actively recruits students and volunteers into her lab, offering research experience and academic credit. She is involved in multiple collaborations and secures funding to support her research on language and math cognition. The Wicha Lab fosters a vibrant research environment with regular participation in national and international conferences such as the Cognitive Neuroscience Society (CNS), Society for the Neurobiology of Language, and CogSci. The lab emphasizes community outreach through STEM events, science fairs, and volunteer initiatives. Lab culture balances rigorous research with team-building and celebration of milestones, including birthdays, graduations, and dissertation defenses.

Uri HassonView profile

Professor

• Neuroscience
• Natural Language Processing
• Cognitive Science
• +7 more

Uri Hasson is a Professor at the Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, focusing on the neural basis of brain-to-brain human communication, natural language processing, and language acquisition in real-world contexts. His lab challenges traditional experimental models by using deep learning to decode cognition during natural stimuli. Research Highlights: Investigates neural alignment in speaker-listener interactions. Develops computational tools to model language processing in everyday conversations. Explores shared principles between biological and artificial neural networks. Recent Article Trends: 2025–2023 publications emphasize deep language models matching neural responses, event segmentation via Bayesian surprise, and multibrain convergence during storytelling. Key keywords: Neuroscience, Natural Language Processing, Deep Learning, Cognitive Modeling . Awards: NIH Pioneer Award Lab & Collaborations: The Hasson Lab integrates neuroimaging (ECoG, fMRI) with large-scale datasets and AI to study real-life cognition. Collaborations span psychology, computational neuroscience, and machine learning.

Breanne WylieView profile

Assistant Professor

• Developmental Psychology
• Forensic Psychology
• Child Witness Testimony
• +3 more

Breanne Wylie is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology at NC State University’s College of Humanities and Social Sciences. Her research focuses on adult-child communication within legal contexts, particularly improving children’s accurate reporting of maltreatment experiences during interviews by legal professionals. She employs multi-method approaches including lab-based tasks to assess linguistic development and field-based analysis of child witness testimonies. Dr. Wylie emphasizes knowledge mobilization, collaborating with practitioners to provide evidence-based training. Her research interests span developmental psychology, forensic psychology, and legal communication. She investigates how children’s cognitive and linguistic abilities influence their interactions with legal systems, aiming to enhance forensic interviewing practices and reduce misunderstandings in judicial contexts. Key areas include the impact of question phrasing, parental support roles, and jurors’ perceptions of child testimony credibility. Recent publications (2025-2023) highlight trends in analyzing defense attorneys’ questioning tactics, improving forensic interviewer training, and exploring how language nuances affect child witnesses’ reliability. Her work underscores the need for standardized, developmentally appropriate legal questioning methods to protect vulnerable populations. As part of the Lifespan Developmental Psychology group, she operates the Law Development Lab to bridge academic research and practical legal applications. While no formal awards are listed, her contributions reflect a commitment to impactful, applied research. Grant and advising specifics are not detailed in the provided text.

Titus von der MalsburgView profile

Assistant Professor

• Psycholinguistics
• Cognitive Modeling
• Eye-Tracking
• +12 more

Titus von der Malsburg is a tenure-track Junior Professor of Psycholinguistics and Cognitive Modeling at the Institute of Linguistics, University of Stuttgart . His research focuses on incremental sentence comprehension, implicit gender biases, scanpath analysis, and computational modeling of language processing. He employs experimental methods like eye-tracking, ERP, and Bayesian statistics to investigate how humans integrate linguistic and cognitive cues during reading. Education : PhD in Cognitive Science (University of Potsdam), with postdoctoral positions at UC San Diego, University of Oxford, and University of Potsdam. His work spans psycholinguistics, cognitive science, and natural language processing, with a strong emphasis on reproducibility and open-source software development. He has contributed to debates on agreement attraction, semantic parsing, and the role of conversational principles in cognitive biases. His lab uses advanced eye-tracking equipment and promotes technical rigor in research practices. Recent publications highlight his contributions to understanding memory decay in syntactic dependencies, semantic attraction effects, and scanpath regularity as a predictor of reading comprehension. The lab actively seeks collaborators aligned with its focus on technical quality and open science. Notably, he clarifies his name’s correct formatting to avoid common misattributions.

• Cognitive Psychology
• Linguistics
• Cognitive Neuroscience
• +7 more

Dr Ruth Corps is an Early Career Research Fellow in the School of Psychology at the University of Sheffield, affiliated with the Interdisciplinary Centre of the Social Sciences (ICOSS). Her research focuses on cognitive mechanisms underlying language comprehension, prediction in dialogue, and turn-taking coordination. She investigates how listeners and speakers use contextual and linguistic cues to anticipate and plan responses, with a particular interest in the interplay between content and timing predictions in real-time conversation. Her work employs methodologies such as eye-tracking, experimental psycholinguistics, and acoustic analysis to study topics like predictive processing in bilingual speakers, the role of repetition in lexical access, and the limitations of inter-speaker gaps in turn-taking timing. Recent findings challenge traditional assumptions about egocentric prediction and highlight the importance of semantic over form-based predictions in degraded speech comprehension. Ruth’s research also explores dual-task interference effects on turn-end prediction and the cognitive stages involved in response planning during question-answering. She has contributed to debates about replication in cognitive science, including a notable failure to replicate findings on word frequency effects in picture naming tasks. Her affiliations include the School of Psychology and ICOSS, where she collaborates on interdisciplinary projects. She holds a PhD in Cognitive Psychology and has published extensively on topics such as visual-world eye-tracking methodologies, bilingualism, and conversational dynamics.

Ian CunningsView profile

Associate Professor

• Psycholinguistics
• Sentence Comprehension
• Discourse Comprehension
• +7 more

Ian Cunnings serves as an Associate Professor at the School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, University of Reading. His key responsibilities include Module Convenor for Linguistics 2 (PL2LNG2), School Director of Postgraduate Research (PhD) Admissions, and University Academic Lead for the SEDarc Doctoral Training Partnership. His academic credentials comprise: PhD in Psycholinguistics and Neurolinguistics from the University of Essex MA in Psycholinguistics and Neurolinguistics from the University of Essex BA (Hons) in English Language from the University of Sussex Dr. Cunnings' research centers on cognitive mechanisms in language processing , with emphasis on sentence/discourse comprehension , eye-tracking methodologies , and memory retrieval operations during reading and listening. He investigates first/second language acquisition and multilingual processing across diverse populations, including children and adults, with particular focus on morphological processing and bilingual cognitive architecture. His work employs experimental paradigms to examine real-time language comprehension in monolingual and multilingual contexts. He actively contributes to the Centre for Literacy and Multilingualism (CeLM) and the Psycholinguistics and Neurolinguistics Lab , where he explores similarity effects in second language sentence processing and cognitive load during bilingual comprehension. In his administrative roles, Dr. Cunnings oversees PhD admissions for the School and leads the University's involvement in the SEDarc Doctoral Training Partnership, shaping interdisciplinary research training frameworks while mentoring doctoral candidates in psycholinguistic methodology.

Regine BaderView profile

Research Fellow

• Neurocognition of Memory
• Memory for Associations
• Spatiotemporal Brain Imaging
• +4 more

Dr. Regine Bader is a Research Fellow in the Experimental Psychology Unit at Saarland University's Faculty of Psychology, where she has been employed since October 2014. Her research focuses on the neurocognitive mechanisms of memory, particularly associative memory processes and spatiotemporal brain imaging using EEG and fMRI methodologies. Her educational background includes a B.Sc. in Computational Linguistics (2001-2006), a Diploma in Psychology (2003-2009), and a Ph.D. in Psychology (2013) from Saarland University. Her doctoral dissertation investigated unitization as an encoding strategy in associative memory through behavioral, ERP, and fMRI evidence. Dr. Bader's research interests center on neurocognition of memory, particularly memory for associations, and spatiotemporal brain imaging techniques including EEG and fMRI. Her work explores how unitization strategies, schema congruency, and fast mapping affect memory formation and retrieval processes across different age groups. She has made significant contributions to understanding the neural correlates of familiarity and recollection processes in memory. Her publication record demonstrates consistent productivity with numerous articles in high-impact journals such as Neuropsychologia, Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, and Psychophysiology. Her research trends show a progression from basic memory mechanisms to more complex investigations of how contextual factors, emotional states, and semantic relationships influence memory processes, with particular attention to age-related differences in cognitive functioning. Dr. Bader serves as an ad hoc reviewer for numerous prestigious journals including Aging Brain, Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, Neuropsychologia, and Science of Learning, as well as for the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG). She currently leads multiple research projects funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG), including investigations on instantaneous association-building bypassing the hippocampus (2015-2020), nature and stability of associations acquired through fast mapping (since 2021), and expectancy-based mechanisms during language comprehension (2022-2026) as part of the DFG Collaborative Research Center CRC 1102. Her work is conducted within the Experimental Psychology Unit at Saarland University, collaborating closely with Professor Axel Mecklinger and other researchers in the field of cognitive neuroscience. Dr. Bader also maintains research connections with the Central Institute of Mental Health in Mannheim and SRH University Heidelberg through her ongoing projects.

Julia Anuschka MeßmerView profile

Researcher

• Cognitive Neuroscience
• Memory Research
• Schema-based Learning
• +3 more

Dr. Julia Anuschka Meßmer is a Researcher at Saarland University in the Faculty of Psychology, working in the Experimental Neuropsychology Unit. She currently serves as a research associate in project A6 of the Sonderforschungsbereich 1102 (Collaborative Research Center 1102), focusing on 'Expectancy-based mechanisms during language comprehension and their relation to memory formation and retrieval' since July 2023. Her research centers on neurocognitive processes underlying schema-based learning and memory retrieval, with particular interest in how schemas influence the formation of memory representations. She primarily employs event-related potentials (ERPs) to investigate these phenomena, examining additional factors affecting schema-based learning and the characteristics of memory representations formed under congruent schemas. Her work bridges cognitive psychology with neuroscientific methodology to understand fundamental memory mechanisms. Analysis of her publications from 2020-2024 reveals a cohesive research trajectory examining how prior knowledge structures facilitate memory processes. Her work consistently applies ERP methodology to investigate schema effects on memory formation and retrieval, with increasing sophistication in experimental paradigms and theoretical frameworks. This research contributes significantly to understanding the neural basis of how existing knowledge shapes new learning. Dr. Meßmer has taught Master's level courses in Psychology since 2021, including seminars on 'Plasticity, Learning and Memory' and 'EKPs in Clinical Research.' Her research has been supported through the Sonderforschungsbereich 1102, a major German research funding initiative, indicating institutional recognition of her work's significance. She participated in the 'Cognitive Neuroscience Skills Training in Cambridge (COGNESTIC)' summer school in 2022, demonstrating international research engagement. She is affiliated with the Experimental Neuropsychology Unit at Saarland University, which appears to be part of a broader research network focused on cognitive neuroscience. Her work connects with the Cognitive and Action Group within the university's psychology department, suggesting interdisciplinary collaboration within the faculty.

Ralf EngbertView profile

Professor

• Dynamical Systems Approach to Cognition
• Attention and Eye Movements
• Biological and Mathematical Psychology
• +3 more

Ralf Engbert is a Professor of Experimental and Biological Psychology at the University of Potsdam's Faculty of Human Sciences, where he leads research in eye movement control, attention, and dynamical modeling of cognitive processes. He serves as a member of the Executive Committee of the Research Focus 'Cognitive Sciences' at the university, demonstrating his leadership role in interdisciplinary research. His work bridges psychology, neuroscience, and mathematical modeling to understand fundamental cognitive mechanisms through rigorous empirical and computational approaches. Engbert received his Dr. rer. nat. in 1998 from the Department of Physics at the University of Potsdam and completed his Dipl.-Physiker in 1994 at RWTH Aachen University. His physics background has profoundly shaped his research methodology, emphasizing quantitative and mathematical approaches to psychological phenomena. This interdisciplinary foundation enables him to develop sophisticated computational models that capture the dynamic nature of cognitive processes. Professor Engbert's research program centers on the dynamical systems approach to cognition, with particular emphasis on attention and eye movements. His work integrates biological and mathematical psychology to create computational models explaining visual information processing during reading and scene viewing. Key contributions include advancing understanding of microsaccades, peripheral vision in scene perception, and Bayesian approaches to modeling eye movement control. His research frequently involves cross-disciplinary collaborations with mathematicians, computer scientists, and linguists, reflecting the integrative nature of modern cognitive science. Analysis of his recent publications reveals a clear progression toward more sophisticated dynamical modeling of eye movements, with increasing incorporation of Bayesian statistical methods. His work spans multiple domains including reading research, scene perception, and infant cognition, with a notable trend toward integrating computational modeling with empirical eye-tracking data to develop comprehensive theories of cognitive processing. This evolution reflects both methodological advances and expanding theoretical scope in his research program. Project B03 of CRC 1294: Parameter inference and model comparison in dynamical cognitive models (with Prof. Sebastian Reich) Project B05 of CRC 1294: Attention selection and recognition in scene viewing (with Prof. Tobias Scheffer) Project B03 of CRC 1287: Modeling the interaction between eye-movement control and parsing processes (with Prof. Shravan Vasishth) Mobile eye tracking: Generalizability and limitations of the static scene viewing paradigm (Lead PI: Dr. Hans A. Trukenbrod) Professor Engbert maintains an active research group within the Department of Experimental and Biological Psychology, contributing to the Potsdam Eye-Movement Corpus and other shared research resources. His laboratory combines experimental eye-tracking facilities with computational modeling expertise, supporting a pipeline from data collection to theoretical development. The group's work has significant implications for understanding fundamental cognitive mechanisms and developing applications in human-computer interaction, educational technology, and clinical assessment.

Zenzi M. GriffinView profile

Professor

• Language Production
• Speech Errors
• Personal Names
• +5 more

Zenzi M. Griffin is a Professor of Psychology at The University of Texas at Austin (College of Liberal Arts). She holds a Ph.D. in Cognitive Psychology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (1998) and a BA in Psychology from Michigan State University (1993). Prior to UT Austin, she was at Georgia Tech (2001–2008) and Stanford University (1998–2001). Her research focuses on the cognitive processes underlying language production, including speech planning, bilingualism, personal name retrieval, and eye-tracking methodologies. Her work explores how speakers plan words and sentences, the timing of linguistic encoding, and individual differences in language processing. Current projects address bilingual language development and the cognitive mechanisms behind speech errors. She directs the Cognition and Communication Lab, collaborating with students from Psychology, Communication Sciences and Disorders, and Linguistics. Recent articles highlight her focus on bilingual language processing (e.g., grammatical gender effects in Spanish-English speakers), executive function in adults who stutter, and PTSD’s impact on visual attention during reading. She has advised graduate students on topics like language production in adults and co-advises in related areas, though not in bilingualism/child language as a primary focus. Dr. Griffin teaches courses such as Eye Movements and Language and Human Language Processing , integrating experimental methods and theoretical insights. Her research has advanced understanding of speech production’s cognitive underpinnings and its applications in clinical and developmental contexts.

Julien DiraniView profile

Research Fellow

• Cognitive Neuroscience
• Semantic Cognition
• Lexical Selection
• +2 more

Julien Dirani is a Distinguished Postdoctoral Fellow at Carnegie Mellon University's Neuroscience Institute, with additional affiliations at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. His research investigates the neural mechanisms of semantic cognition using multimodal neuroimaging and computational methods. Dirani's work examines how conceptual knowledge is represented across brain regions during language tasks, with emphasis on cross-modal processing and lexical-semantic interfaces. Recent MEG studies explore temporal dynamics of conceptual representations, dissociating visual and lexical features. His publications span neuroimaging techniques (MEG/fMRI), cognitive models of language, and cross-linguistic validation of psychological instruments. Collaborations include developing benchmarks for AI reasoning and investigating syntax processing in Arabic. Research integrates cognitive neuroscience with computational modeling to understand semantic memory organization.

Anamaria BenteaView profile

Research Fellow

• Language Development
• Bilingualism/Multilingualism
• Heritage Languages
• +3 more

Anamaria Bentea is a Research Fellow at the University of Konstanz's Department of Linguistics and Zukunftskolleg. Her work focuses on language acquisition and processing in monolingual and bilingual speakers, particularly in Romance languages like Romanian and French. She investigates how grammatical knowledge is represented and used in native and non-native languages, with a special emphasis on heritage language development in multilingual contexts. She holds a PhD in Linguistics from the University of Geneva (2016) and has held visiting research positions at the University of Maryland (2013-2014). Prior to Konstanz, she was a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Reading's Psycholinguistics and Neurolinguistics Lab, exploring Romanian-English bilingual children’s acquisition of complex syntax. Her research employs behavioral and eye-tracking methods to study real-time language processing, with key projects including the Marie Curie-funded ProHeritageSpeakers initiative (2021-2023) examining Romanian heritage language use in Germany. Her work addresses topics like bilingualism effects on theory of mind, syntactic processing in child heritage speakers, and the role of working memory in language comprehension. Major awards include the Marie Curie Fellowship. Her contributions span over 30 publications on relative clause acquisition, wh-dependencies, and cross-linguistic syntax development. She has led projects combining experimental linguistics with educational implications for multilingual populations.

• Psychiatric Diagnosis
• Bilingual Language Processing
• Eye Movement Studies
• +2 more

Veronica Ford is a Part-Time Lecturer at the University of New Brunswick's Faculty of Law. Her interdisciplinary research bridges cognitive neuroscience, psycholinguistics, and clinical psychology, examining bilingual language processing, reading disorders, and technology-assisted psychiatric diagnosis. Research focuses on cognitive mechanisms in bilingual reading, eye-movement patterns in clinical populations (schizophrenia/dyslexia), and developing human-centered diagnostic tools using wearable sensors. Studies employ eye-tracking, ERP, and computational methods to analyze language processing and cognition. Recent articles (2020-2025) investigate cross-language activation during reading, L1 orthographic effects on L2 speech, psychiatric diagnosis systems using ECG, and perceptual span in disordered reading. Work consistently integrates behavioral, neurophysiological, and computational approaches.

Janice ChenView profile

Assistant Professor

• Cognitive Neuroscience
• Memory Science
• Temporal Dynamics
• +4 more

Janice Chen is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences at Johns Hopkins University, affiliated with the Krieger School of Arts & Sciences. Her research focuses on understanding how real-world memories are constructed and retrieved, using advanced neuroimaging and behavioral methods. Her work emphasizes the interplay between sensory input and mnemonic systems across multiple timescales, particularly during naturalistic experiences like movie viewing and narrative recall. Chen's education includes a PhD in Psychological & Brain Sciences. She leads a lab investigating topics such as neural coding of social interactions, temporal dynamics of memory, and cross-modal processing in blind individuals. Her lab employs fMRI, EEG, and behavioral experiments to map brain activity patterns during perception and recall. Current projects explore how causal structures in narratives shape memory organization, and the role of gaze behavior in linking visual perception to memory retrieval. Key contributions include developing datasets like 'Sherlock' and 'Film Festival,' widely used in cognitive neuroscience research. Her team collaborates on analyzing shared neural responses across individuals during narrative comprehension and transmission. She advises a diverse group of postdoctoral researchers and graduate students in cognitive and computational neuroscience. Chen's lab is not currently recruiting but maintains active research collaborations. Findings emphasize the brain's shared representational structures during memory recall, suggesting systematic neural reorganization from perception to memory storage.