Jon Sprouse

Jon Sprouse is a Professor of Psychology and Global Network Professor at New York University Abu Dhabi (NYUAD), a key faculty member in the Department of Psychology within the Faculty of Arts and Science. He is actively engaged in research and teaching, focusing on the cognitive and neural underpinnings of human language syntax.

His educational background includes an AB in Linguistics from Princeton University and a PhD in Linguistics from the University of Maryland, reflecting a strong foundation in both theoretical and experimental linguistics.

Sprouse’s research centers on experimental syntax, investigating the combinatorial systems of human language and their neural implementation. He employs a multidisciplinary approach, integrating methods such as acceptability judgment studies, EEG, fMRI, and computational modeling to test and refine syntactic theories. His work bridges theoretical syntax with cognitive science, aiming to map the hypothesis space of possible grammatical systems and gather empirical evidence to evaluate them.

While specific recent publications are not listed in the provided texts, his research areas suggest a consistent focus on syntactic theory, sentence processing, cross-linguistic variation, and the syntax-semantics interface, using formal experimental paradigms.

• Best Paper in Language Award, Linguistic Society of America (2012)
• Early Career Award, Linguistic Society of America (2013)
• Inaugural C. L. Baker Mid-Career Award, Linguistic Society of America (2020)

Sprouse mentors several postdoctoral researchers and has advised numerous graduate students who have gone on to careers in academia and industry. He teaches core courses in psychology, including Statistics for Psychology, Language Science, and a lab course in Language Science, as well as advanced seminars on experimental syntax and EEG methods. He has previously held faculty positions at the University of Connecticut and the University of California, Irvine, contributing to his extensive academic experience.

He leads a research lab at NYUAD, where his team, including current post-doctoral researchers Pietro Cerrone, Pasha Koval, and Jayeon Park, investigates syntactic phenomena using cross-linguistic data and neurocognitive methods. His lab emphasizes rigorous experimental design and data analysis, particularly in EEG and behavioral paradigms.