Masoud Jasbi

Masoud Jasbi is an Assistant Professor in Linguistics and Cognitive Science at the University of California, Davis. His research focuses on semantics, syntax, and language acquisition, particularly exploring logical connectives, function words, and cross-linguistic universals. He leads the Logic, Language, & Learning Lab, investigating topics like disjunction interpretation, scalar implicatures, and computational models of language learning. Jasbi has published extensively in journals like Language and Linguistics Compass and Journal of Child Language, and his work bridges theoretical linguistics with experimental and computational methods. He teaches advanced courses on semantics, syntax, and language learning, and has advised numerous collaborative research projects. His contributions include groundbreaking studies on Persian syntax, Bayesian modeling of quantifiers, and neural network approaches to language acquisition.

Education and Background: While specific academic credentials aren’t detailed in the provided texts, his extensive publications and teaching roles at UC Davis and prior institutions like Stanford and Harvard indicate a strong foundation in theoretical linguistics and cognitive science. He has held visiting roles and collaborated internationally, contributing to conferences like BUCALD and the Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society.

Research Interests: Jasbi’s work integrates formal semantics with experimental methods, addressing questions such as how children learn logical connectives, the role of syntax in exclusivity inferences, and universality in logical constructions across languages. His projects often involve interdisciplinary collaborations, combining computational modeling with empirical studies.

Teaching Contributions: He has taught courses ranging from introductory linguistics to advanced topics like semantics, syntax, and language learning in humans and machines. His pedagogical approach emphasizes critical thinking and computational skills, as seen in courses like LIN 241 Advanced Semantics and LIN 105 Language Learning in Humans and Machines.

Labs and Teams: The Logic, Language, & Learning Lab under his direction focuses on experimental and computational studies of linguistic meaning, cognitive processes, and language universals. Collaborations include projects on disjunction production, negation interpretation, and the validity of experimental paradigms in semantics.