Foundation

Course

  1. Know who your professor is
  2. Know how I will assess your mastery of course content

Scientific Foundations

  1. Recognize that there are multiple scientifically valid ways to study human language; identify scientific evidence relevant to understanding (i) how languages are organized structurally, (ii) how humans perceive and process language in real time, and (iii) the brain basis of language
  2. Define the following terms: localization, lateralization, aphasia
  3. Explain the difference between functional specialization and functional specificity
  4. Summarize the approach of 19th-century phrenology, identify unscientific aspects of this approach, and give an example of how this approach was used to cause societal harm
  5. Summarize the classical model of language in the brain and describe the original evidence for that model

The toolbox

  1. Explain the logic of the lesion/deficit mapping method
  2. Describe two methods that can be used to assess lateralization

Claim-evidence mapping

Describe scientific evidence for the following claim:

  1. Language processing in humans is lateralized to the left hemisphere.

Brain Geography

  1. Be able to roughly locate Broca’s area and Wernicke’s area on a side view of the brain
  2. Identify and distinguish coronal, axial, and sagittal views of the human brain; for each view, be able to tell which way the brain is “facing”
  3. “Navigate” to a region of the brain using the following neuroanatomical and directional terms: frontal, temporal, parietal, occipital, anterior, posterior, inferior, superior, lateral, medial, sulcus, gyrus, left, right
Date Class Topic Due
Thurs 8/27 Syllabus, assignments, schedule
Studying language; types of evidence 		SGN p. 1-9
Tues 9/1 Functional localization and phrenology SGN p. 10-17
Thurs 9/3 Brain geography SGN p. 18-25
Fri 9/4
Tues 9/8 No class (Monday schedule)
Thurs 9/10 Lesion/deficit mapping; classical model SGN p. 27-31
Fri 9/11
Tues 9/15 Sign language aphasia Hickok et al. 1998
Thurs 9/17 Lateralization TBD
Tues 9/22 Exam #1
Explanation of symbols and color-coding
Lecture slides are linked here. I will make them available the morning of the lecture.
This is a general background reading. Read this the usual way people read things, from start to finish.
This is a scientific article (primary literature). Do not try to read this from start to finish. Instead, read/survey the article using this process. Fill out a summary sheet for your own notes (summary sheets will not be graded, but they will be really helpful when you are studying for the exams). Come prepared to work in small groups to further understand the paper.
Something is due for your group project. See Controversy Investigation for more information.
Some other thing is due.
There’s an exam in class on this day. Remember to bring hard copies of any primary literature that we covered during this unit. You’re allowed to use this during the exam.

Resources