12911 - Psycholinguistics (1)

Course contents

This course will be held in the II semester of the academic year 2010/11. It is composed by 2 parts of 30 hours of teaching each. In order to obtain 9/10/12 CFU, the students have to pass both the first part (prof.ssa Caramelli) and the second part (prof.ssa Stame).

First part (prof.ssa Caramelli):
The course will begin on the 31st  January 2011 (Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday from 9 to 11 - Dipartimento di Psicologia, Aula 2) The main topics presented are:
The psychological study of language in the behaviorist perspective;
Chomsky's theory and the redefinition of language acquisition, production and comprehension;
The experimental study of the psychological reality of Chomsky's theory;
The main steps in language acquisition and related problems;
The concept of ‘representation' in Fodor's theory and in the Parallel Distributed Processing approach;
The main models of lexical access in both the interpretations of representation;
The study of semantics and its relations with conceptual knowledge;
The relationship between language and thought and the linguistic relativity hypothesis.
If students will be interested, a seminar will be organized in which an experimental study will be carried out.

Second Part (prof. Stame):
The course will begin on March 1st   2011 (Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday from 11 to 1p.m. - Dipartimento di Psicologia, Aula 2)
The main topics presented are:
- Discourse comprehension in an interactional perspective;
- Anaphor and deixis;
- Speech Acts, Conversation theories and Politeness;
- Non verbal communication;
- Mediated communication.

Readings/Bibliography

First Part (prof. Caramelli):

- D. Slobin, Psicolinguistica. La Nuova Italia, Firenze [This book is out of print. It can be found at the Library of the Psychology Dept. and in other university libraries]

- C.Cacciari, La Psicologia del linguaggio, Il Mulino, Bologna.
On request, foreign students can ask the teacher for other references.

Second Part (prof. Stame):

Students are required to study 2 out of the following books:

• C. Bianchi (2003). Pragmatica del linguaggio, Roma, Editori Laterza.

• R. Galatolo, G. Pallotti (a cura di) (1999). La conversazione, Milano, Raffaello Cortina Editore.

• R. Lorenzetti (1999). Compagni di viaggio. Inferenze e anafora, Bologna, CLUEB.

• R. Lorenzetti, S. Stame (2004). Narrazione e identità. Aspetti cognitivi e interpersonali, Roma, Editori Laterza.

• R. Rumiati, L. Lotto (2007). Introduzione alla psicologia della comunicazione, Bologna, Il Mulino.

• B. Zani, P. Selleri, D. David (2001). La comunicazione, Roma, Carocci.
• Different textbooks can be suggested by the students and approved by the lecture

Teaching methods

First Part (prof. Caramelli): Lessons with occasional discussions

Second Part(prof. Stame): Lessons with occasional discussions

Assessment methods

First Part (prof. Caramelli):
Oral examination. Foreign students can ask the teacher for a written examination, which will consist in a short paper to be submitted to the teacher 10 days before the exam. The topic of the paper, its length and language are to be agreed upon with the teacher. At the exam the paper will be discussed and evaluated. For the dates of the exams and subscriptions see the site  https://almaesami.unibo.it/almaesami/welcome.htm

Second Part (prof. Stame):
Oral examination. Foreign students can ask the teacher for a written examination, which will consist in a short paper to be submitted to the teacher 10 days before the exam. The topic of the paper, its length and language are to be agreed upon with the teacher. At the exam the paper will be discussed and evaluated. For the dates of the exams and subscriptions see the site  https://almaesami.unibo.it/almaesami/welcome.htm

Teaching tools

First Part (prof. Caramelli): Overhead transparences and Power Point presentations.

Second Part (prof. Stame): Power Point slides

Office hours

See the website of Niccoletta Caramelli