Signed languages present a natural opportunity to explore what aspects of language processing are universal and what aspects are affected by the particular characteristics of audition versus vision or by the specific constraints on manual versus vocal articulation. In this project, we use a variety of psycholinguistic methods to address the following questions:
- Can models of speech production be applied to sign production?
- How do signers monitor their language output to catch signing mistakes?
- Does iconicity (the resemblance between a sign and its meaning) have an impact on language comprehension or production?
- How is sign language phonology represented and accessed in the mental lexicon (our mental “dictionary”)?
- How does speech perception differ from sign perception?
- Do signers and speakers refer to space in the same way?
- How do signers gesture?
Funding
This research is supported by the National Institute of Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (R01 DC101977) and by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (R01 HD13249).
Recent Publications
- Caselli, N., Emmorey, K., Cohen-Goldberg, A. (2021). The signed mental lexicon: Effects of phonological neighborhood density, iconicity, and childhood language experience. Journal of Memory and Language, 121. https://par.nsf.gov/biblio/10291446-signed-mental-lexicon-effects-phonological-neighborhood-density-iconicity-childhood-language-experience
- McGarry, M., Mott, M., Midgley, K.J., Holcomb, P.J., & Emmorey, K.(2021a). Picture-naming in American Sign Language: an electrophysiological study of the effects of iconicity and structured alignment. Language, Cognition and Neuroscience, 36(2), 199-210. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33732747/
- McGarry, M., Massa, N., Mott, M., Midgley, K., Holcomb, P., & Emmorey, K. (2021b). Matching pictures and signs: An ERP study of the effects of iconicity and structural alignment in American Sign Language. Neuropsychologia, 162. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34624260/
- Sehyr, Z., & Emmorey, K. (2021). The effects of multiple linguistic variables on picture naming in American Sign Language. Behavioral Research Methods. https://link.springer.com/article/10.3758/s13428-021-01751-x or email to request.
- Ries, S., Nadalet, L., Mickelson, S., Mott, M., Midgley, K. J., Holcomb, P.J., & Emmorey, K. (2020). Pre-output language monitoring in sign production. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 32(6), 1079-1091. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32027582/
- Brozdowski, C., & Emmorey, K. (2020). Shadowing in the manual modality. Acta Psychologica, 208. PMCID: PMC7387226 https://doi/org/10.1016/j.actpsy.2020.103092
- Emmorey, K., Winsler, K., Midgley, K.J., Grainger, J., & Holcomb, P.J. (2020). Neurophysiological correlates of frequency, concreteness, and iconicity in American Sign Language. Neurobiology of Language, 1(2), 249-267. PMCID: PMC pending https://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/nol_a_00012
- McGarry, M., Mott, M., Midgley, K.J., Holcomb, P.J., & Emmorey, K. (2020). Picture-naming in American Sign Language: an electrophysiological study of the effects of iconicity and structured alignment. Language, Cognition and Neuroscience. PMCID: PMC pending https://doi.org/10.1080/23273798.2020.1804601
- Secora, K., & Emmorey, K. (2020). Visual perspective-taking in spatial scenes and in American Sign Language. Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education. PMCID: PMC pending https://doi.org/10.1093/deafed/enaa006
- Thompson, W., Perlman, M., Lupyan, G., Sehyr, Z.S., & Emmorey, K. (2020). A data-driven approach to the semantics of iconicity in American Sign Language and English. Language and Cognition, 12, 182-202. https://doi:10.1017/langcog.2019.52
Recent Presentations
- Emmorey, K.(2022). Bimodal bilinguals provide insights into the nature of language control. Paper presented at the Society of Experimental Psychologists, May, Chicago, IL.
- Emmorey, K.(2021). Bimodal bilingualism, deafness, and aging. Invited presentation at the National Institute on Aging virtual workshop “Bilingualism and Cognitive Reserve and Resilience”. March, Virtual meeting.
- Emmorey, K. (2019). Towards the development of standardized methods for psycholinguistic and neurolinguistics experiments. Invited paper presented at the Workshop on doing reproduceable and rigorous science with Deaf children, Deaf communities, and sign languages, September, Berlin, Germany.
- McGarry, M.E., Massa, N., Mott, M., Midgley, K.J., Holcomb, P.J., & Emmorey, K. (2019). Matching pictures and signs: An ERP study of the effects of iconic structural alignment in American Sign Language. Poster presented at the meeting of Sign Language Linguistics Society (TISLR13). September, Hamburg, Germany. (pdf)
- Massa, N., Lee, B., Midgley, K.J., Holcomb, P.J., & Meade, G. (2019). N400 phonological priming effects in ASL are modulated by task. Poster presented at the meeting of Sign Language Linguistics Society (TISLR13). September, Hamburg, Germany. (pdf)
- Emmorey, K. (2019). Lexical iconicity. Invited paper presented at the workshop on Form-Meaning Units, June, Berg en Dal, The Netherlands.
- Emmorey, K. (2019). Lexical iconicity in sign language. Keynote speaker at the 55th Annual Meeting of the Chicago Linguistic Society, May, Chicago, Il.
- Emmorey, K. (2019). Neural effects of iconicity in sign language. Invited presentation at Neuroscience of Language Conference, April, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
- Lu, J., Emmorey, K., & Goldin-Meadow, S. (2019). Signers often (but not always) modify their signs to enhance iconicity. Poster presented at the 12th International Symposium on Iconicity in Language and Literature, April, Lund, Sweden.
- McCullough, S., Brozdowski, C., & Emmorey, K. (2019). Neural correlates for comprehending perspective-independent and perspective-dependent spatial expressions in ASL and English. Poster presented at the Cognitive Neuroscience Society, March, San Francisco. (pdf)