Clarifying the Brain Networks that Support Word Learning and Processing
This event will be held online. Talk links will be sent to the EP Seminars list a week before the talk. Contact Emma James (emma.james@psy.ox.ac.uk) if you are not on the list and would like to join the seminar.
Across development, children continually encounter new words and incorporate these words into their vocabulary. This ability to learn new words in turn influences how children process spoken language, which subsequently lays a critical foundation for reading development. A key area in which these relationships are observed is the extent to which children are sensitive to phonological similarity, or overlap in sound information between words (e.g., rhyming words such as cake and lake).

In the first part of the talk, I will review two studies which have revealed that children with reading and language challenges experience difficulties learning, remembering, and processing phonologically similar spoken words. Following this, I will discuss a new study our group is conducting that uses repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) to test a causal model of word learning and processing in the brain. By performing these studies, our aim is to contribute to the development of brain-informed approaches for promoting optimal language and reading acquisition in individuals with learning challenges.
Date: 21 February 2022, 15:00 (Monday, 6th week, Hilary 2022)
Venue: Venue to be announced
Speakers: Jeffrey Malins (Georgia State University), Nikki Arrington (TRends)
Organising department: Department of Experimental Psychology
Organiser: Emma James
Organiser contact email address: emma.james@psy.ox.ac.uk
Host: Emma James
Part of: Language and Development Seminar Series
Booking required?: Required
Booking email: emma.james@psy.ox.ac.uk
Audience: Members of the University only
Editor: Halley Cohen