Week of October 17

Harvard LangCog

Gina Kuperberg (Tufts & MGH)   Title: Does predictive coding mediate language comprehension? Evidence from computational modeling and MEG/EEG   Abstract: Predictive coding is a powerful computational theory of brain function. In this talk, I will first outline the computational principles of predictive coding, and describe a recent implementation of a predictive coding model of lexico-semantic processing, which is able to successfully simulate the effects of both lexical-level and contextual variables on the N400 event-related potential. I will then present a series of studies that use computational modeling, event-related analysis and Representational Similarity Analysis of MEG/EEG data to ask whether this theory can inform our understanding of the time-course of spatiotemporal activity produced during language comprehension. Together, our findings provide compelling evidence that predictive coding may mediate language comprehension. (Work with Lin Wang, Samer Nour-Eddine and Trevor Brothers).   Tuesday, October 11 | 5:30- 7:00 PM | William James Hall, Room #1550  

 

Fall Open House

The Linguistics department will be hosting its Open House on Thursday, October 20, 5- 7 PM at the Ticknor Lounge.  This event is an opportunity for prospective concentrators to learn more about a concentration in Linguistics. Drop by to meet the current members of the department  and ask any questions you might have about linguistics!

 

GSAS Indo-European and Historical Linguistics Workshop

 

Greta Galeotti (Department of the Classics, Harvard):

"The Ionic iterative-preterites: some questions about their epic development."

 Friday 21 October | 5.00 - 6.30 p.m | Boylston 335