Each semester, labs affiliated with Center for Language Science run a number of experiments. Our members are always looking for people to participate in their experiments. These studies typically look at a variety of languages ranging from English, Spanish, Chinese, to Dutch. Chances are, if you speak one or more languages (be it fluently, proficiently, or enough to get by), we can find an experiment for you!
Listed below, you will find descriptions of the ongoing studies in our labs. If you are interested in participating, please contact the relevant party. Participants are compensated for their time in the form of cash or class credit.
Note: Under the populations heading, the first language listed represents the speaker's native language. So Spanish-English means you learned Spanish first and English later.
Kroll Behavioral Lab
Study of Spanish Lexical and Sentence Processing
Primary Investigators: Judy Kroll & Giuli Dussias
Co-PI: Roxana Botezatu, Jason Gullifer
Populations: Spanish-English Bilinguals, English Monolinguals
Contact: Roxana Botezatu, Jason Gullifer, Lisa Vitzthum, Alex Broudy
Summary:
We are conducting a series of experiments looking at both lexical (i.e. word) and sentence processing in both monolinguals and bilinguals. The experiment you participate in will consist of either a word naming task or a task where you read sentences presented to you on the screen. Participation takes about an hour.
Word Triggers in Codeswitched Sentences
Primary Investigators: Janet van Hell & Marijt Witteman
Populations: Learners of French
Contact: Marijt Witteman
We are seeking learners of French. More specifically, we're looking for native English speakers who have at least 300 level French experience at the university. Our experiment is aimed at exploring the influence of word triggers in code switched phrases. Participants will read sentences in French and English.
Second Language Processing Lab
Studies of German Lexical and Sentence Processing
Primary Investigator: Carrie Jackson
Populations: Learners of German
Contact: Carrie Jackson
Scheduling Participants: Feb. 1 - March 6
Summary:
We are looking for second language learners of German at a variety of
proficiency levels, ranging from beginning-level (GER 002) through
highly-proficient speakers, to participate in an experiment exploring
how L2 German learners process words and sentences in German. The
experiment lasts 70-90 minutes and participants will be compensated
at the end of the experiment for their participation.
Studies of German Lexical and Sentence Processing
Primary Investigator: Carrie Jackson and Janet van Hell
Populations: English monolinguals
Contact: Carrie Jackson
Scheduling Participants: April - May
Summary:
We are currently looking for volunteers to participate in a study examining the way in which people read and comprehend English sentences being conducted by Dr. Carrie Jackson for research purposes here at Penn State University. In order to be eligible to participate in this study you must be at least 18 years of age, and English must be your native language. No prior experience with a foreign language is necessary. Participating in this study will consist of one meeting lasting approximately 60 minutes with the experimenter or one of her assistants. All meetings will take place in 413 Burrowes. You will be paid $12/hr at the end of the session as compensation for your participation. For more information, contact Dr. Carrie Jackson, the director of the study (email: cnj1@psu.edu; phone: 814-863-7488).
Gerfen Linguistics Lab
Study: Spanish-English Code Switching
Primary Investigators: Chip Gerfen and Giuli Dussias
Co-PI: Rosa Guzzardo Tamargo
Populations: Spanish-English bilinguals
Contact: Rosa Guzzardo Tamargo
Summary:
The study we are currently conducting is focused on bilingual processing of monolingual and code switched sentences. The participants will read sentences displayed one by one on a computer screen. Each of these sentences will be followed by a comprehension question or a grammaticality judgment. In addition, the participants will be asked to complete a memory task, a visual attention task, a naming task, and a short, simple grammar test. The experiment should take about two hours to complete. Participants will be compensated $20. We are looking for participants who are native Spanish speakers and who are very proficient in English as a second language. The participants can be speakers who code switch between their two languages regularly (for example, people that say something like “Today I’m not going to la universidad because I’m muy cansado”) or speakers that do not usually mix their languages.
Scheduling Participants: February 11th – April 3rd