research
Research background
I am interested in how humans “think”. As it turns out, language is integral to “thinking”. My research goal has been to understand the embedding of the language system in its broader context of a brain specialised for the goals of perception and action, rather than seeing language as an isolated modular system. This research has used behavioural measures, eye tracking and cognitive neuroscience methods, including fMRI, TMS and polysomnography. Publications arranged by topic are available below.
Some more recent publications can be found in my Worktribe profile (our University research output management system)
Word learning, sleep and memory
This work has focused on how adults learn new words. A key motivation is applying what we know about how learning and memory to understand how language learning works. And in turn, understanding the mechanisms involved in language learning can help inform models of memory. Some of this research was funded by an ERSC grant in colloboration with Gareth Gaskell and Scott Cairney.
Cairney, S.A., Lindsay, S., Paller, K.A. & Gaskell, M.G. (2018). Sleep Preserves Original and Distorted Memory Traces. Cortex, 99, 39-44.
Cairney, S. A., Sobczak, J. M., Lindsay, S., & Gaskell, M. G. (2017). Mechanisms of Memory Retrieval in Slow-Wave Sleep. Sleep, zsx114.
Cairney, S. A., Lindsay, S., Sobczak, J. M., Paller, K. A., Gaskell, M. G. (2017). The benefits of targeted memory reactivation for consolidation in sleep are contingent on memory accuracy and direct cue-memory associations.. Sleep, 39(5), DOI: pii: sp-00533-15
Tham, E., Lindsay, S., & Gaskell, M.G. (2015). Markers of automaticity in sleep-associated consolidation of novel words. Neuropsychologia, 71, 146-5. DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2015.03.025
Lindsay, S., Frost, R., Guest, J., Snowden, R., & Stackhouse, A. (2014). Sleep underpins the plasticity of phonotactic constraints in language production. Psychological Science, 25(7), 1457-1465.
Satzuki, N., Lindsay, S., & Ota, M. (2015). A prerequisite to L1 homophone effects in L2 spoken-word recognition. Language Learning. 31(1), 29-52. DOI: 10.1177/0267658314534661
Lindsay, S., & Gaskell, M. G. (2013). Lexical integration of novel words without sleep. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 39(2), 608-622.
Lindsay, S., Sedin, L., & Gaskell, M. G. (2012). Acquiring novel words and their past tenses: Evidence from lexical effects on phonetic categorisation. Journal of Memory and Language, 66(1), 210–225.
Lindsay, S. & Gaskell, M.G. (2012). Word learning and lexical development across the lifespan. In N. Seel (Ed.), Encyclopaedia of the Sciences of Learning (pp. 3465-3467), New York: Springer.
Lindsay, S. & Gaskell, M. G. (2010). A complementary systems account of word learning in L1 and L2. Language Learning, 60, 45-63.
Lindsay, S. & Gaskell, M. G. (2009). Spaced learning and the lexical integration of novel words. In N.A. Taatgen & H. van Rijn (Eds.), Proceedings of the 31st Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society (pp. 2517-2522). Austin, TX: Cognitive Science Society.
Langugage, vision and event representation
This research has investigated the interaction of visual processing in language comprehension, based on the idea that language comprehension is aided by the visual system in helping us understand events.
Kamide, Y., Lindsay. S., Scheepers, C., & Kukona, A. (2016). Event processing in the visual world: Projected motion paths during spoken sentence comprehension. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition. 42(5), 804-812.
Lindsay, S., Scheepers, C., & Kamide, Y. (2013). To Dash or to Dawdle: Verb-Associated Speed of Motion Influences Eye Movements during Spoken Sentence Comprehension. PLOS ONE, 8(6), e67187.
Bergen, B., Lindsay, S., Matlock, T., & Narayanan, S. (2007). Spatial and linguistic aspects of visual imagery in sentence comprehension. Cognitive Science, 31, 733–764.
Speech perception and the motor system
Contrary to some claims from embodied cognition, this research provides evidence against the idea that premotor component of the speech production system is involved in speech perception.
Krieger-Redwood, K., Gaskell, M.G., Lindsay, S., & Jefferies, B. (2013). The selective role of dorsal premotor cortex in speech perception: A contribution to phoneme judgements but not speech comprehension. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 25(12), 2179-2188.
Orthographic processing
Tseng, H., Lindsay, S., & Davis, C. J. (2019). Author accepted manuscript: Semantic interpretability does not influence masked priming effects. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 1747021819896766.
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