Winter Storm 2025

9:00 AM to 11:00 AM

Cocoloquium and Working Hours

9:30 AM to 10:45 AM

• Workshop: EEG (1/3)
• TBA

11:00 AM to 12:00 PM

• Talk: Simon Fischer-Baum (NSF, Rice University)

12:00 PM to 1:00 PM

Lunch and Social

1:00 PM to 4:00 PM

Work in Progress Discussion Stations

4:00 PM to 5:00 PM

TBA

9:00 AM to 11:00 AM

Cocoloquium and Working Hours

9:30 AM to 10:45 AM

• Workshop: EEG (2/3)
• McWhorter Reading Group: Flores

11:00 AM to 12:00 PM

Talk: Ryan Staples (Georgetown)

12:00 PM to 1:00 PM

Lunch and Social

1:00 PM to 1:30 PM

What Is a Grant Even?

1:45 PM to 2:30 PM

Workshop: NIH F31 Predoctoral Research Award

2:45 PM to 3:30 PM

Workshop: NSF Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement Grant

4:00 PM to 5:00 PM

TBA

9:00 AM to 11:00 AM

Cocoloquium and Working Hours

9:30 AM to 10:45 AM

• Workshop: EEG (3/3)
• Workshop: Writing

11:00 AM to 12:00 PM

• Talk: Karrie Godwin (UMBC)

12:00 PM to 1:00 PM

Lunch and Social

1:00 PM to 2:30 PM

Workshop: Developing and Pitching Research Ideas

3:00 PM to 4:00 PM

Research Brainstorming Sprints

4:30 PM to 6:00 PM

Happy Hour

9:00 AM to 11:00 AM

Cocoloquium and Working Hours

9:30 AM to 10:45 AM

• McWhorter Reading Group: Code Switching
• TBA

11:00 AM to 12:00 PM

CANCELLED: Talk: Deanna Gagne (Gallaudet)

12:00 PM to 1:00 PM

Lunch and Social

1:00 PM to 4:00 PM

Workshop: Science Communication

Abstract

Aphasia (spoken language disorders) and alexia (disorders of reading) are common sequelae of left hemisphere stroke. These language disorders are experienced as severe negative impacts on stroke survivors’ quality of life and participation in daily activities. While small studies often show promising results from behavioral language interventions, there is large variability in the effect of interventions. One potential reason for this variability is that, while many treatment studies apply homogenous interventions, the deficits elicited by stroke are heterogenous in both overall severity and in the degree to which they affect the processing of word sounds (phonology) and meanings (semantics). Individualized models could account for this heterogeneity, and serve as a testing platform to predict therapy outcomes. In this talk I will argue that artificial neural network (ANN) models of reading serve as a way of making the relationships between cognitive processes, behavior, and neural processes explicit. I will show that ANN models of reading develop internal representations that resemble neural representations (derived from fMRI) elicited in reading single words aloud in healthy adults, and that these models can capture individual variability within stroke survivors’ specific reading deficits in a theoretically-motivated fashion. These findings provide a basis from which to test if individualized models can predict therapy outcomes.

About

Simon is an Associate Professor of Psychology at Rice University, and currently a Program Director at NSF for the Perception, Action, and Cognition program. His research is focused on the representations and processes that underlie written and spoken language processing and short term memory, how they are instantiated neurally, and how they can be impaired and/or cortically reorganize following brain damage.

About

Ryan Staples is a postdoctoral fellow at the Georgetown University Department of Neurology. His research examines how damage to a reading model relates to neural correlates of phonological and semantic contributions to reading, using voxel-based lesion symptom mapping (VLSM) and connectome-based lesion-symptom mapping (CLSM). 

About

Karrie is an Associate Professor of Psychology at the University of Maryland Baltimore County. She directs the Child Development Lab, examining how cognitive and environmental factors shape children’s development and learning in the laboratory and in the classroom. 

CANCELLED

Abstract

Language acquisition and evolution offer unique insights when examined through signed and tactile modalities. This talk will explore the interplay between modality, social interaction, and linguistic structures in languages used by deaf and DeafBlind communities. The relative youth of most sign languages such as American Sign Language (ASL), Nicaraguan Sign Language (LSN), and protactile, a newly-emerging language in the American DeafBlind community, highlights the contribution of modality to linguistic change and innovation. Examples from these languages will be presented, including real-time grammaticalization processes in the use of space in these two modalities (visual and tactile). Finally, work with such communities will be discussed through the lens of ethical collaboration, framing the value of collaborative, reciprocal partnerships to enrich our understanding of language while amplifying the strengths and knowledge inherent in language communities.

About

Deanna Gagne is an Associate Professor of Linguistics at Gallaudet University. She directs the Multimodality, Acquisition, and Cognition Lab, investigating language acquisition and use across modalities, including visual, tactile, and spoken language. She is also a collaborator at the Language Science Station at Planet Word, conducting language science research in the museum.

January 24th, 2025, 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM.

Led by Charlotte Vaughn, Director of the Language Science Station at Planet Word. 

This workshop is aimed at anyone interested in upping their public engagement game, from those just starting out to those who’ve been at it a while. Through hands-on exercises, conversation, and strategic planning tools, we’ll put particular focus on setting goals and objectives for your science communication, so that designing your activities follows from those goals. We’ll especially emphasize face-to-face scicomm formats like interactive demos (think events at museums, science fairs, Maryland Day), but the same principles apply across media, whether you’re giving a talk or writing for popular audiences, posting on social media, starting a podcast, or working on the broader impacts for your next grant proposal.

January 23rd, 2025, 9:30 AM to 10:45 AM.

Writing Workshop led by Kristin Hoch (NACS) Are you stuck on something you’re writing? Do you have a project you’ve been putting off starting? Do you just want to refine your writing skills? Come get some tips and tricks for whatever stage of writing you’re at, whether that’s brainstorming an idea, writing a first draft, or editing. For those who don’t have a writing project in progress, I’ll have some prompts and exercises - some (hopefully) useful, some silly - for you to practice your writing abilities.v

January 21st, 2025, 9:30 AM to 10:45 AM

Session 1:  What you Can and Cannot Do with ERP/EEG, Plus Getting Started with the EP Toolkit

January 22nd, 2025, 9:30 AM to 10:45 AM.

Session 2: Nuts and Bolts of EEG (Hardware, Reference, Filters, Artifacts, Measurement)

January 23rd, 2025, 9:30 AM to 10:45 AM.

Session 3: Advanced Topics (PCA/ICA, Source Analysis)

This series is led by Joe Dien, developer of the EP Toolkit. It workshop is intended to be appropriate for both new and experienced EEG/ERP researchers. While it will go over some of the basics, it will emphasize material that should be useful even for experienced researchers. The material will focus on tips for helping maximize the odds of successful results. It will also provide an introduction to the EP Toolkit, an open-source Matlab EEG analysis suite that provides cutting edge methods for all aspects of EEG processing and analysis. The presenter, Joseph Dien, is a well-published EEG methodologist, who is the outgoing Editor-In-Chief of Biological Psychology. 

January 22nd, 2025, 1:00 PM to 1:30 PM.

The process of submitting and administering grants often seems shrouded in mystery. In this session, Caitlin Eaves (LSC) will walk you through the basics of what you need to know about how grants work at a university. This is a great first step if you're thinking about applying for a predoctoral grant (like the NIH F31 or NSF DDRI) at some point in the future. 

January 22nd, 2025, 1:45 PM to 2:30 PM.

Caitlin Eaves (LSC), Ellen Roche (HDQM), and Gavkhar Abdurokhmonova (HDQM) will walk you through the advantages of the F31 and the process of applying. This session will include practical information useful for people who plan to apply in the next year, as well as more general information for people who may apply in 2-3 years. 

January 22nd, 2025, 2:45 PM to 3:30 PM.

Caitlin Eaves (LSC) and Arynn Byrd (HESP '24) will walk you through the advantages of the DDRI and the process of applying. This session will include practical information useful for people who plan to apply in the next year, as well as more general information for people who may apply in 2-3 years.

Caitlin Eaves will present in-person, with Arynn Byrd participating virtually.

January 23rd, 2025, 1:00 PM to 2:30 PM.

Yi Ting Huang (LSC) will discuss how to develop and pitch new research ideas for grants, including individual training grants and collaborative research grants. 

January 22nd, 2025, 9:30 AM to 10:45 AM.

In this session (related to McWhorter’s talk “Affixless in Flores”), we'll discuss how grammars change during language contact (where multiple languages are spoken in one community) and language shift (where use of one language is gradually replaced by another). While language change in these contexts is well-documented, how to characterize these changes remains contentious --- whether contact-induced changes are consistently simplifying, or whether they are ordinary instances of language change, with no single effect on complexity.

Please prepare by reading any two of the following three articles:

• McWhorter, John. (2001). The world's simplest grammars are creole grammars. Linguistic Typology , 5(2-3), 125-166. https://doi.org/10.1515/lity.2001.001
• Dorian, N.C. (1978). The fate of morphological complexity in language death: Evidence from East Sutherland Gaelic. Language 54(3), 590-609. https://dx.doi.org/10.1353/lan.1978.0024.

Meakins, F., & O'Shannessy, C. (2010). Ordering arguments about: Word order and discourse motivations in the development and use of the ergative marker in two Australian mixed languages. Lingua, 120(7), 1693-1713. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lingua.2009.05.013

January 24th, 2025, 9:30 AM to 10:45 AM.

Eusebia Mont (HESP) will lead this discussion relevant to McWhorter’s talk about code switching, "Why Most Humans Talk in Two or More Ways"

In “Black English and the Myth of ‘Standard’ English,” Eusebia Mont (HESP) will lead this discussion on the complexities of code-switching, inspired by John McWhorter's New York Times columns. We will explore how language shapes identity, social dynamics, and cultural authenticity while challenging the myth of "standard" English. This conversation will delve into why code-switching is not just a practice but a natural part of human communication. Perfect for students, faculty, and anyone interested in linguistics, diversity, and social justice. To prepare for the discussion, please read the following (short!) articles: 

• Black English Doesn’t Have to Be Just for Black People 

• It Wasn't 'Verbal Blackface' AOC Was Code Switching

January 21st, 2025, 1:00 PM to 3:30 PM.

Do you have an idea you’re trying to develop into a project, a method that needs refining, or some data that’s hard to interpret? Discuss your project and brainstorm solutions in small groups, rotating throughout the afternoon. 

January 23rd, 2025, 3:00 PM to 4:00 PM.

Work with a small group to propose a new research project in an hour! We’ll lead you through a rapid brainstorming process.