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Department of Cognitive Science

The Language Program

Child playing with boxThe major project as far as written language is concerned is the continuing development of a computational model of visual word recognition and reading aloud, the DRC model. We have shown not only that this model offers a much better account of various phenomena observed in studies of skilled reading than any other models of reading, but also that it is very useful for understanding acquired dyslexia (reading impairment caused by brain damage in formerly skilled readers), learning to read and developmental dyslexia (including being useful for the design of methods for treating developmental dyslexia) and that the ease with which children acquire the two different reading routes posited by the model is subject to genetic influence, with different genes being involved in the acquisition of each route. With respect to spoken language, topics we have investigated include (a) the breakdown of spoken language production in aphasia (as a way of learning more about the normal mechanisms of speech production) and how this impairment can be treated; (b) specific language impairment in children; and (c) the understanding of metaphor and irony in schizophrenia and in schizotypy.