DISSERTATIONTOPICSAVAILABLE2014/2015

This document lists the academic staff available to supervise MSc dissertations for the
2014/15academicyear,alongwithabriefstatementofresearchinterests,andadescription
oftopicsthateachstaffmemberiswillingtosupervise.Insomecases,specificprojectsmay
bedescribed;inothers,amorebroaddescriptionofaresearchareaisgiven.Inadditionto
thespecifictopicssuggested,itispossibleforyoutosuggestyourowntopictoapotential
supervisor.

It is up to you to approach supervisors to discuss topics. Your dissertation topic will be

negotiated with your supervisor and must be agreed by both parties. Any student can be
supervised by any academic staff member, provided that the topic is approved by your
taughtProgrammeDirectorasatopicrelevanttoyourMScprogramme.

Onceyouhaveagreeduponadissertationtopicwithasupervisor,theProgrammeDirector
must be informed, and asked to approve the topic. Only then will your project with that
supervisorbeconfirmed.

YourdissertationtopicshouldideallybeconfirmedbytheendofFebruary,andconsiderably
earlier if the project is complicated or likely to involve special populations (e.g. children,
neuropsychologicalpatients)orrequiresNHSapproval.

Please be aware that supervisors might have limited places, so you should not necessarily
expecttobeacceptedforyourfirstchoiceofproject.

Therecommendedwordlimitforthedissertationis8,000words.

Thesubmissiondeadlineforthedissertationis4pm,Thursday13thAugust2015.Detailsof
howtoformatthedissertationwillbeavailableonthePPLSPGwebsite.

PHILOSOPHY
DrMatthewChrisman

Office:5.11DSB

Email:Matthew.Chrisman@ed.ac.uk
Web:http://www.ppls.ed.ac.uk/people/matthewchrisman

ResearchInterests
Ethics,Epistemology,PhilosophyofLanguage.

Topics
MeaningofMoralTerms
NatureofAgency
NormsofBelief
DeonticLogic
TheoriesofMeaning
EnvironmentalEthics
DirectActionandCivilDisobedience

ProfAndyClark

Office:6.14DSB

Email:andy.clark@ed.ac.uk
Web:http://www.ppls.ed.ac.uk/people/andyclarkfrse
http://www.edge.org/memberbio/andy_clark

ResearchInterests
PhilosophyofMind,ArtificialIntelligence,includingrobotics,artificiallife,embodied
cognition,andmind,technologyandculture.

Topics
FoundationsofCognitiveScience
EmbodiedCognition
ExtendedCognition
RoboticsandArtificialLife
Mind,Technology,andCulture
Prediction,Simulation,andtheBayesianBrain

Thisyear,Idespeciallyliketosuperviseadissertationonthetopicofneural
predictionmechanismsandtheexplanationofconsciousexperience,perhapswith
specialreferencetorecentworkbyAnilSethandothersoninteroceptiveprediction.

DrAlixCohen

Office:4.13DSB

Email:Alix.Cohen@ed.ac.uk
Web:http://www.ppls.ed.ac.uk/philosophy/people/alixcohen

ResearchInterests
HistoryofPhilosophy,KantianEthics,Aesthetics,PhilosophyofSocialSciences,
PhilosophyoftheEmotions.

Topics
Kant
Hume
Rousseau

DrGuyFletcher

Office:4.03DSB

Email:Guy.Fletcher@ed.ac.uk
Web:http://www.philosophy.ed.ac.uk/people/view.php?name=guyfletcher

ResearchInterests
Metaethics,Ethics,PoliticalPhilosophy.

Topics
MoralMotivation
MoralTestimony
WellBeing
HateSpeech

DrMikkelGerken

Office:6.02DSB

Email:MGerken@staffmail.ed.ac.uk
Web:http://www.ppls.ed.ac.uk/people/mikkelgerken

ResearchInterests
Epistemologyandphilosophyofmind.

Topics
I'mhappytoadviceonanytopicwithintheseareas.I'malsohappytoteachontheses
onphilosophicalpsychologyandphilosophicalmethodology.

ProfSandyGoldberg

Office:TBA

Email:S.Goldberg@ed.ac.uk
Web:http://www.ppls.ed.ac.uk/people/sandygoldberg

ResearchInterests
Epistemology(includingsocialepistemology),philosophyoflanguage,philosophyof
mind.

Topics
Testimony, disagreement, assertion, norms of inquiry, extended cognition meets
epistemology.

DrAllanHazlett

Office:5.08DSB

Email:A.Hazlett@ed.ac.uk
Web:http://www.ppls.ed.ac.uk/people/allanhazlett

ResearchInterests
Epistemology,ethics,metaphysics,aesthetics.

Topics
Iamhappytosuperviseanyoftheprojectsbelow,ordiscussanyotherideasthatfall
intomygeneralareaofinterest.

DrAlistairIsaac

Office:6.08DSB

Email:a.m.c.isaac@ed.ac.uk
Web:http://www.ppls.ed.ac.uk/philosophy/people/alistairisaac

ResearchInterests
Historyandphilosophyofpsychology(especiallyperceptionandpsychophysics),
cognitivescience,generalphilosophyofscience,anddecisiontheory,withparticular
interestinthetopicofrepresentationineachoftheseareas.

Topics
Philosophyofperception
Philosophyofcognitivescience
Scientificmethodology
Probabilityanddecisionmaking

ProfJesperKallestrup

Office:4.06DSB

Email:Jesper.Kallestrup@ed.ac.uk
Web:http://www.ppls.ed.ac.uk/people/jesperkallestrup

ResearchInterests
Epistemology,PhilosophyofMind,PhilosophyofLanguage

Topics
MetaphysicsofMind
EpistemicandSemanticExternalism
TheoriesofReference

DrJaneSuilinLavelle

Office:5.07DSB

Email:j.s.lavelle@ed.ac.uk
Web:http://www.ppls.ed.ac.uk/philosophy/people/janesuilinlavelle

ResearchInterests
Cognitive science, philosophy of mind, experimental philosophy, philosophy of
biologyandnatureofexplanation.

Topics
Anythingtodowithsocialcognition;evolutionarypsychology;levelsofexplanationin
cognitive science; experimental philosophy concerning consciousness and group
minds.

DrDavidLevy

Office:5.10DSB

Email:D.Levy@ed.ac.uk
Web:http://www.ppls.ed.ac.uk/philosophy/people/davidlevy

ResearchInterests
MoralPhilosophy,Wittgenstein,Understanding,Plato,Meaning,SimoneWeil,
Epistemology,Psychology

Topics
Moralunderstandingandphenomenology
Wittgenstein
Platosmoralphilosophy

DrAndrewMason

Office:5.09DSB

Email:A.S.Mason@ed.ac.uk
Web:http://www.ppls.ed.ac.uk/people/andrewmason

Topics
Ancientethics
Ancientaesthetics
Philosophyofreligion

DrElinorMason

Office:6.06DSB

Email:Elinor.Mason@ed.ac.uk
Web:http://www.ppls.ed.ac.uk/philosophy/people/elinormason

ResearchInterests

Normativeethics,metaethics,feminism,moralresponsibility

Topics
ConsequentialismandDeontology
Motivationinternalismandexternalism
FalseConsciousnessandimplicitBias
Othertopicsinmyresearchfields

DrMichelaMassimi

Office:5.03DSB

Email:Michela.Massimi@ed.ac.uk
Web:http://www.ppls.ed.ac.uk/people/michelamassimi

Topics
Philosophyofscience
Metaphysicsofscience
Historyofphilosophy(especiallyKant)

DrAidanMcGlynn

Office:6.12DSB

Email:AMcGlynn@staffmail.ed.ac.uk
Web:http://www.ppls.ed.ac.uk/people/aidanmcglynn

ResearchInterests
Epistemology,philosophyoflanguage,philosophyofmind(especiallyitsintersection
withepistemology)

Topics
AssertionandImplicature
SelfKnowledge
TheKnowledgeFirstProgramme

DrPaulinePhemister

Office:6.04DSB

Email:P.Phemister@ed.ac.uk
Web:http://www.ppls.ed.ac.uk/people/paulinephemister

ResearchInterests
HistoryofPhilosophyandPhilosophyofNature

Topics
Early Modern Philosophy (Descartes to Leibniz): metaphysics, philosophy of
nature,philosophyofmind,ethics,aesthetics
Ecologicalphilosophy

DrBryanPickel

Office:4.04bDSB

Email:bpickel@staffmail.ed.ac.uk
Web:http://www.ppls.ed.ac.uk/philosophy/people/bryanpickel

ResearchInterests
Metaphysics,PhilosophyofLanguage,HistoryofAnalyticPhilosophy

Topics
VariablesandQuantifiers
BeliefAscription
OntologicalCommitment
ProblemofUniversals
Frege,Russell,Moore,Quine

ProfDuncanPritchard

Office:6.13DSB

Email:duncan.pritchard@ed.ac.uk
Web:http://www.ppls.ed.ac.uk/philosophy/people/duncanpritchardfrse

ResearchInterests
Epistemology

Topics
RadicalScepticism
EpistemicValue
VirtueEpistemology

DrBrianRabern

Office:4.04cDSB

Email:brian.rabern@ed.ac.uk
Web:http://www.philosophy.ed.ac.uk/people/view.php?name=brianrabern

ResearchInterests
Philosophyoflanguage,formalsemantics,philosophicallogic.

Topics
Indexicalityandcontextdependence
Twodimensionalsemantics
Dynamicsemantics
Thesemanticsofnames,variables,quotation,andepistemicdiscourse
Thesemanticparadoxes

DrAlasdairRichmond

Office:6.11DSB

Email:A.Richmond@ed.ac.uk
Web:http://www.ppls.ed.ac.uk/philosophy/people/alasdairrichmond

ResearchInterests
Metaphysics(especiallytimeandspace),philosophyofscience,theBritishempiricists
(especiallyHumeonmiracles)

Topics
Metaphysics(preferablytimeandspace

Britishempiricismandidealism
Philosophyofscience
Philosophyofreligion

ProfMichaelRidge

Office:6.09DSB

Email:M.Ridge@ed.ac.uk
Web:http://www.ppls.ed.ac.uk/philosophy/people/michaelridge

ResearchInterests
Moralphilosophy.

Topics
Metaethics
ThemoralphilosophyofDavidHume
Thephilosophyofgames

DrDebbieRoberts

Office:4.12DSB

Email:D.Roberts@ed.ac.uk
Web:http://www.ppls.ed.ac.uk/people/debbieroberts

ResearchInterests
Metaethicsandmetanormativephilosophy,normativeethics,philosophyoflaw.

Topics
Metaethics
NormativeEthics
PhilosophyofLaw

DrAndersJ.Schoubye

Office:4.05DSB

Email:Anders.Schoubye@ed.ac.uk
Web:http://www.ppls.ed.ac.uk/people/andersjschoubye

ResearchInterests
Philosophyoflanguage,formalsemanticsandpragmatics,philosophicallogic,
epistemology.

Topics

Semantics of quantifiers, referential terms (e.g. names, pronouns, descriptions),

andmodals(e.g.epistemicanddeonticmodals,propositionalattitudeverbs)
Thenatureofpresuppositionsandimplicatures
Thedistinctionbetweensemanticsandpragmatics
Othertopicsinphilosophyoflanguage/formalsemantics/philosophicallogic

DrMarkSprevak

Office:5.12DSB

Email:mark.sprevak@ed.ac.uk
Web:http://www.ppls.ed.ac.uk/philosophy/people/marksprevak

ResearchInterests
Philosophyofmind,philosophyofscience,metaphysics,andphilosophyoflanguage,
withparticularfocusonthecognitivesciences.

Topics
PhilosophyofMind
PhilosophyofCognitiveScience
PhilosophyofScience
Metaphysics

DrPatrickTodd

Office:4.04aDSB

Email:ptodd2@statffmail.ed.ac.uk
Web:http://www.ppls.ed.ac.uk/people/patricktodd

ResearchInterests
Freewill,moralresponsibility,metaphysics,ethics,philosophyofreligion.

Topics
Freewillanddeterminism
Moralresponsibility
Blameandpraise
Fatalism
Truthandtime
Presentismandgrounding
Thecoherenceoftheism(esp.omniscience)

DrTillmannVierkant

Office:5.06DSB

Email:tvierkant@ed.ac.uk
Web:http://www.ppls.ed.ac.uk/people/tillmannvierkant

ResearchInterests
PhilosophyofMind,FreeWill,MentalActions,Consciousness,Implicit/explicit
mentalprocessing,Neuroethics,PhilosophyofPsychologyandCognitiveScience.

Topics
Agencyandthewill
Theoryofmind(simulationandmindreading)
Philosophyofpsychopathology
Mindreading
Metacognition

DrDaveWard

Office:6.05DSB

Email:Dave.Ward@ed.ac.uk
Web:http://www.ppls.ed.ac.uk/people/davidward

ResearchInterests
Philosophyofmindandcognitivescience

Topics
PhilosophyofMind
PhilosophyofCognitiveScience
Enactivism

PSYCHOLOGY

DrSharonAbrahams

Office:S11(7GS)

Email:S.Abrahams@ed.ac.uk
Web:http://www.ppls.ed.ac.uk/psychology/people/sharonabrahams

PrincipalResearchGrouping
HumanCognitiveNeuroscience

Researchinterests
Neuropsychology(executiveandmemoryfunctions,socialcognition,behaviour
abnormalities)indementia.Myprimaryfocusisonmotorneuronediseaseand
frontotemporaldementia.

Topics
TheEdinburghCognitiveandBehaviouralALSScreen.Thesestudiesinvolve
determiningwhetherthisscreenissensitivetodifferenttypesofdementia,using
thescreentoinvestigatethebehaviouralprofileofdifferentdementias,
determiningtherelationshipofthisnewscreentoageandIQinhealthy
volunteers.
Thereliabilityandvalidityofahospitalbasedmultipleerrandstest(MET).This
projectwillbesupervisedbyDrBlancaPoveda,clinicalneuropsychologistandwill
collateandanalysepreviouslycollecteddataonMETcomparingthistotheir
standardneuropsychologicalbatteryontheneurologicalpatientpopulationat
theAstleyAinslehospital,Edinburgh.
Theeffectofachangeinmedicationoncognitionandfatigueinpatientswith
tumourandepilepsy.ThisprojectwillbesupervisedtogetherwithDrRobin
Grant,ConsultantNeurologistattheWesternGeneralHospital.

ProfElizabethAustin

Office:S39(7GS)

Email:Elizabeth.Austin@ed.ac.uk
Web:http://www.ppls.ed.ac.uk/people/elizabethaustin

PrincipalResearchGrouping
DifferentialPsychology

Researchinterests
Emotionalintelligence.Psychometrics.Personality.Statisticalmodelling

Topics

Emotionalintelligenceandemotiontaskperformance
Validationofanewscaleassessingmanagingtheemotionsofothers

DrBonnieAuyeung

Office:S29(7GS)

Email:Bonnie.Auyeung@ed.ac.uk
Web:http://www.ppls.ed.ac.uk/psychology/people/bonnieauyeung

Researchinterests
Autism,earlychilddevelopment(socialandcognitivedevelopment,neural
development,eyegaze),sexdifferences,neurodevelopmentaloutcomes

Topics
Infantandearlychildsocialandcognitivedevelopment
Neurodevelopmentalsexdifferences
Autismanddevelopmentaldisorders
Developmentofnewmeasuresofsocialandcognitivebehaviour

ProfTimBates

Office:F33(7GS)

Email:Tim.Bates@ed.ac.uk
Web:http://www.ppls.ed.ac.uk/people/timothybates

PrincipalResearchGrouping
DifferentialPsychologyandHumanCognitiveNeuroscience

Researchinterests
Iamactiveinbehaviorsandmoleculargeneticresearch.Ialsohaveaninterestin
aestheticsandarchitecture.Onthegeneticsside,particularfociofmyresearch
includevariableslinkedtosocialstatussuchaseducation,dyslexia,language
impairment,IQ,stamina.Ialsoworkoncognitiveageing,happinessandsocial
phenomenasuchasgroupfavoritism.Wehaveanumberoftwindatasetswithmany
hundredsofphenotypesforyoutoworkon.

Topics
Doweknowwhatwearedoing?
Experimentalworkonfactorsthatinfluenceattainment.Doesglucoseaffect
willpower?Canwealterstamina?
Testingatheoryofaesthetics.Thiswouldinvolvecollectingdataonpeoples
appreciationofbuildings,clothing,orworksofart,andexplainingwhysomeare
likedmorethanothers

DrTomBooth

Office:F17(7GS)

Email:Tom.Booth@ed.ac.uk
Web:http://www.ppls.ed.ac.uk/people/tombooth

Researchinterests
Myresearchinterestsincludequantitativemethods(particularlylatentvariable
models,structuralequationmodellingandscalingmethods),psychometricsand
personalitytheoryandmeasurement.Iaminterestedinthedevelopmentanddecline
ofindividualdifferencetraits,groupdifferences,andhowtraitsinfluencelife
outcomes,particularlyhealthandintheworkplace.Someofmyrecentworkhasalso
beenfocussedontherelationsbetweenindividualdifferencesandallostaticload(the
wearandtearonthebodyovertimeduetothestressresponse.

Topics
Iwouldbeinterestedinsupervisingprojectsaroundanyofthetopicslistedabove.I
wouldencouragestudentswhohaveideasaroundindividualdifferencesandhealth
tocomeandhaveaninformalchat.Ihaveanumberofpsychometricprojectswhich
wouldbesuitableforMScdissertations.

DrDavidCarmel

Office:F16(7GS)

Email:Dave.Carmel@ed.ac.uk
Web:http://www.ppls.ed.ac.uk/people/davidcarmel

PrincipalResearchGrouping
HumanCognitiveNeuroscience

Researchinterests
Iaminterestedinthecognitiveneuroscienceofconsciousnessandperceptual
awareness.Iinvestigatetheneuralandpsychologicalprocessesthatgiveriseto
awarenessofperceptual(mostoftenvisual)stimuli,andwhatsortsofperceptual
processingcanoccurwithoutawareness.Ialsoexaminehowconsciousand
unconsciousperceptioninteractwithotherprocessessuchasattention,emotionand
workingmemory.Todoso,Iemploynoninvasivebrainstimulation(transcranial
magneticstimulation[TMS]andtranscranialdirectcurrentstimulation[tDCS]),
behaviouralmethods,andphysiologicalmeasures(skinconductance).Iamhappyto
superviseanyoftheprojectsbelow,ordiscussanyotherideasthatfallintomy
generalareaofinterest.

Topics
Theinvolvementofhighlevelbrainregionsinvisualawareness
Ourperceptualsystemsconstantlytrytocomprehendsensoryinputs.Bistablestimuli,

whichgiverisetomorethanonepossiblepercept,thusserveasinvaluabletoolsfor
understandingthemechanismsunderlyingconsciousperception:Anunchanging
stimulusleadstoalternatingpercepts;astheonlychangehappeningiswithinthe
brain,understandingthisprocesscanshedlightonthemechanismsthatdetermine
howthebrainselectsinformationforconsciousawareness.Neuroimagingstudies
haveshownthathighlevelbrainregionsrightparietalandfrontalcortexare
involvedinbistableperception.However,suchcorrelationalfindingscannotestablish
whatcausalrole(ifany)theseregionsplay.Thenextstep,therefore,istomanipulate
brainactivityintheseregionsandmeasuretheeffectsthishasonbistableperception.
ThisyearIamofferingaprojectaimedatestablishingthepreciseroletheseareas
playinshapingvisualawareness:WewilluseTMS(transcranialmagneticstimulation)
toinfluenceactivityinparietalcortex,andexaminetheeffectthishasonawareness
ofcomplexbistableimages.Theprojectwillrequirecollaborationbetweentwo
students.
Carmel,D.,Walsh,V.,Lavie,N.,&Rees,G.(2010).RightparietalTMSshortens
dominancedurationsinbinocularrivalry.CurrentBiology,20(18),R799800.

Kanai,R.,Carmel,D.,Bahrami,B.,&Rees,G.(2011).Structuralandfunctional
fractionationofrightsuperiorparietalcortexinbistableperception.CurrentBiology,
21(3),R106107.

Learningtobecomeaware
Oneofthemostpopularwaystoinvestigateunconsciousperceptionisbyusing
backwardmasking,inwhichavisualstimulusispresentedbriefly,andisrendered
invisiblebyanotherimage(themask)presentedimmediatelyafterwards.Doessuch
suppressionremaineffectiveovertime?Thisisanimportantquestion,asthe
consistentefficacyofthistechniqueisabasicassumptioninalargenumberofstudies
investigatingunconsciousperception.Thebrainisknowntobeextremelyadaptive,
however,andmaylearntoboostthesignalfromthesuppressedimagewithrepeated
exposure.Indeed,inastudycarriedoutlastyearmystudentsandIfoundthat
maskingbecomesweakerovertime,suchthatthesuppressedimagebecomesmore
likelytobreakintoawareness.Inthisyearsstudy,wewillexploretheroleofsleep,
whichisknowntobeimportantfortheconsolidationandstrengtheningoflearning.

Visualcrowding:effectsofattention,familiarityandemotion
Whenastimulusisplacedonitsowninthenearperipheryofthevisualfield,itis
ofteneasilyrecognizable;butwhenitisflankedorcrowdedbysimilarstimuli,it
becomesimpossibletoidentify.Forexample,lookattheplussignbelow,andsee
howdifficultistoidentifythecentralaontheright,buthoweasyitistodosoon
theleft,despitethefactthattheyarethesamedistancefromtheplus:
a+dak
Althoughthecrowdedstimulusisnotconsciouslyrecognized,itcangiveriseto
aftereffectsandpriming,meaningthatcrowdedstimulicanbeprocessed
unconsciously,atleasttoanextent.Crowdingismodulatedbyvariousfactorsboth
lowlevelfeaturesandhighlevelpsychologicalprocesseslikeattention.Howthese

interactisunclear,though.Thispsychophysicalprojectwillexaminewhetherthe
effectofattentiononcrowdingisindependentoftheeffectsofotherfactorslike
stimulusfamiliarityandemotionalvalence.
Whitney,D.,&Levi,D.M.(2011).Visualcrowding:afundamentallimitonconscious
perceptionandobjectrecognition.TrendsinCognitiveSciences15,160168.

DrNicolasChevalier

Office:S27(7GS)

Email:Nicolas.Chevalier@ed.ac.uk
Web:http://www.ppls.ed.ac.uk/people/nicolaschevalier

Researchinterests
Whileworkingonaprojectorassignment,youmayneedtopreventmindwandering
andignorethetemptationtocheckyouremailsandFacebookpage.Efficientcontrol
overyourthoughts,actionsandemotionswillhelpyoustayontaskandgetitdone.In
contrast,childrentendtobeallovertheplace,notexertingcognitivecontrol(also
referredtoasexecutivefunctioning)aswellasdoadults.Yet,emergingcognitive
controlduringchildhoodisoneofthebestpredictorsofacademicachievementand
laterlifeoutcomessuchashealth,income,orcriminalrecords.Impairedcognitive
controlisalsooftenobservedindevelopmentaldisorderssuchasautismandADHD.
Giventhekeyroleofcognitivecontrolinchilddevelopment,thestudyofits
developmenthasbecomeoneofthehottesttopicsindevelopmentalscience.My
workusesbehavioural,eyetracking,andelectrophysiological(ERPs)measuresto
addresshowpreschoolersandschoolagechildrenprocessenvironmental
informationtodeterminehowandwhentoengagecognitivecontrol.

Projectsoncognitivecontroldevelopmentwillgiveyoutheopportunitytolearnhow
todesignandconductanexperimentwithchildrenofvariousages,andtofamiliarize
yourselfwiththecollectionandanalysisofbehavioural(reactiontimes,accuracy),
eyetracking(e.g.,gazetime,pupillometry),andelectrophysiological(eventrelated
potentialsERPs)data.

DrMartinCorley

Office:G30(7GS)

Email:Martin.Corley@ed.ac.uk
Web:http://www.ppls.ed.ac.uk/psychology/people/martincorley

PrincipalResearchGrouping
LanguageCognitionandCommunication

Researchinterests
Iaminterestedintheproductionandcomprehensionofhumanspeech,andin
particular,ofnaturalhumanspeechincludingerrorsandpauses.Imhappyto
discussresearchproposalsinthisgeneralarea;belowareacoupleofspecifictopics

Idbeinterestedin.

Topics
Understandingspeechwithselfrepairs

Spontaneousspeechoftenincludesselfrepairsasspeakersaudit,andchange,the
messagetheyareproducing.Althoughalotofworkhasbeendoneontheself
monitorandtheerrorrepairmechanism,theeffectonthelistenerofselfrepairsis
underresearched.WhenaspeakersayssomethinglikeIwanttogotoPariser,I
meanRome,doesthelistenersimplyforgetthatPariswasevermentioned,oris
therealingeringrepresentationofwhatwassaid?Thereisscopeinthisprojectfora
numberofmethodologicalapproaches,rangingfromeyetrackingtoEEG.

Corley,M.(2010).Makingpredictionsfromspeechwithrepairs:Evidencefromeye
movements.LanguageandCognitiveProcesses,25,706727.

Hesitationsinspeechandattention

Whenspeakershesitate(andpause,orinterjectanumoruh),listenershavea
cluethatsomethingsgonewrongintheprocessoffluentspeechproduction.A
potentialconsequenceisthatthelistenerpaysmoreattentiontowhatsbeingsaid.
Andifthatsthecase,thebalancebetweentopdowninformation(i.e.,prediction
fromthecontext)andbottomupinformation(i.e.,attentiontothesignal)may
change.Inthisprojectwewillcombinephoneticresearchtechniqueswithdisfluency
researchtotryandpinpointtheexactinfluenceofhesitationonattention.

FoxTree,J.E.(2001).Listenersusesofumanduhinspeechcomprehension.Memory
&Cognition,29,3206.

Pitt,M.A.,&Szostak,C.M.(2012).Alexicallybiasedattentionalsetcompensatesfor
variablespeechqualitycausedbypronunciationvariation.LanguageandCognitive
Processes,27,12251239.

Thelittlevoiceinsideyourhead

Mostofusexperienceaninternalvoicewhenweread,think,or(planto)speak.
However,itsnotclearwhatthatvoicesoundslike:isitjustlikespeech,complete
withphoneticdetail,orisitmorelikeprototypicalspeechwithsomeofthedetails
leftunspecified?Inthisproject,welluseaspeecherrorelicitationparadigminwhich
peopleeitherspeakaloud,orimaginespeakingaloud,andreporttheerrorsthey
make.Thetrickwillbetomakepeoplemakeenougherrorstoreallyworkoutwhats
goingon:Previousworkhasreliedontonguetwisters,butcanweimproveonthat?

Corley,M.,Brocklehurst,P.H.,&Moat,H.S.(2011).Errorbiasesininnerandovert
speech:Evidencefromtonguetwisters.JournalofExperimentalPsychology:Learning,
MemoryandCognition,37,162175.

Oppenheim,G.M.,&Dell,G.S.(2008).Innerspeechslipsexhibitlexicalbias,butnot
thephonemicsimilarityeffect.Cognition,106(1),52837.

ProfSergioDellaSala

Office:F6(7GS)

Email:sergio@ed.ac.uk
Web:http://www.ppls.ed.ac.uk/psychology/people/sergiodellasala

PrincipalResearchGrouping
HumanCognitiveNeuroscience

Researchinterestsandtopics
Cognitiveneuropsychology,inparticularmemoryandamnesiaorvisuospatialand
representationalneglect,andthecognitivedeficitsassociatedtoAlzheimersDisease.

IampreparedtosuperviseprojectsproposedbyMScstudentswithinthefieldofmy
expertise.

DrMoragDonaldson

Office:UG41(7GS)

Email:Morag.Donaldson@ed.ac.uk
Web:http://www.ppls.ed.ac.uk/people/moragdonaldson

PrincipalResearchGrouping
DevelopmentalScience

Researchinterestsandtopics
Languagedevelopmentandlanguageimpairmentinchildren.Universitystudents
studyskills.

Topics
Classroomexplanationshowdothetypesofexplanationsthatareproducedin
classroomcontextsdifferbetweenchildrenwithlanguageimpairmentsand
childrenwithtypicallanguagedevelopment?Thisprojectwouldinvolveanalysis
ofadatasetofnaturalisticdatathathasalreadybeencollected.
Productionofcohesivedevices(e.g.,connectives,anaphoricexpressions)in
childrensspeechand/orwriting.
Howcoulduniversitystudentsbehelpedtoimprovethecoherenceand/orclarity
oftheirargumentsinwrittenassignments?
Iamalsohappytodiscussstudentsownideasforprojectsrelatedtomyresearch
interests.

DrLeonidasDoumas

Office:S5(7GS)

Email:Alex.Doumas@ed.ac.uk
Web:http://www.ppls.ed.ac.uk/people/leonidasdoumas

PrincipalResearchGrouping
HumanCognitiveNeuroscience
Language,CognitionandCommunication

Researchinterests
Humansroutinelymakeinductiveinferencesthatfaroutstripthosemadebyevenour
closestprimatecousins.Broadly,Iaminterestedinhowhumans(andnonhuman
machines)developthekindsofrepresentationsthatsupporttheseinferences.More
specifically,Iaminterestedinhowsystemscananddolearnstructuredrelational
representations(likeabove,nextto,orchases).Relationalreasoning(reasoningbased

ontherelationalrolesthatobjectsplayratherthantheliteralfeaturesofthose
objects)isubiquitousinhumancognition,butrelationalrepresentationsare
exceedinglydifficulttolearn.Thepowerofrelationalrepresentationsstemsfrom
theirpromiscuity:Ourrepresentationofarelationlikemore,forinstance,cantake
anypossiblearguments(e.g,thedogcanweighmorethanthecat,thewinningscan
bemorethanthelosses,andtherelativeneatnessofoneparticularcartoonaliencan
bemorethantheneatnessofanotherparticularcartoonalien).Inotherwords,the
representationoftherelationisinvariantwithrespecttoitsarguments.However,we
neveractuallyexperiencegeneralisedinstancesofrelationsinourenvironments.Our
experienceofrelationsintheworldoccursonlyinthecontextofspecificobjects.So,
ourrepresentationofarelationlikemoreisdisembodied,oruntiedtoanyspecific
objects,butourexperiencewithmorenessintheworldhaspreciselytheopposite
property.

How,then,dowelearnthesekindsofrelationalconcepts?Howisitthatchildrenby
(roughly)theageof5,reasonaboutmanyrelationalconceptslikeexperts,whileno
nonhumananimalseemsabletoevenapproximatetrulyrelationalthinking?Inmy
labweusebothempirical(withchildrenandadults)andcomputationalmethodsto
getatanswerstotheseandotherrelatedquestions.

Topics
Relationalreasoning
Developmentofrelationalreasoning
Capacitylimitsinhumanrelationalreasoning
Trainingregimensandacquisitionofrelationalconcepts

DrCatharineGale

Email:cgale@staffmail.ed.ac.uk
Web:http://www.ppls.ed.ac.uk/psychology/people/catharinegale

PrincipalResearchGrouping

CentreforCognitiveAgeing&CognitiveEpidemiology

Researchinterests
Myareasofexpertisearecognitiveandlifecourseepidemiology.Mymainresearch
interestsaretherelationshipbetweencognitiveabilityinyouthandsubsequent
health,lifecourseinfluencesoncognitiveageingandthedevelopmentofphysical
frailty,andthepartplayedbymentalhealthandwellbeinginlaterhealthoutcomes.
Imalsointerestedinhowpersonalitytraitsaffecthealthoutcomes.

Topics
Idbewillingtosuperviseanyprojectlinkedtotheabovetopics.Mostsuchprojects
arelikelytoinvolvesecondaryanalysesofdatafromexistingstudies,suchasthose
availablefromtheUKDataArchive,andwillrequiresolidbasicskillsinstatistical
analysis.

TopicsbetweenDrCatharineGaleandDrSusanShenkin

Email:cgale@staffmail.ed.ac.ukandSusan.Shenkin@ed.ac.uk
Web:http://www.ppls.ed.ac.uk/psychology/people/catharinegaleand
http://www.geriatric.med.ed.ac.uk/susan%20shenkin.htm

Topics
Wewouldliketooffertocosuperviseasystematicreviewoftheevidenceforan
associationbetweenbirthweightandcognitiveabilityinadulthood.

DrElenaGherri

Office:S41(7GS)

Email:elena.gherri@ed.ac.uk
Web:http://www.ppls.ed.ac.uk/psychology/people/elenagherri

PrincipalResearchGrouping
HumanCognitiveNeuroscience

Researchinterests
Iusepsychophysiological(EEG,ERP)andbehaviouralmeasurestoinvestigatethe
neuralandcognitivemechanismsunderlyingspatialattentionwithinandacross
differentsensorymodalities.Iamcurrentlyinvestigatingseveralaspectsofvisualand
tactileattentionandIwillbehappytosuperviseprojectsonthistopicsuchasthose
listedbelow.

Topics
Actionperceptionlinks:Investigatingtheeffectsofagraspingmovementonthe
perceptionofgraspableobjects(ERPproject).Specialrequirements:Students
workingonthisprojectwilllearntocollectandanalyzeERPdata.Forthisreason,
theyshouldbealreadyfamiliarwithbehaviouraldatacollectionandbasic
statisticaldataanalysis.BecausecollectingERPdataisverytimeconsuming,this
projectisidealfortwostudentsworkingtogetherondatacollection.

Doespersonalitymodulatetheextensionofperipersonalspace?(Behavioural
project).ThisprojectiscosupervisedbyProf.ElizabethAustin.Thesamplesize
requestedbythisprojectisconsiderablylarge,ascomparedtostandard
behaviouralstudies.Forthisreasonthisprojectisidealfortwostudentsworking
togetherondatacollection.

DrWendyJohnson

Office:F10(7GS)

Email:wendy.johnson@ed.ac.uk
Web:http://www.ppls.ed.ac.uk/psychology/people/wendyjohnson

PrincipalResearchGrouping
DifferentialPsychology

Researchinterests
Individualdifferences:structureofintelligenceandpersonality,lifespan
developmentofintelligenceandpersonality,healthandaging,geneticand
environmentaltransactionsandtheirinfluenceonbehavior,intelligence,and
personality

Topics
Prettymuchanything,butespeciallyanythingrelatedtointelligence,personality,
academicachievement,healthoutcomes(mentalandphysical),genetics,sample
selection,cognitiveandphysicalageing,oreducation.Icouldsuperviseanyofthe
researchmethodologystudents.Manystudentswhoworkwithmewillendupusing
archivaldatafromexistingstudies.Whilethissimplifiesthedataaccumulation
processconsiderably,theseprojectsusuallymakeitupincomplexityofstatistical
analysis.Studentsworkingwithmeshouldhavesolidbasicanalyticalskillsand
willingnessandabilitytoacquiremore.

ProfRobertLogie

Office:F9(7GS)

Email:rlogie@staffmail.ed.ac.uk
Web:http://www.ppls.ed.ac.uk/psychology/people/robertlogie

**NotavailableuntilJanuary2015**

PrincipalResearchGrouping
HumanCognitiveNeuroscience

Researchinterests
Researchandteachinginterestslieinthecognitionofhumanmemoryinthehealthy
brainacrossthelifespan,focusedonexperimentalbehaviouralstudiesofworking

memory.

Topics
IwouldbeavailabletosuperviseMScprojectsnextsummerinanyareaofhuman
memoryifstudentswouldliketocontactmeinJanuary.

DrSteveLoughnan

Office:S2(7GS)

Email:Steve.Loughnan@ed.ac.uk
Web:http://www.ppls.ed.ac.uk/people/stephenloughnan

Researchinterests
Thepsychologyofattributinghumanityandmoralconcerntopeople
(dehumanization,objectification)andtoanimals(anthropomorphism).The
psychologicalimpactofinequalityandscarcity.

Topics
Thepsychologyofattributinghumanityandmoralconcerntopeople
(dehumanization,objectification)andtoanimals(anthropomorphism).The
psychologicalimpactofinequalityandscarcity.

DrSarahMacPherson

Office:S11A(7GS)

Email:Sarah.MacPherson@ed.ac.uk
Web:http://www.ppls.ed.ac.uk/people/sarahmacpherson

PrincipalResearchGrouping
HumanCognitiveNeuroscience
CentreforCognitiveAgeing&CognitiveEpidemiology

Researchinterests
Myresearchinterestsarefrontallobefunctionssuchasmemory,executiveabilities
andsocialcognitionandhowtheyareaffectedbyhealthyadultageingandbrain
damage.Iamhappytodiscussthesupervisionofotherpotentialprojectsrelatedto
myresearch,inadditiontothetopicsbelow.

Topics
Doesthewayweassessemotionrecognitionabilitiesinhealthyagingreflectreal
lifeemotionrecognition?
Theinfluenceofecologicalvalidityonmultitaskingabilitiesinhealthyadultaging
Theassessmentofexecutiveabilitiesinolderadultsandtheinfluenceof
experience,taskrelevanceandfamiliarity
Tasksetswitchingandfractionationofthesupervisoryattentionalsystemin

healthyadultaging

DrAndreaMartin

Office:S9(7GS)

Email:Andrea.Martin@ed.ac.uk
Web:http://www.ppls.ed.ac.uk/people/andreamartin

PrincipalResearchGrouping
Language,Cognition&CommunicationandHumanCognitiveNeuroscience

Researchinterests
Myresearchisonthepsychologyandcognitiveneuroscienceoflanguageand
memory(asitrelatestolanguageprocessing).I'mespeciallyinterestinhowwe
understandsentences,bothinisolationandindialogue,andhowtheprinciplesof
humanmemoryconstrainlanguageprocessing.Iuseeventrelatebrainpotentialsand
behaviouralmethods(reactiontimeandspeedaccuracytradeoff).

Topics
Couldinclude(1)theroleofinterferenceduringlanguageprocessing,
(2)comprehensionof"missing"orelidedlinguisticrepresentations,pronouns,and
anaphoraduringtheonlinecomprehension,(3)twopersonproductionand
comprehensionofmissingconstituentsindialogue,or(4)bilingualismandellipsis
processing.Imhappytoconsideranyprojectideasintheseareasthatyoumaybring.

DrAdamMoore

Office:S32(7GS)

Email:amoore23@ed.ac.uk
Web:http://www.ppls.ed.ac.uk/people/adammoore

PrincipalResearchGrouping
HumanCognitiveNeuroscience

Researchinterests
Embodiedmoraljudgement
Bayesianinformationupdatinginrealworlddecisions

Topics
Iamwillingtosuperviseotherprojectsthattieinwithmyresearchthemes.

DrAlexaMorcom

Office:S30(7GS)

Email:Alexa.Morcom@ed.ac.uk
Web:http://www.ppls.ed.ac.uk/people/alexamorcom

PrincipalResearchGrouping
HumanCognitiveNeuroscience
CognitiveNeuroimagingGroup(CentreforCognitiveandNeuralSystems)
CentreforCognitiveAgeingandCognitiveEpidemiology

Researchinterests
Mymainresearchinterestisinthecognitiveneuroscienceofmemory:basicmemory
mechanisms, and how memory changes as we age. I use behavioural as well as
neuroimagingmethods,botheventrelatedpotentials(ERPs)andfunctionalmagnetic
resonanceimaging(fMRI).

Episodicmemoryinvolvesconsciouslongtermmemoryforspecificevents.Itisoneof
thementalabilitiesmostaffectedbyageing.Eventsarelesslikelytoberecollectedin
detail, and false memory more likely. It is currently unknown to what degree these
memory difficulties can be explained by failures of memory control, for example in
memory search, and to what degree they reflect basic difficulties distinguishing in
memorybetweensimilarevents.

I am happy to discuss the supervision of other potential projects related to my

research,aswellasthoseoutlinedbelow.Studentinputintothedissertationtopicis
encouraged.

ForERPprojects,trainingindataacquisitionandanalysiswillbegivenbuttakingthe
Specialist Techniques in Psychological Research ERP/EEG lectures and handson
workshopsfirstishighlyrecommended.Sharingdatacollectionwithaprojectpartner
isalsoagoodideaeachstudentwilldotheirownprojectbutthedataarecollected
together,withinthesameordifferenttasks.

Topics
ERPstudiesofmemoryselfcueing

Strategicaspectsofmemoryfunctionshowaprominentdeclineinnormalageingand
arethoughttoreflectadeclineinexecutivefunction(forashortreviewsee(Luo&
Craik,2008).Howeveritisunclearwhetherthisaffectstheabilitytocontrolwhatis
retrieved from memory. Young adults are thought to selfcue when trying to
remember, strategically processing external cues in order to retrieve currently
relevantinformationandavoidretrievalofirrelevantinformation(proactiveorfront
endcontrol)(Jacoby,Shimizu,Velanova,&Rhodes,2005;Morcom&Rugg,2004).This
is difficult to study behaviourally as we need to know how retrieval cues are
processed before anything is retrieved. With ERPs we can measure cue processing
andaskquestionsaboutitstimingandhowitchangeswithretrievalgoals.

Preparingtoretrieve

Youngadultsbenefitfromtheopportunitytopreparetoretrievecertaininformation,
for example what they did during a previous event. This preparation takes place
beforearrivalofanyovertretrievalcue,asshownbyERPsinresponsetopreparatory
cueswhichvaryaccordingtotheretrievalgoal(Herron&Wilding,2006).BothfMRI
andERPstudieshaveshownagerelatedimpairmentsinproactivecontrolinworking
memory tasks (e.g. (Gazzaley, Cooney, Rissman, & D'Esposito, 2005). However a
recent fMRI study which suggested existence of a similar impairment for episodic
retrievaldidnotuseadequateteststoshowthatpreparatoryeffectswerememory
specific(Dew,Buchler,Dobbins,&Cabeza,2012).
Thisprojectwillinvolvedesigning&conductinganERPstudytoexaminepreparatory
cueactivityfordifferentretrievalorientationsinoldercomparedtoyoungeradults.

References
Gazzaley, A., Cooney, J. W., Rissman, J., & D'Esposito, M. (2005). Topdown
suppression deficit underlies working memory impairment in normal aging. Nature
Neuroscience,8(10),12981300.
Herron,J.E.,&Wilding,E.L.(2006).Neuralcorrelatesofcontrolprocessesengaged
beforeandduringrecoveryofinformationfromepisodicmemory.Neuroimage,30(2),
634644.doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2005.10.003
Luo, L., & Craik, F. I. M. (2008). Aging and memory: A cognitive approach. Canadian
JournalofPsychiatryRevueCanadienneDePsychiatrie,53(6),346353.

Seealso
Dew,I.T.Z.,Buchler,N.,Dobbins,I.G.,&Cabeza,R.(2012).WhereIsELSA?TheEarly
toLateShiftinAging.CerebralCortex,22(11),25422553.doi:10.1093/cercor/bhr334

Establishedretrievalorientationanditsconsequences
Frontendcontrolofretrievalisadynamicprocess:aftertheinitialpreparationfora
neworientation,peopleappeartoestablishaconsistentretrievalorientationtocues
which depends on their goals (Herron & Wilding, 2006). This is reflected in the way
people process new items in recognition memory tests, i.e., when nothing can
actuallyberetrieved.Afewstudieshaveinvestigatedolderadultsabilitytoestablish
aretrievalorientation,withinconclusiveresults.

InanERPstudywefoundareductioningoaldirectedretrievalcueprocessinginolder
adults (Morcom & Rugg, 2004). Similar results have come from a quite different
behaviouralapproach(Jacobyetal.,2005),butalaterERPstudyfoundnoagerelated
differences as long as the task required retrieval of specific contextual information
about the original episode (source memory), not assessed in the earlier studies
(Duverne, Motamedinia, & Rugg, 2009). However, a critical aspect of front end
controlinolderadultshasnotyetbeentested.Inataskinwhichsomeinformation
mustbeignored,olderadultsmayshowimpairmentsasinotheraspectsofinhibitory
control.Recentstudiesinadolescentshaveshownthatreducedexecutivefunctionis
associatedwithdelaysinERPretrievalorientationeffectswhichimpactnegativelyon
memoryforirrelevantinformation(Sprondel,Kipp,&Mecklinger,2013).
This project will involve designing & conducting a study to examine adoption of
different sustained retrieval orientations in older compared to younger adults. In a
study with 2 or 3 project partners, larger group sizes and additional
neuropsychological testing would permit assessment of the impact of individual
differencesinexecutivefunctiononfrontendmemorycontrolinolderadults(Elward
&Wilding,2010).


References
Duverne, S., Motamedinia, S., & Rugg, M. D. (2009). Effects of Age on the Neural
Correlates of Retrieval Cue Processing are Modulated by Task Demands. Journal of
CognitiveNeuroscience,21(1),117.doi:10.1162/jocn.2009.21001
Elward,R.L.,&Wilding,E.L.(2010).Workingmemorycapacityisrelatedtovariations
in the magnitude of an electrophysiological marker of recollection. Brain Research,
1342,5562.doi:10.1016/j.brainres.2010.04.040
Luo, L., & Craik, F. I. M. (2008). Aging and memory: A cognitive approach. Canadian
JournalofPsychiatryRevueCanadienneDePsychiatrie,53(6),346353.

Seealso
Sprondel, V., Kipp, K. H., & Mecklinger, A. (2013). Timing matters: Agerelated
changes in episodic retrieval control as revealed by eventrelated potentials. Brain
Research,1537,143155.doi:10.1016/j.brainres.2013.09.005

Memoryselfcueingandexternalcueing:behaviouralstudy

Behavioural studies of memory cueing and retrieval orientation (selfcueing; see

above) are also looking at the interaction between selfcueing of memory and the
provision of external cues (Starns & Hicks, 2013). This is done by combining a
manipulation of memory cueing using visually rich scenes as context with a unique
behavioural paradigm designed to examine internal cueing. Given use of specific
tasks,thismemoryforfoilsparadigmprovidesanindirectindependentbehavioural
measureofinternalcueing(Jacobyetal.,2005).
In this project, investigations of external cueing and internal cueing may examine
basicprocessesinhealthyyoungadults,orassesstheeffectsofageing.Olderadults
areexpectedtobemorereliantonenvironmentalsupportfromexternalcues,and
impairedinselfcueingaspreviouslyshown.

References
Jacoby, L. L., Shimizu, Y., Velanova, K., & Rhodes, M. G. (2005). Age differences in
depth of retrieval: Memory for foils. Journal of Memory and Language, 52(4), 493
504.doi:10.1016/j.jml.2005.01.007
Luo, L., & Craik, F. I. M. (2008). Aging and memory: A cognitive approach. Canadian
JournalofPsychiatryvueCanadienneDePsychiatrie,53(6),346353.
Starns,J.J.,&Hicks,J.L.(2013).Internalreinstatementhidescuingeffectsinsource
memorytasks.Memory&Cognition,41(7),953966.doi:10.3758/s1342101303256

Ageing,meaningandfalsememory

Whydoolderadultsmistakenewitemsforoldones?Isthisbecausetheyhave
difficultieswithcognitivecontrol,possiblyduetofrontallobedamage?Ordotheyfail
topatternseparatetodistinguishbetweensimilarmemorytraces,becauseof
medialtemporallobedamage(Yassaetal.,2010)?Supportforthefrontal/control
hypothesishascomefromthefindingthatolderadultsmayrelymorethantheyoung
onverbalsemanticprocessingoftoberememberedinformation(Koutstaaletal.,
2003).Theymaythereforeoverusegistinformationandunderuseitemspecific
detail.WerecentlyreplicatedandextendedKoutstaaletal.searlier(2003)
experimentssuggestingthesemanticinformationplaysacriticalrole

Keyreferences:
Koutstaal, W., Reddy, C., Jackson, E. M., Prince, S., Cendan, D. L., & Schacter, D. L.
(2003). False recognition of abstract versus common objects in older and younger
adults: testing the semantic categorization account. Journal of Experimental
Psychology:Learning,Memory&Cognition,29(4),499510.
Pidgeon, L.M.; Morcom A.M. (2014) Agerelated increases in false recognition: the
role of perceptual and conceptual similarity. Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience. 6:283.
doi:10.3389/fnagi.2014.00283
Yassa,M.A.,Lacy,J.W.,Stark,S.M.,Albert,M.S.,Gallagher,M.,&Stark,C.E.(2010).
Pattern separation deficits associated with increased hippocampal CA3 and dentate
gyrusactivityinnondementedolderadults.Hippocampus.doi:10.1002/hipo.20808

DrCandiceMorey

Office:S25(7GS)

Email:cmorey@staffmail.ed.ac.uk
Web:http://www.ppls.ed.ac.uk/people/candicemorey

Researchinterests
Istudyworkingmemoryandattention,particularlyhow,when,andwhyauditoryor
verbalandvisualrepresentationsinterferewitheachother.Iapproachthese
problemsusingcognitiveresearchmethods,eyetracking,anddevelopmental
comparison.

Topics
Interestedstudentsmaycontactmetodiscusstopicideas.

DrRenMttus

Office:S4(7GS)

Email:rene.mottus@ed.ac.uk
Web:http://www.ppls.ed.ac.uk/psychology/people/renemottus

Researchinterests
Iaminterestedinindividualdifferences,mostlyonthepersonalityside

Topics
Iamarelativelynewstaffmember,soIdonothaveongoingresearchprojects.
However,Iamworkingonwhypersonalitymanifestationsclusterandvaryovertime,
aswellashowpersonalityisassociatedwithvariousreallifeoutcomes.Iam
interestedinsupervisingprojectsrelatedtomyresearchtopics.

DrManteNieuwland

Office:US28(7GS)

Email:M.Nieuwland@ed.ac.uk
Web:http://www.ppls.ed.ac.uk/people/mantenieuwland

PrincipalResearchGrouping
Language,Cognition&CommunicationandHumanCognitiveNeuroscience

Researchinterests
Thepsychologyandcognitiveneuroscienceoflanguage.Syntactic,semanticand
pragmaticaspectsofsentenceanddiscoursecomprehension.Main
methodology:EEG/ERPsandbehaviouralmethods

Topics
Couldinclude;theroleofsentencetruthvalueinonlinecomprehension;theonline
comprehensionofpronounsandanaphora;predictioninlanguage.Ifyouhaveideas
forprojects,Iamhappytodiscussthemwithyou.

DrAntjeNuthmann

Office:S31(7GS)

Email:Antje.Nuthmann@ed.ac.uk
Web:http://www.ppls.ed.ac.uk/psychology/people/antjenuthmann

PrincipalResearchGrouping
HumanCognitiveNeuroscience

Researchinterests
Mycurrentresearchinterestsincludeperceptual,oculomotorandcognitivecontrolin
everydayvisualcognitivetaskslikesceneperception,objectinscenesearch,and
reading.Iapproachtheseissueswithcorpusanalytical,experimental,and
computationalmodelingtechniques.Becausehumanvisualperceptioninvolvesactive
informationseekingviaeyemovements,Iuseeyetrackingasmyprimarybehavioral
method.Idobasicresearchanddonotworkwithpatients.

Topics
Eyemovementcontrolduringviewingoflowresolutionimages

Whenwelookatanaturalscene(orataphotographofarealworldsceneona
computerscreen),wearenotabletoseealloftheobjectsorelementsinthescene
equallywell.Thisisbecauseofvisualacuitylimitations.Forcompensation,about
threetimespersecondthevisualsystemredirectsoureyestonewareasofthe
visualscene.Theaimofthisprojectistoinvestigatehowdifferentdegreesofblurring
(lowpassfiltering)thesceneaffectglobaleyemovementparameters(average
fixationdurationandsaccadelength)aswellaspropertiesofobjectbasedattentional
selectioninscenes.


Requirements:Theprojectrequireslearningtheeyetrackingmethodology.Basic
knowledgeofMatlab(forimageprocessing)andR(dataprocessing)willfacilitatethis
project.

References:
Judd,T.,Durand,F.,&Torralba,A.(2011).Fixationsonlowresolutionimages.Journal
ofVision,11(4).doi:10.1167/11.4.14
Pajak,M.,&Nuthmann,A.(2013).Objectbasedsaccadicselectionduringscene
perception:Evidencefromviewingpositioneffects.JournalofVision,13(5):2,121.
doi:10.1167/13.5.2

Theroleofthetwoeyesinsceneperception

Awidelyheld,andoftenimplicit,assumptionamongresearchersisthatbotheyes
alwaysfixatethesamepointwithinascene.However,thisisanillusion.Researchon
readingandsimpleoculomotoraimingtaskssuggeststhatmostfixationsshowsome
horizontalandverticaldisparity.Itiscurrentlyunclearwhetherthesefindings
generalizetosceneviewing.Thisexploratoryprojectwillanalysebinocularaspectsof
datafromanexistingeyemovementstudy,inwhichobserversviewedscenesunder
threedifferentviewinginstructions.

Thisprojectrequires(some)proficiencyinRinordertodevelopsuitableanalyses.

References:
Nuthmann,A.,&Kliegl,R.(2009).Anexaminationofbinocularreadingfixationsbased
onsentencecorpusdata.JournalofVision,9(5):31,128.doi:10.1167/9.5.31
Kirkby,J.A.,Webster,L.A.D.,Blythe,H.I.,&Liversedge,S.P.(2008).Binocular
coordinationduringreadingandnonreadingtasks.PsychologicalBulletin,134(5),
742763.doi:10.1037/a0012979

ProfMartinPickering

Office:S12(7GS)

Email:Martin.Pickering@ed.ac.uk
Web:http://www.ppls.ed.ac.uk/people/martinpickering

PrincipalResearchGrouping
LanguageCognitionandCommunication

Researchinterests
Iaminterestedinlanguageproduction,comprehension,dialogue,bilingualism,and
reading.Atthemoment,Iamparticularlyinterestedinstudyinginteractivelanguage
asaformof"jointaction"(wherebytheuseofpredictionandcovertimitation
appearstomake"smooth"dialoguepossible),andinthequestionofwhether
interlocutorsrepresenttheirpartners'utterancesinthesameformatastheirown.
However,Iamalsointerestedin"traditional"psycholinguisticquestions,particularly
asrelatingtosyntax,semantics,anddiscourse.


Topics
Jointproductionofutterances
Structuralprimingandlanguageproduction
Languageswitchinginbilinguals

DrHughRabagliati

Office:G28(7GS)

Email:hugh.rabagliati@ed.ac.uk
Web:http://www.ppls.ed.ac.uk/people/hughrabagliati

PrincipalResearchGrouping
DevelopmentalScience
LanguageCognitionandCommunication

Researchinterests
Linguisticandconceptualdevelopment(e.g.,semanticdevelopment,relationship
betweenlanguageandthought).Languageprocessinginyoungchildren(e.g.,eye
trackingstudiesofpredictivelinguisticprocessingormechanismsoflanguage
production).Relationshipsbetweenconsciousawarenessandlanguageprocessingin
adults.

Topics
I'mhappytosupervisedevelopmentalworkrelatedtotheabovetopics.I'malso
happytoworkwithstudentstodevelopa(feasible)unrelatedproject,providedthe
ideaisgood.Itypicallyworkwithchildrenbetween6monthsto4years.Working
withthesepopulationstakesalotoftime,andsoitisimportanttogetstartedearly.

DrPatrickSturt

Office:G29(7GS)

Email:Patrick.Sturt@ed.ac.uk
Web:http://www.ppls.ed.ac.uk/people/patricksturt

PrincipalResearchGrouping
Language,CognitionandCommunication

Researchinterests
Iaminterestedinthemomentbymomentprocessesbywhichpeopleassign
meaningstosentencesduringlanguagecomprehension.Moregenerally,Iam
interestedinhowpeopleinferahierarchicalstructurefromlinearorsequential
perceptualinputinlinguisticandnonlinguisticdomains(e.g.inprocessinglinguistic
sentences,mathematicalformulae,musicalphrases,etc).Atamoreabstractlevel,I
amalsointerestedinthenatureofthementalrepresentationofhierarchical
structureinlanguageandotherdomains.


Projects
Eyetrackingofmathematicalexpressions:MathematicalGardenPaths
Incrementalityandstructuralrepresentationsinmathematicsandlanguage

Iamalsohappytosuperviseanyotherprojectthatfallswithinmyareaofexpertise,
andwhichIjudgetoberealisticforanMScproject.Topicscouldinclude;thetime
courseofdependencyformationinsentenceprocessing;processingofpronounsand
anaphora;processingofnonlinguisticstructuralinformation;etc.Ifyouhaveideas
forprojects,pleasecometodiscussthemwithme.

DrSueWiddicombe

Office:UF35(7GS)

Email:S.Widdicombe@ed.ac.uk
Web:http://www.ppls.ed.ac.uk/psychology/people/suewiddicombe

PrincipalResearchGrouping
LanguageCognitionandCommunication

Researchinterests
Iaminterestedinselfandidentities,interaction,culture,discursivepsychologyand
conversationanalysis.

Projects
Iamhappytosuperviseprojectsrelatedtoanyofthetopicsabove(e.g.particular
identities,howtheyareconstructedandusedasresourcesinandforinteraction);or
projectsdesignedtoshowhowthebusiness(ofmakingdecisions,formulatingclients
problems,developingrelationships)getsdonethroughinteraction(e.g.inmeetings,
therapy,internetinteraction).Iwouldalsobehappytosuperviseprojectsthattakea
discursivepsychologicalapproachtoyouthculture,cultureandself,nationalor
religiousidentities.

DrMariaWolters

Office:F13(7GS)

Email:Maria.Wolters@ed.ac.uk
Web:http://www.ppls.ed.ac.uk/people/mariawolters

PrincipalResearchGrouping
HumanCognitiveNeuroscience

Researchinterests
LikeDrRichardShillcock,IworkbothinPPLSandinInformatics.Ispecialiseinhuman
factorsandhumancomputerinteractionforeHealthapplications.Iamparticularly

interestedinsupervisingprojectsrelatedtothefollowingareas:

theeffectofmentalhealthandwellbeingonhowpeopleusetechnology
designingremindersthatwork
cognitiveaspectsofuserinterfacedesignfortelecareandeHealth

LINGUISTICS&ENGLISHLANGUAGE
DrPeterAckema

Office:2.05(DSB)

Email:PAckema@ling.ed.ac.uk
Web:http://www.ppls.ed.ac.uk/lel/people/peterackema

Researchinterests
Theoreticalsyntaxandmorphology

Topics
Happytosuperviseanyprojectwithinmyresearcharea,whichbroadlyspeakingis
theoreticalsyntaxandmorphology.Iamespeciallyinterestedintopicsthatconcern
theinteractionbetweenthesetwomodulesofgrammar(suchasagreement,
incorporation,correlationsbetweentheinflectionalmakeupofalanguageandits
syntacticbehaviour,lexicalintegrityeffects,phrasalderivation)butanytopicthat
concernssyntaxorthe'syntacticside'ofmorphologyissuitable.Alotofmyownwork
isfocusedonGermaniclanguages,butI'mcertainlyhappytosupervisetopicson
otherlanguagesaswell.

DrRhonaAlcorn

Office:2.07(DSB)

Email:R.Alcorn@ed.ac.uk
Web:http://www.ppls.ed.ac.uk/people/rhonaalcorn

Researchinterests
Historicalphonology,historicaldialectology,therelationshipbetweensoundsand
spelling,linguistichistoryofScots

DrVickyChondrogianni

Office:2.07a(DSB)

Email:V.Chongrogianni@ed.ac.uk
Web:http://www.ppls.ed.ac.uk/people/vickychondrogianni

Researchinterests
Firstandsecondlanguageacquisitionofmorphosyntacticphenomena;child
bilingualism;languageandcognitivedevelopmentinbilingualchildren;childrenwith
developmentallanguagedisorders;sentenceprocessinginbilinguals.

Topics
Iamhappytosupervisetopicsrelatedtolanguageandcognitivedevelopmentin
bilingualchildrenandinchildrenwithdevelopmentallanguagedisorders,aswellasto
sentenceprocessingofmorphosyntacticphenomena(e.g.subjectverbagreement,
tense,articles,pronouns,whquestions,relativeclauses)inbilingualchildren.

DrClaireCowie

Office:1.11a(DSB)

Email:claire.cowie@ed.ac.uk
Web:http://www.ppls.ed.ac.uk/lel/people/clairecowie

Researchinterests
Languageandglobalization;WorldEnglishesandEnglishcreoles;EnglishinIndia;
variationandchangeinIndianEnglish;Englishasalinguafrancaespeciallyincall
centres;LanguageattitudesandWorldEnglishes.

Topics
Iampotentiallyabletosuperviseonarangeoftopicsrelatedtomyresearch
interests.IamconstructingacorpusofspokenIndianEnglishandwouldwelcome
studentsinterestedinexploringvariationintheserecordings.

IaminterestedinsupervisingprojectsconnectedtotheEdinburghSpeaksproject:
http://www.lel.ed.ac.uk/lel_research/edinburgh_speaks.php.

DrJenniferCulbertson

Office:1.14(DSB)

Email:Jennifer.Culbertson@ed.ac.uk
Web:http://www.ppls.ed.ac.uk/lel/people/jenniferculbertson

Researchinterests
Languageacquisitionandchange,learningbiases,typology,(morpho)syntax,
computationalmodelsofcognition,artificiallanguagelearning,grammaticality
judgments.

Topics
Languageuniversals
Cognitivebiases
Languagechange/historicallinguistics

DrChrisCummins

Office:1.11(DSB)

Email:ccummins@staffmail.ed.ac.uk
Web:http://www.ppls.ed.ac.uk/lel/people/chriscummins

Researchinterests
Experimentalsemanticsandpragmatics,particularlyimplicature,presuppositionand
quantification.

Topics
I'dbehappytosuperviseontopicsintheareasmentionedabove.

DrJosephGafaranga

Office:3.05(DSB)

Email:josephg@ling.ed.ac.uk
Web:http://www.ppls.ed.ac.uk/lel/people/josephgafaranga

Researchinterests
DiscourseandConversationAnalysis(theoreticalandapplied);Bilingualism
(sociolinguisticandinteractionaldimensions).

Topics
Iamhappytosuperviseanytopicsintheaboveareasofinterest.

ProfHeinzGiegerich

Office:3.09(DSB)

Email:heinz.giegerich@ed.ac.uk
Web:http://www.ppls.ed.ac.uk/lel/people/heinzgiegerich

Researchinterests
MorphologicalandphonologicaltheoryinrelationtoEnglish;inparticular
phonology/morphologyinteraction(lexicalstratification)andtheinterfaceofsyntax
andmorphology(compoundingetc.).

Topics
Happytosupervise(almost)anytopicrelatingtomorphologyandphonologyofthe
Germaniclanguagesandtheirhistories.

ProfNikGisborne

Office:2.03(DSB)

Email:N.Gisborne@ed.ac.uk
Web:http://www.ppls.ed.ac.uk/lel/people/nikolasgisborne

Researchinterests
Dependencytheory;Englishsyntax;lexicalsemantics;syntacticchangeand
grammaticalization.

Topics
HappytosuperviseinSyntax,Semantics,SyntacticChange;Grammaticalizationand
WorldEnglishes.

DrLaurenHallLew

Office:2.04(DSB)

Email:Lauren.HallLew@ed.ac.uk
Web:http://www.ppls.ed.ac.uk/lel/people/laurenhalllew

Researchinterests
Sociolinguistics;phoneticvariationandchangeinEnglish

Topics
Happytosuperviseanytopicrelatedtosociolinguisticvariation,languageattitudes,
orlanguagechange.Particularlyinterestedintopicsonphoneticvariation.
LanguagesofparticularinterestincludeallvarietiesofEnglish,Chinese,Spanish,and
anyWestAfrican(especiallyKwa)languages.

IaminterestedinsupervisingprojectsconnectedtotheEdinburghSpeaksproject:
http://www.lel.ed.ac.uk/lel_research/edinburgh_speaks.php.

ProfCarolineHeycock

Office:2.10a(DSB)

Email:C.Heycock@ed.ac.uk
Web:http://www.ppls.ed.ac.uk/lel/people/carolineheycock

Researchinterests
Generativesyntax;syntacticchange;thesyntaxoftheGermaniclanguages,the
syntax/semanticsinterface.

Topics
Happytosupervise(orcosupervise)topicsinanyoftheaboveareas.Current
interestsincludecopularconstructions,"rootphenomena,agreement.

DrPatrickHoneybone

Office:3.06(DSB)

Email:Patrick.Honeybone@ed.ac.uk
Web:http://www.ppls.ed.ac.uk/people/patrickhoneybone

Researchinterests
HistoricalPhonology,PhonologicalTheoryandNorthernEnglishes.

Topics
Phonologicaltheory
Historicalphonology
ThephonologyofEnglish:structural,dialectologicaland/orhistoricalissues
EnglishintheNorthofEngland

DrPavelIosad

Office:3.08(DSB)

Email:pavel.iosad@ed.ac.uk
Web:http://www.ppls.ed.ac.uk/lel/people/paveliosad

Researchinterests
Theoreticalphonology,historicalphonology,CelticlanguagesandGermanic
languages.

Topics
Iamhappytosupervisedissertationsontopicsrelatedtophonologicaltheoryandto
thephonologicalpatternsofspecificlanguages(thismayincludephoneticstudies,
wherethequestionhasaclearbearingontheoreticalissues).Mymainexpertiseisin
CelticandGermanic(particularlyScandinavian)languagesbutIamalsohappytowork
withothervarieties.

ProfSimonKing

Office:3.11(IF)

Email:Simon.King@ed.ac.uk
Web:http://www.ppls.ed.ac.uk/people/simonking

Researchinterests
Speechsynthesisandautomaticspeechrecognition.

Topics

Speechsynthesisforlowresourcelanguagesordomains,especiallyusing
unsupervisedmachinelearning
Speechsynthesisofaudiobooksforchildren,includinghowtoevaluatethiswith
childlisteners
Speechprocessingtoimprovetheintelligibilityofspeech,includingforhearing
aidusers
Anyothertopicinspeechsynthesis,includingbothunitselectionandstatistical
parametricmethods

DrJamesKirby

Office:2.09(DSB)

Email:j.kirby@ed.ac.uk
Web:http://www.ppls.ed.ac.uk/people/jameskirby

Researchinterests
Phonetics,phonology,speechperceptionandlanguagesofSoutheastAsia.

Topics
Computationalmodellingofsoundchange
Cueweighting,cueintegration,andphoneticcategorization
Evolutionoflexicaltoneandvoicequality
Field&laboratoryphoneticstudies

IaminterestedinsupervisingprojectsconnectedtotheEdinburghSpeaksproject:
http://www.lel.ed.ac.uk/lel_research/edinburgh_speaks.php.

ProfBettelouLos

Office:3.03(DSB)

Email:b.los@ed.ac.uk
Web:http://www.ppls.ed.ac.uk/lel/people/betteloulos

Researchinterests
Myareaofspecialisationisdiachronicsyntax(especiallyEnglishdiachronicsyntax,but
alsomoregenerally),andtheroleoninformationstructureinsyntacticchange,in
particularwithrespecttotheconsequencesofthelossofverbsecondinEnglish;and
comparativeinformationstructureandmacrostructuralplanningoftheWest
GermaniclanguagesEnglish,DutchandGerman.

Topics
TheemergenceofnewconstructionsinEnglish
NarrativestructureofOldorMiddleEnglishtexts
ThefunctionofclauseinitialadverbialsinEnglish(comparedtoanother
language)
TheroleofFaceasmotivatinglanguagechange

ReferenttrackinginOldEnglish

DrMitsOta

Office:2.21(DSB)

Email:Mits@ling.ed.ac.uk
Web:http://www.ppls.ed.ac.uk/lel/people/mitsota

Researchinterests
Firstandsecondlanguageacquisition(phonologicalandlexicaldevelopmentin
particular);prosodicphonology;connectionsbetweenphonetic/phonologyandother
cognitivedomains(e.g.,orthography,socialcognition,music)

Topics
Theroleoflinguisticinputinearlylanguagedevelopment(e.g.,Dophonological
and/ormorphologicalcharacteristicsofinfantdirectedspeechplayanyrolein
languagedevelopment?)
Therelationshipbetweenlexicalandphonologicaldevelopment(e.g.,Dochildren
learnwordswithcertainphonologicalcharacteristicsearlier?)
Phonologicalrepresentationsinsecondlanguagewords(e.g.,Arenonnative
contrastsunderspecifiedinsecondlanguagewords?Doesournativeorthographic
systemaffectthewayweprocesssecondlanguagewords?)

ProfGeoffreyPullum

Office:2.23(DSB)

Email:gpullum@ling.ed.ac.uk
Web:http://www.ppls.ed.ac.uk/people/geoffreypullumfba

Researchinterests
Generalissuesinsyntactictheory;thegrammarofStandardEnglish;thephilosophyof
linguistics.

Topics
Happytosuperviseanyprojectwithinmycompetence,subjecttoagreementwiththe
studentconcerned.

DrMichaelRamsammy

Office:1.13(DSB)

Email:m.ramsammy@ed.ac.uk
Web:http://www.ppls.ed.ac.uk/lel/people/michaelramsammy

Topics
Laboratoryandtheoreticalapproachestophonology,experimentalphonetics,
sociophonetics,signlanguagelinguistics(BSL),languagechange/historicalphonology
inRomanceorGermaniclanguages,CaribbeanCreoles.

DrBertRemijsen

Office:2.22(DSB)

Email:bert@ling.ed.ac.uk
Web:http://www.ppls.ed.ac.uk/lel/people/bertremijsen

Researchinterests
Thephonetics,phonologyandtypologyofsuprasegmentalcontrasts,
e.g.tone,intonation,stress,vowellength,andvoicequality.Descriptivelinguistics,
withspecificexpertiseonAustronesianlanguages,NiloSaharanlanguages,and
Caribbeancreolelanguages.

Topics
Icansuperviseselfsuggestedtopicswithinmyresearchfocusarea,andImayhave
topicsreadilyavailable.DissertationprojectsIhavesupervisedinthepastgivea
senseoftherangetheyinclude"AninvestigationintoprosodicpatternsintheNess
dialectofLewisGaelic";"ThevoicequalitydistinctioninDinkasongs";
"SuprasegmentalsinShilluknominalmorphophonology".ThemethodologiesIam
mostfamiliarwitharecontrolledelicitationandacousticanalysis.

DrHannahRohde

Office:2.06(DSB)

Email:hannah.rohde@ed.ac.uk
Web:http://www.ppls.ed.ac.uk/lel/people/hannahrohde

Researchinterests
Pragmaticandpsycholinguistics.

Topics
Happytosupervisetopicsrelatedtopsycholinguisticapproachestoquestionsin
pragmatics.Particularlyrelevantaretopicsintheestablishmentofdiscourse
coherence,thecontextualcuesthatguideambiguityresolution,andthe
interpretationandproductionofreferringexpressions.

DrKennySmith

Office:1.08(DSB)

Email:Kenny@ling.ed.ac.uk
Web:http://www.lel.ed.ac.uk/people/view.php?name=kennysmith

Researchinterests
Iaminterestedintheevolutionofcommunication,humanlanguage,andthehuman
capacityforlanguage.Iusecomputationalmodelsandexperimentswithhuman
participantstoinvestigatethesequestions,simulating(inthecomputerorinthelab)
theprocessesoflanguagelearning,languagetransmission,andcommunicative
interaction.I'dbeinterestedinsupervisingdissertationsinvolvingthesetechniques
individually(e.g.lookingatlanguagelearningorlanguageuseduringcommunication)
orincombination(e.g.howdolanguagesevolveasaresultoftheirlearninganduse).
Iamhappytodiscussyourideas,orIcansuggestspecificresearchquestionsand
experiments.

DrMonicaTamariz

Office:1.07(DSB)

Email:monica@ling.ed.ac.uk
Web:http://www.lel.ed.ac.uk/~monica/index.html#

Researchinterests
Languageevolution,culturalevolution

Topics
Culturalevolutionarydynamicsinlanguageandotheraspectsofculture
Coevolutionbetweenbiologyandculture
Coevolutionbetweenformsandfunctions
Theroleofoverimitationinculturalinheritance
Partnerdanceasacomplexcommunicationsystem
Experimentalandtheoreticalapproachestoalloftheabove

DrRobTruswell

Office:1.12(DSB)

Email:Rob.Truswell@ac.uk
Web:http://www.ppls.ed.ac.uk/lel/people/robtruswell

Researchinterests
Syntax,semantics,linguisticinterfaces,syntacticchange,languageevolution,history
ofEnglish.


Topics
Iamhappytodiscusstopicsinanyoftheaboveareas,butcurrentlyparticularly
interestedin:

therelationshipbetweenlanguagechangeandlanguagetypology
eventstructure
syntaxandsemanticsofrelativeclauses
syntaxandsemanticsofpronounsandbinding
quantifierscope

DrLindavanBergen

Office:3.02(DSB)

Email:L.VanBergen@ed.ac.uk
Web:http://www.ppls.ed.ac.uk/lel/people/lindavanbergen

Researchinterests
Englishhistoricalsyntax(especiallywordorderandnegation),OldandMiddleEnglish
language

Topics
Iamhappytosupervisemosttopicsthatfocusonanaspectofthehistoryofthe
Englishlanguage.