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mpi-nl.bsky.social
Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics
@mpi-nl.bsky.social
1.7K followers 250 following 220 posts
We undertake fundamental research into the psychological, social and biological foundations of #language | Onderzoeksinstituut voor #taal, van genetica tot gedrag |
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mpi-nl.bsky.social
Native Turkish speaker in the NL? Join our eye-tracking study! 👀 You’ll wear glasses, play a game & help advance psycholinguistics. 18.75 € + travel reimbursed. More info: www.mpi.nl/news/call-tu...
November 24, 2025 at 3:06 PM
mpi-nl.bsky.social
Thank you for this very insightful explainer thread about (y)our latest @science.org paper, @profsimonfisher.bsky.social - must read for everyone in linguistics!
profsimonfisher.bsky.social Simon Fisher @profsimonfisher.bsky.social · 2d
Origins of language, one of humanity’s most distinctive traits, may be best explained as a unique convergence of multiple capacities each with its own evolutionary history, involving intertwined roles of biology & culture. This framing can expand research horizons. A 🧵 on our @science.org paper.🧪1/n
What enables human language? A biocultural framework
Explaining the origins of language is a key challenge in understanding ourselves as a species. We present an empirical framework that draws on synergies across fields to facilitate robust studies of l...
www.science.org
November 24, 2025 at 10:32 AM
mpi-nl.bsky.social
Combining genetic and behavioral predictors of 11-year language outcome. New paper by Loretta Gasparini & al. with
@everhoef.bsky.social , @bstpourcain.bsky.social
doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2025.116826
November 21, 2025 at 1:08 PM
mpi-nl.bsky.social
New paper argues language emerged from the interaction of biology and culture - not a single mutation. Vocal learning, grammar, and social sharing each evolved on their own but converged to make human language possible. www.mpi.nl/news/interac...
The interaction of biology and culture: Rethinking where language comes from | Max Planck Institute
www.mpi.nl
November 21, 2025 at 9:42 AM
mpi-nl.bsky.social
What enables human language? A biocultural framework. New paper by Inbal Arnon & al. with @limorraviv.bsky.social , @profsimonfisher.bsky.social
doi.org/10.1126/science.adq8303
What enables human language? A biocultural framework
Explaining the origins of language is a key challenge in understanding ourselves as a species. We present an empirical framework that draws on synergies across fields to facilitate robust studies of l...
doi.org
November 21, 2025 at 8:35 AM
mpi-nl.bsky.social
Exploring the relation between gesture presentation perspective and children’s spatial performance. New paper by Elif Orakçı-Beyaztaş & @dilaykaradoller.bsky.social
doi.org/10.1075/gest.25016.ora
Paper: tinyurl.com/yrezwvrt
Exploring the relation between gesture presentation perspective and children’s spatial performance | John Benjamins
Abstract The study investigated whether the perspective of multimodal input in visuospatial maps predicts children’s spatial performance, particularly verbal recall and direction-following behavior. 5...
doi.org
November 20, 2025 at 1:07 PM
mpi-nl.bsky.social
Quantifier-specific usage patterns shape learning—A corpus analysis on universal quantifiers in English and Dutch child-directed language. New paper by @miekeslim.bsky.social , Elizabeth Tobyn & @carorowland.bsky.social
doi.org/10.1177/01427237251385837
Quantifier-Specific Usage Patterns Shape Learning—A Corpus Analysis on Universal Quantifiers in English and Dutch Child-Directed Language - Mieke Sarah Slim, Elizabeth Tobyn, Caroline F. Rowland, 2025
Quantifiers specify semantic relations between sentence constituents. Due to their meanings, they form a learning challenge for children. This challenge is made...
doi.org
November 18, 2025 at 9:13 AM
mpi-nl.bsky.social
The timing of an avatar’s beat gestures biases lexical stress perception in vocoded speech. New paper by Matteo Maran & al. with Hans Rutger Bosker.
doi.org/10.1017/S0142716425100180
The timing of an avatar’s beat gestures biases lexical stress perception in vocoded speech | Applied Psycholinguistics | Cambridge Core
The timing of an avatar’s beat gestures biases lexical stress perception in vocoded speech - Volume 46
doi.org
November 17, 2025 at 8:19 AM
mpi-nl.bsky.social
🎓 Two PhD defences this month @ MPI for Psycholinguistics!

- Gökberk Alagöz: Human brain evolution from genomics & transcriptomics (12 Nov, 14:30)

- Sara Mazzini: Brain synchrony in dialogue (18 Nov, 10:30)

Open to all join us!
More info here: www.mpi.nl/events

#PhDdefence #MPI
November 10, 2025 at 1:58 PM
mpi-nl.bsky.social
Visuospatial working memory load reduces semantic prediction in the visual world. Final version by Christopher Allison & al. with @falkhuettig.bsky.social
doi.org/10.1080/23273798.2025.2522272
Visuospatial working memory load reduces semantic prediction in the visual world
Prediction in language is often about objects in the language users’ visual surroundings. Previous research suggests that linguistic working memory limitations in such task environments constrain l...
doi.org
November 4, 2025 at 7:17 AM
mpi-nl.bsky.social
Preserved spontaneous mentalizing amid reduced intersubject variability in autism during a movie narrative. Paper by Margot Mangnus & al. with Peter Hagoort
doi.org/10.1016/j.bpsc.2024.10.007
October 31, 2025 at 12:19 PM
mpi-nl.bsky.social
Genomic investigations of spoken and written language abilities: A guide to advances in approaches, technologies, and discovery. New paper by @profsimonfisher.bsky.social
doi.org/10.1044/2025_JSLHR-25-00152
Genomic Investigations of Spoken and Written Language Abilities: A Guide to Advances in Approaches, Technologies, and Discovery
Purpose: The aim of this tutorial is to show how the rise of molecular technologies and analytical methods in human genetics yields exciting new ...
doi.org
October 31, 2025 at 10:23 AM
mpi-nl.bsky.social
Effect of auditory cues to lexical stress on the visual perception of gestural timing. Final version by Chengjia Ye, James M. McQueen & Hans Rutger Bosker
doi.org/10.3758/s13414-025-03072-z
Effect of auditory cues to lexical stress on the visual perception of gestural timing - Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics
Speech is often accompanied by gestures. Since beat gestures—simple nonreferential up-and-down hand movements—frequently co-occur with prosodic prominence, they can indicate stress in a word and hence...
doi.org
October 28, 2025 at 9:03 AM
mpi-nl.bsky.social
The association between frequency of social media use, wellbeing, and depressive symptoms: Disentangling genetic and environmental factors. Final version by @selimsametoglu.bsky.social & al.
doi.org/10.1007/s10519-025-10224-2
The Association Between Frequency of Social Media Use, Wellbeing, and Depressive Symptoms: Disentangling Genetic and Environmental Factors - Behavior Genetics
Meta-analyses report small to moderate effect sizes or inconsistent associations (usually around r = -0.10) between wellbeing (WB) and social media use (SMU) and between anxious-depressive symptoms (A...
doi.org
October 28, 2025 at 8:54 AM
mpi-nl.bsky.social
From “I dance” to “she danced” with a flick of the hands: Audiovisual stress perception in Spanish. Final version by Patrick Rohrer & al. with Ronny Bujok, Hans Rutger Bosker
doi.org/10.3758/s13423-025-02683-9
From “I dance” to “she danced” with a flick of the hands: Audiovisual stress perception in Spanish - Psychonomic Bulletin & Review
When talking, speakers naturally produce hand movements (co-speech gestures) that contribute to communication. Evidence in Dutch suggests that the timing of simple up-and-down, non-referential “beat” ...
doi.org
October 28, 2025 at 8:39 AM
mpi-nl.bsky.social
Spatial working memory is critical for gesture processing: Evidence from gestures with varying semantic links to speech. Final version by Demet Özer, @asliozyurek.bsky.social & Tilbe Göksun
doi.org/10.3758/s13423-025-02642-4
Spatial working memory is critical for gesture processing: Evidence from gestures with varying semantic links to speech - Psychonomic Bulletin & Review
Gestures express redundant or complementary information to speech they accompany by depicting visual and spatial features of referents. In doing so, they recruit both spatial and verbal cognitive reso...
doi.org
October 27, 2025 at 3:17 PM
mpi-nl.bsky.social
Encouraging use of complex language in preschoolers: A classroom-based storybook intervention study. Final version by Amber Muhinyi, Andrew J. Stewart & @carorowland.bsky.social
doi.org/10.1080/15475441.2024.2443447
Encouraging use of complex language in preschoolers: a classroom-based storybook intervention study
Preschoolers’ exposure to abstract language (i.e. talk beyond the here and now) during shared reading is associated with language development. This randomized intervention study tested whether pres...
doi.org
October 27, 2025 at 3:01 PM
mpi-nl.bsky.social
The NuRD component CHD3 promotes BMP signalling during cranial neural crest cell specification. Final version by Zoe H. Mitchell & al. with Joery den Hoed, Willemijn Claassen, @profsimonfisher.bsky.social
doi.org/10.1038/s44319-025-00555-w
The NuRD component CHD3 promotes BMP signalling during cranial neural crest cell specification | EMBO reports
imageimageLoss of the chromatin remodeller CHD3 results in a loss of accessibility at cis-regulatory sites targeted by BMP-responsive transcription factors during cranial neural crest cell specificati...
doi.org
October 27, 2025 at 2:45 PM
mpi-nl.bsky.social
Indexing prediction error during syntactic priming via pupillometry. Final version by Shanthi Kumarage, Anton Malko
& Evan Kidd.
doi.org/10.1080/23273798.2025.2506634
Indexing prediction error during syntactic priming via pupillometry
Prediction is argued to be a key feature of human cognition, including in syntactic processing. Prediction error has been linked to dynamic changes in syntactic representations in theoretical model...
doi.org
October 27, 2025 at 2:32 PM
mpi-nl.bsky.social
Full-term children with lower vocabulary scores receive more multimodal math input than preterm children. Final version by @dilaykaradoller.bsky.social , Ö. Ece Demir-Lira & Tilbe Göksun
doi.org/10.1080/15248372.2025.2470245
Full-Term Children with Lower Vocabulary Scores Receive More Multimodal Math Input Than Preterm Children
One of the earliest sources of mathematical input arises in dyadic parent–child interactions. However, the emphasis has been on parental input only in speech and how input varies across different e...
doi.org
October 27, 2025 at 2:20 PM
mpi-nl.bsky.social
Accelerando and crescendo in African penguin ecstatic display songs. Final version by Taylor A. Hersh & al. with Yannick Jadoul, @andrearavignani.bsky.social
doi.org/10.1111/nyas.15383
NYAS Publications
Human music is often characterized by accelerando—the progressive speeding up of notes—but quantitative investigations of accelerando in other species are lacking. We used a suite of rhythm analyses ...
doi.org
October 27, 2025 at 1:57 PM
mpi-nl.bsky.social
A metatheory of classical and modern connectionism. New paper by Olivia Guest & @andreaeyleen.bsky.social
doi.org/10.1037/rev0000591
October 27, 2025 at 7:43 AM
mpi-nl.bsky.social
Teasing apart the impact of different forms of overlap on cross-linguistic structural priming. New publication by Rowena Garcia, Jens Roeser, Janina Camille Vargas, Saffanah Fathin & Evan Kidd.
doi.org/10.1080/23273798.2025.2558640
October 20, 2025 at 9:09 AM
mpi-nl.bsky.social
Preoperative brain mapping predicts language outcomes after eloquent tumor resection. New publication by Muir & al. with @stephforkel.bsky.social.
doi.org/10.1002/hbm.....
Preoperative Brain Mapping Predicts Language Outcomes After Eloquent Tumor Resection
This study outlines the development of a predictive model based on preoperative brain mapping capable of accurately predicting the long-term linguistic impact of individual surgical decisions.
doi.org
October 16, 2025 at 3:54 PM
mpi-nl.bsky.social
Gestural and verbal evidence of conceptual representation differences in blind and sighted individuals. New publication by @ezgimamus.bsky.social & al. with @asliozyurek.bsky.social. doi.org/10.1111/cogs....
Gestural and Verbal Evidence of Conceptual Representation Differences in Blind and Sighted Individuals
This preregistered study examined whether visual experience influences conceptual representations by examining both gestural expression and feature listing. Gestures—mostly driven by analog mappings ....
doi.org
October 15, 2025 at 10:59 AM