Overview
The goal of this course is to get an overview of different
experimental approaches to topics in semantic and pragmatic theory, with a
particular (but not exclusive) focus on issues relating to number and quantity.
Course requirements
Everyone who comes to this class is expected to do
the readings and participate in the discussion. In particlar, everyone
will be required to present at least one experimental paper over the
course of the quarter, so that we have a chance to discuss them all in
at least some detail. Papers will be chosen or assigned during the first
meeting.
Registered students will have two additional requirements:
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Participation in the design and construction of an experiment
on vaguenss and imprecision.
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EITHER logical design of an experiment on a topic of
the student's choice, OR a critical analysis of some body of
experimental studies of a particular phenomenon (along the lines of
the Elbourne paper that we will read in the second week).
Schedule
NB: The following
schedule is subject to change, so please check for updates each
week! (Last updated: Tuesday, March 31)
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April 1
Introduction to the course and background discussion on binding
and coreference.
Reinhart 1983
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April 8
Acquisition studies of Principle B
Chien and Wexler 1990,
Grodzinsky and Reinhart 1993,
Elbourne 2005,
Conroy et al. in press
ADDITIONAL RELEVANT READING: Drozd 2004
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April 15
Background on the semantics and pragmatics of number terms (and maybe some syntax)
Horn 1992,
Koenig 1991,
Geurts 2006,
Breheny 2008,
ADDITIONAL RELEVANT READINGS:
Ionin and Matushansky 2006 (syntax),
Krifka 1999, Geurts and Nouwen 2007 (modified numerals),
Salmon 1997 (fractions)
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April 22
There will be no class today, because I will be
out of town. However, you should spend your time reading Manfred Krifka's
contribution to the new edition of the Handbook of Semantics on
varieties of semantic evidence.
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April 29
Number cognition and the acquisition of number words and counting
Gallistel et al 2005,
Feigenson et al. 2004, Brennan 2006,
LeCorre and Carey 2007
ADDITIONAL RELEVANT READINGS
Wynn 1992, Whalen et al. 1999,
Carey 2004, Hurewitz et al. 2006,
Rips et al. 2006, Rips et al. 2008
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May 6
Experimental studies of number word acquisition
Musolino 2004, Huang et al. in press,
Huang and Snedeker in press,
GENERAL READINGS ON EXPERIMENTAL METHODOLOGIES IN PRAGMATICS
Noveck and Reboul to appear, Sedivy 2007
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May 13
Experimental studies of scalar implicature
Pijnacker et al. 2008 (autism),
Pouscoulous et al. 2007 (acquisition/processing),
Grodner and Sedivy to appear (processing/eye tracking)
STUFF ON LOCAL IMPLICATURES (which you should read)
Russell 2006, Geurts 2009
STUFF ON ACQUISITION OF IMPLICATURE (which you should also read)
Papafragou and Musolino 2003,
Papafragou and Tatalou 2004
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May 20
Experimental studies of quantifier scope and processing
Lidz and Musolino 2002, Noveck
et al. 2007, Gualmini et al. 2008,
Viau et al. 2008 (acquisition and autism studies)
Geurts in press, Geurts
and van der Slik 2005 (acquisition and processing studies)
SPECIAL BONUS: Musolino 2009 on number words
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May 27
Verification strategies for proportional quantification
Hackl 2009, Pietroski et al. 2008,
Lidz et al. 2009
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June 3
Vagueness vs. imprecision
Syrett et al. 2009, Lasersohn 1999,
Krifka 2007, Sauerland and Stateva 2007
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June 10 (Or stuff that we won't get to but is worth looking at)
Brain studies of semantic composition
Pylkkanen and McElree 2006,
Pylkkanen 2008,
Pylkkanen et al. 2008,
Kim and Osterhout 2005,
Van Herten et al. 2006
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