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Postdoctoral research fellow, Language and Aphasia Lab

CV (PDF: 29kb / 5 pages)

Research interests

Among the most amazing human traits is the ability to translate mental representations of the world and inner experiences into language, the physical manifestation of which is merely sequences of sounds. Equally amazing is the ability to construct a rich mental representation from hearing such sequences of sounds. Despite its incredible complexity, producing and comprehending language is strikingly effortless for speakers, even from a very young age. However, such processes can be selectively impaired due to stroke or other neurological injury or disease, compromising a person’s ability to communicate (an impairment termed aphasia). A key focus of my research is to identify the cognitive mechanisms that support different aspects of language performance in both neurologically-intact speakers and people with aphasia. Topics of interest include comprehension of sequences of words (conceptual combinations such as bee spider), grammatical encoding in the course of language production, and processes underlying single word production. A complementary arm of my research is to explore the relevance of principles governing language use and learning in healthy speakers to the rehabilitation of aphasia.

Current projects

Determining to what degree so-called ‘syntactic’ phenomena, such as subject-verb agreement and the count-mass noun distinction in English, are rooted or controlled by variations in the meanings intended by speakers versus legislated by abstract syntactic features

Evaluating competing theoretical frameworks of word production by investigating the impact of lexical variables (i.e., phonological density and homophony) on speech errors in aphasia

Delineating the presence and impact of error learning in aphasia, and the role of monitoring to the amelioration of error learning

Investigating the application of core learning principles (e.g., testing effects; spacing effects) to the rehabilitation of naming impairments in aphasia

Publications

Journal Publications

Kalenine, S., Mirman, D., Middleton, E., & Buxbaum, L. (In press). Temporal dynamics of activation of thematic and functional knowledge during conceptual processing of manipulable artifacts. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory and Cognition. PMID:22449134

Lee, C., Middleton, E., Mirman, D., Kalénine, S., & Buxbaum, L. (In press). Incidental and context-responsive activation of structure- and function-based action features during object identification. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance. PMID:22390294

Middleton, E. L., & Schwartz, M. F. (2012). Errorless learning in cognitive rehabilitation: A critical review. Neuropsychological Rehabilitation, 22(2), 138-168. PMID:22247957

Bock, K., & Middleton, E. L. (In press). Reaching agreement. Natural Language and Linguistic Theory.

Middleton, E. L., Rawson, K., & Wisniewski, E. J. (2011). How do we process novel conceptual combinations in text? Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology. 64(4), 807-822. PMID:21104564

Middleton, E. L., & Schwartz, M. F. (2010). Density pervades: An analysis of phonological neighborhood density effects in aphasic speakers with different types of naming impairment. Cognitive Neuropsychology, 27(5), 401-427. PMID:21718214

Rawson, K. A., & Middleton, E. L. (2009). Memory-based processing as a mechanism of automaticity in text comprehension. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory and Cognition. 35(2), 353-370. PMID:19271851

Dunlosky, J., Rawson, K., & Middleton, E. L. (2005). What constrains the accuracy of metacomprehension judgments? Testing the transfer appropriate monitoring and accessibility hypotheses. Journal of Memory and Language, 52, 551-565.

Middleton, E. L., & Wisniewski, E. J., & Trindel, K., & Imai, M. (2004). Separating the chaff from the oats: Evidence for a conceptual distinction between count noun and mass noun aggregates. Journal of Memory and Language, 50(4), 371-394.

Wisniewski, E. J., & Lamb, C. A., & Middleton, E. L. (2003). On the conceptual basis for the count and mass noun distinction. Language and Cognitive Processes, 18(5-6), 583-624.

Wisniewski, E. J., & Middleton, E. L. (2002). Of bucket bowls and coffee cup bowls: Spatial alignment in conceptual combination. Journal of Memory and Language, 46(1), 1-23.

Book Chapters

Ross, B. H., Taylor, E., Middleton, E., & Nokes, T. (2008). Concept and category learning in humans. In H.L. Roediger, III (Ed.), Cognitive psychology of memory. Vol. 2 of Learning and memory: A comprehensive reference, 4 vols. (J.Byrne, Editor). Oxford: Elsevier.

Bock, K., Konopka, A., & Middleton, E. (2006). Spoken language production: A psycholinguistic approach. Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistics, (Vol. 12, pp. 103-112). Oxford: Elsevier.

Papers Submitted and In Preperation

Middleton, E. L., & Schwartz, M. F. The representation of homophones: Evidence from aphasia. In preparation.

Middleton, E. L., & Schwartz, M. F. Are errors learned?: Investigations of word-retrieval difficulty in aphasia. In preparation.

Middleton, E. L., Bock, K., & Verkuilen, J. Peculiar plurals and senseless singulars: How meaning-full is grammatical agreement? Under review.

Middleton, E. L. The furniture beside the fireplaces are on fire! The singularity of mass nouns revisited. In preparation.

Presentations

Middleton, E. L., & Schwartz, M. F. (2012). The representation of homophones in the production lexicon: Evidence from picture naming in aphasia. Poster presented at the 19th annual meeting of the Cognitive Neuroscience Society, Chicago, IL.

Lee, C., Middleton, E. L., Mirman, D., Kalénine, S., & Buxbaum, L. J. (2011). Eye gaze in action: Effects of manipulation features and linguistic context on object identification. Poster presented at the 5th annual workshop on Concepts, Actions and Objects (CAOs), Rovereto, Italy.

Middleton, E. L., & Schwartz, M. F. (2010, October). Density pervades: An analysis of phonological density effects in aphasic speakers with different types of naming impairment. Paper presented at the 48th annual meeting of the Academy of Aphasia, Athens, Greece.

Middleton, E. L. (2009, November). The furniture beside the fireplaces are on fire! The singularity of mass nouns revisited. Poster presented at the 50th annual meeting of the Psychonomic Society, Boston, MA.

Middleton, E. L. (2008, February). From thought to language: Insights from subject-verb agreement. Invited paper. Department of Education, University of Illinois, Champaign, IL.

Middleton, E. L. & Rawson, K. A. (2007, November). Processing novel conceptual combinations in discourse contexts. Poster presented at the 48th annual meeting of the Psychonomic Society, Long Beach, CA.

Middleton, E. L. & Bock, K. (2007, November). Word frequency affects subject-verb number agreement. Poster presented at the 48th annual meeting of the Psychonomic Society, Long Beach, CA.

Rawson, K. A., & Middleton, E. L. (2006, November). Testing theories of automaticity in text processing: Computational efficiency and memory-based processing in conceptual combination. Paper presented at the 47th annual meeting of the Psychonomic Society, Houston, TX

Middleton, E. L., & Bock, K. (2006, August). Mass matters. Poster presented at the Third International Workshop on Language Production, Chicago.

Lorimor, H., Middleton, E. L., & Bock, K. (2006, August). The effects of word order and noun type on agreement with conjoined subjects. Poster presented at the Third International Workshop on Language Production, Chicago.

Middleton, E. L. (2006, April). An investigation of the source of singularity of mass nouns. Invited paper. Beckman Institute, Urbana, IL.

Lorimor, H., Middleton, E. L., & Bock, K. (2006, March). One and one makes singular agreement. Poster presented at the 19th Annual CUNY Conference on Human Sentence Processing, New York.

Middleton, E. L., & Bock, K., (2004, May). A comparison of notional and grammatical control of subject-verb agreement. Paper presented at Midwestern Psychological Association, Chicago.

Dunlosky, J., Rawson, K. A., & Middleton, E. (2002, January). Metacomprehension accuracy: How accurate are predictions about recalling specific terms within a text? Paper presented at the 13th annual Winter Conference on Discourse, Text, & Cognition, Jackson, WY.

Middleton, E. L., & Wisniewski, E. J. (2001). Evidence for a conceptual distinction between count nouns and mass nouns. Poster session presented at the Southeastern Psychological Association, Atlanta, GA.