Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics

In our latest MPI TalkLing update, Christina Papoutsi and Ezgi Mamus explore how people born blind describe and interpret spatial experiences - revealing just how adaptable human language and cognition can be.

Read the full interview here: www.mpi-talkling.mpi.nl?p=2784&lang=en

Exploring auditory perception experiences in daily situations in autistic adults. New paper by Elena Sofia Silva, @lindadrijvers.bsky.social & James P Trujillo
doi.org/10.1177/13623613251391492

Functional characterization of pathogenic SATB2 missense variants identifies distinct effects on chromatin binding and transcriptional activity. New paper by Joery den Hoed & al. with Dick Schijven, @clydefrancks.bsky.social , @profsimonfisher.bsky.social
doi.org/10.1016/j.xhgg.2025.100537

IDLaS-DE – A Web-Based Platform for Running Customized Studies on Individual Differences in German Language Skills | Journal of Cognition

IDLaS‐DE: A web‐based platform for running customized studies on individual differences in German language skills. New paper by Sandra Bethke, Janay Monen, Thijs Rinsma,
Paul Trilsbeek, Antje S. Meyer & @florian-hintz.bsky.social
doi.org/10.5334/joc.468

A Scoping Review on Conversational Memory and Characteristics of Conversations in Alzheimer's Disease Purpose: Typical late-onset Alzheimer's disease (AD) compromises episodic memory, the ability to encode new events and recollect past events. Muc...

A scoping review on conversational memory and characteristics of conversations in Alzheimer's disease. New paper by Annick F. N. Tanguay & al. with @shariceclough.bsky.social
doi.org/10.1044/2025_JSLHR-24-00780

The ‘design features’ of language revisited. Just published (open access) by Pleyer, Perlman, Lupyan, de Reus & @limorraviv.bsky.social. doi.org/10.1016/j.ti...

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...

Thank you for this very insightful explainer thread about (y)our latest @science.org paper, @profsimonfisher.bsky.social - must read for everyone in linguistics!

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

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...

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...

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

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

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...

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

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

🎓 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

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...

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

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

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 ...

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

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...

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

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...

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

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” ...

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

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...

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

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...

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

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...

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

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...

Indexing prediction error during syntactic priming via pupillometry. Final version by Shanthi Kumarage, Anton Malko
& Evan Kidd.
doi.org/10.1080/23273798.2025.2506634

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...

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

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 ...

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

A metatheory of classical and modern connectionism. New paper by Olivia Guest & @andreaeyleen.bsky.social
doi.org/10.1037/rev0000591

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

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.

Preoperative brain mapping predicts language outcomes after eloquent tumor resection. New publication by Muir & al. with @stephforkel.bsky.social.
doi.org/10.1002/hbm.....