WHITE NIGHTS OF COGNITIVE SCIENCE IN ST. PETERSBURG

The researchers at the Laboratory for Cognitive Studies of Language have participated in the Third St. Petersburg Winter Workshop on Experimental Studies of Speech and Language (Night Whites 2015), which took place at the Saint Petersburg State University and hosted participants from 13 countries.

The range of topics discussed at the workshop included psycholinguistics, neuroscience, computer modeling of linguistic processes, experimental methods in linguistic studies, and many more.

Night Whites 2015 is the third event in the series of workshops organized by the Saint Petersburg State University in this field. The workshop included lectures by such eminent scientists as Harald Clahsen (University of Postdam), Hanne Gram Simonsen (University of Oslo), Simon Garrod (University of Glasgow), Kira Gor (University of Maryland).

The researchers at the Laboratory for Cognitive Studies of Language presented the results of their investigations in processing of simple and suffixed Russian words: structural and semantic priming effect (Olga Nagel, Irina Temnikova), effects of derivational semantics on mental comparison (Zoya Rezanova, Elena Nekrasova, Konstantin Shilyaev), polymodal perception – The word in itself: what else affects multimodal perception of verbal stimuli? (Elena D. Nekrasova), psycholinguistc databases (Spatial Semantics of 506 Russian Nouns (Alex Miklashevsky)), and the influence of color on word semantics (Good and bad are green and black: Evidence from a Stroop effect (Elina Tsigeman, Oksana V. Tsaregorodtseva).

Alex Miklashevky talks about his impressions: “We had participated in the workshop in 2014, and this time was another great opportunity to rub shoulders with researchers of such expertise. The participants asked very helpful questions and made insightful comments. Presenting before such an audience was a every important experience for me because there were so many renowned scientists. Last time, in 2014, I had the opportunity to listen to a lecture by Martin Fisher, a specialist in the field of mathematical cognition. It is certain the such an event could not have taken place without the work of its dedicated organizers. The organizers, Tatiana Chernigovskaya, Andrey Kibrik, Yuri Shtyrov, Natalia Slyusar, Tatiana Petrova, Kira Gor, are also leading scientists in their fields. I think it is important for every scientist to participate both in interdisciplinary conferences, where the whole range of studies in a specific sphere can be assessed, and in such specialized conferences as Night Whites, where one can focus on the details and discuss them with the professionals in the field.”

More details, the conference program and abstracts can be found at the official site https://nightwhites2015.wordpress.com/