The Oxford Handbook of Experimental Syntax

This volume showcases the contributions that formal experimental methods can make to syntactic research in the 21st century. Syntactic theory is both a domain of study in its own right, and one component of an integrated theory of the cognitive neuroscience of language. It provides a theory of the mediation between sound and meaning, a theory of the representations constructed during sentence processing, and a theory of the end-state for language acquisition. Given the highly interactive nature of the theory of syntax, this volume defines "experimental syntax" in the broadest possible terms, exploring both formal experimental methods that have been part of the domain of syntax since its inception (i.e., acceptability judgment methods) and formal experimental methods that have arisen through the interaction of syntactic theory with the domains of acquisition, psycholinguistics, and neurolinguistics. The Oxford Handbook of Experimental Syntax brings these methods together into a single experimental syntax volume for the first time, providing high-level reviews of major experimental work, offering guidance for researchers looking to incorporate these diverse methods into their own work, and inspiring new research that will push the boundaries of the theory of syntax. It will appeal to students and scholars from the advanced undergraduate level upwards in a range of fields including syntax, acquisition, psycholinguistics, neurolinguistics, and computational linguistics.

Jon Sprouse, Professor of Psychology, New York University Abu Dhabi

Jon Sprouse is a Professor of Psychology at New York University Abu Dhabi. His research focuses on the use of experimental syntax techniques, including acceptability judgments, EEG, and computational modeling, to explore fundamental questions in syntax. He has authored over forty journal articles
and book chapters on experimental syntax, and his work has been recognized by the Best Paper in Language award, the Early Career award, and the C. L. Baker mid-career award from the Linguistic Society of America.

Part I. Judgment methods in syntactic theory
1. Acceptability judgments, Jon Sprouse
2. Acceptability judgments of binding and coreference: Methodological considerations, Elsi Kaiser and Jeffrey Runner
3. (Quantifier) scope judgments, Kriszta Eszter SzendrőI
4. Experimental syntax and linguistic fieldwork, Maria Polinsky
Annotated bibliography for Part I
Part II. Acquisition methods in syntactic theory
5. Behavioral acquisition methods with infants, Laurel Perkins and Jeffrey Lidz
6. Behavioral acquisition methods with preschool-age children, Kristen Syrett
7. Modeling syntactic acquisition, Lisa S. Pearl
8. Artificial language learning, Jennifer Culbertson
Annotated bibliography for Part II
Part III. Psycholinguistic methods in syntactic theory
9. Self-paced reading, Masaya Yoshida
10. Eye-tracking and experimental syntax, Dave Kush and Brian Dillon
11. Speed-accuracy tradeoff modeling and its interface with experimental syntax, Stephani Foraker, Ian Cunnings, and Andrea E. Martin
12. Formal methods in experimental syntax, Tim Hunter
13. Investigating syntactic structure and processing in the auditory modality, Mara Breen and Katy Carlson
14. Language processing experiments in the field, Matthew Wagers and Sandra Chung
Annotated bibliography for Part III
Part IV. Neurolinguistic methods in syntactic theory
15. Electrophysiological methods, Jon Sprouse and Diogo Almeida
16. Hemodynamic methods, Jonathan R. Brennan
17. Aphasia and syntax, William Matchin and Corianne Rogalsky
Annotated bibliography for Part IV
18. The future of experimental syntax, The contributors