5848 S. University Avenue, Chicago, IL 60637
| Email: | regier at uchicago dot edu |
| Office: | ICSI rm. 561 (phone: 510.666.2954 or 773.972.5782) [at Chicago: Green 414] |
| Lab: | Green 416/418 (phone: 773.834.9001) |
I study the relation of language and thought - exploring how universals of cognition shape all languages, and to what extent speakers of different languages think differently. My work moves beyond traditional nature-vs-nurture or universalist-vs-relativist framings of these questions, by considering how universal and language-specific forces interact.
I often do this through computational modeling: I have explored models of spatial language, of color naming, and of word learning. I have also recently begun to explore computational approaches to the “poverty of stimulus” argument in language learning.
I proposed that the Whorf hypothesis - the idea that language shapes perception - might be supported in the right visual field but less so in the left, a pattern suggested by the functional organization of the brain. This proposal has led to several empirical studies in collaboration with others, which support the idea.
Each of these projects examines a hypothesis about the interplay of universal constraints and linguistic convention. My work is in general broadly collaborative. I enjoy working with others whose interests match, and skills complement, my own. I am a member of the Spatial Intelligence and Learning Center (SILC).
You can read a short news article about my work