Psychology

SPATIAL LANGUAGE AND SPATIAL COGNITION (COVENTRYK_U23PSY)

Year of Entry: 2023

Apply

Application deadline

22 February 2023

Location

UEA Campus

Start date

October 2023

Funding type

Competition funded (students worldwide)

Mode of study

Full time

Programme type

PhD

Project Overview

Talking about where objects are located (e.g. in the cup; in front of the cinema; to the left of the stapler; this phone, etc.) is an essential part of language and is underpinned by both linguistic and visuospatial brain networks. Projects are invited on this topic, joining the research group of Prof. Kenny Coventry. Possible projects include work on the neural mechanisms underpinning spatial language and spatial memory; cross-linguistic studies examining the relationship between language and perception; spatial language and the ageing brain; spatial language in a second language; talking about quantities in space. Please contact Kenny Coventry if you would like to discuss a possible project. More information regarding this area can be found on Kenny Coventry's website.

When applying for this project, please select that you are applying with your own research proposal, selecting Psychology as the subject area and including the project title within the 'Research Title and Summary' section of the application. If you have any questions about the application process, please email us.

Entry Requirements

Acceptable first degree in Psychology or cognate study, and a Research Method Masters in Psychology, or equivalent qualification.

Funding

This PhD project is in a competition for a Faculty of Social Sciences funded studentship. The studentship covers full tuition fees for Home or International students, a tax-free maintenance grant equivalent to UKRI studentship rates (currently £17,688) and a research training support grant (currently £750 per year).

For further information, please see Studentships and Stipends: www.uea.ac.uk/research/research-with-us/postgraduate-research/latest-phds-and-research-studentships/postgraduate-research-fees-and-funding/studentships-and-stipends and information on maintenance grant levels: [www.uea.ac.uk/research/research-with-us/postgraduate-research/latest-phds-and-research-studentships/postgraduate-research-fees-and-funding/stipends-and-fee-levels].

Please also see the UEA Studentship terms and conditions.

References

i) Rocca, R., Coventry, K. R., Tylén, K., Staib, M., Lund, T. E., & Wallentin, M. (2020). Language beyond the language system: dorsal visuospatial pathways support processing of demonstratives and spatial language during naturalistic fast fMRI. Neuroimage 216, 116128. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1053811919307190?via%3Dihub

ii) Caldano, M., & Coventry, K. R. (2019). Spatial demonstratives and perceptual space: To reach or not to reach? Cognition, 191. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2019.06.001

iii) Coventry, K. R., Christophel, T., Fehr, T., Valdés-Conroy, B., & Herrmann, M. (2013). Multiple routes to mental animation: Language and functional relations drive motion processing for static images. Psychological Science, 24(8), 1379-1388.

iv) Coventry, K. R., Griffiths, D., & Hamilton, C. J. (2014). Spatial demonstratives and perceptual space: Describing and remembering object location. Cognitive Psychology, 69, 46-70.

v) Coventry, K. R. (2015). Space. In E. Dabrowska & D. Divjak (Eds.), Handbook of Cognitive Linguistics, pp.489-507. De Gruyter Mouton.

Enquire now

How to apply

Explore our research