The laboratory for psycholinguistic research was founded in 1999. The laboratory uses various behavioural and neurocognitive methods and available corpus tools to conduct neurolinguistic, psycholinguistic and corpus research. Electroencephalographic measurements are performed, i.e. measurements of evoked potentials (using EEG devices) and measurements of eye movements (using eye-tracking devices). Other behavioural measures of language processing (reaction time) and various neuropsychological tests are also used. The laboratory explores language processing and language development, as well as other cognitive functions that are closely related to language processing of typical speakers and speakers with developmental and acquired language disorders (e.g., memory, cognitive control, cognitive flexibility, etc.). Laboratory members participate in many international projects and work closely with many laboratories across Europe and the world.

The laboratory is located in the premises of BioCENTAR on Borongaj campus, in two rooms. A bigger room (approx. 50 m2) contains an EEG, one stationary and two portable eye-trackers with appropriate configurations for measuring. It also contains the necessary laboratory installations for water and electricity. The smaller room contains several computers and desks for work and testing. Both rooms are equipped with a multitude of books.

The laboratory has devices for measuring the evoked potentials BP QuickAmp 128, V-AMP 16 and V-AMP 8 and a portable BP ActiHamp device. It also has eye-tracking devices: SMI IView 500, SMI RED-M 120 and the latest EyeLink Portable Duo, which has become the standard in psycholinguistic research. It also has all the necessary programs for building experiments and analysing data (E-Prime, Paradigm, MATLAB). A technician regularly maintains the equipment.

Head of the Laboratory

Laboratory members

Collaborators of the lab from other faculties of the University of Zagreb or other universities

• Prof. Kristina Cergol, PhD, Faculty of Teacher Education, University of Zagreb
• Assistant prof. Maja Kelic, PhD, University of Rijeka
• Luka Jelic, Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing, University of Zagreb, PhD student
• PhD students of Postgraduate doctoral study Speech, Language and Hearing Disorders and Postgraduate doctoral study Language and cognitive neuroscience (JECON)
• Josko Buljan, Technical support

Assistants/volunteers in the laboratory

• Laura Marinovic, MA
• Nikolina Runje, PhD student
• Master's students of the Speech and Language Pathology studies

Current projects

• COST Action Enabling multilingual eye-tracking data collection for human and machine language processing research (PI Nora Hollenstein and Lena Ann Jäger)
• IPCH-2022-04-3316 Measurement Reliability of individual Differences in sentence processing: A Cross-Linguistic perspective (PI Marijan Palmovic, and Lena Ann Jäger)
• Crosslinguistic Project on pre - and protomorphology in language acquisition (Austrian Academy of Science) (PI Wolfgang U. Dressler)

Other research topics

• Morphonotactics in early language acquisition and processing of speakers with typical language status and speakers with a developmental language disorder
• Bilingual processing and the role of prosody in silent reading

List of courses partially taught in the laboratory or using the laboratory equipment

• Psycholinguistics
• Developmental Psycholinguistics
• Bilingualism
• Neurolinguistics
• Neurolinguistics II
• Methodology of Language Research

Some scientific papers by the laboratory members resulting from in-lab research in the past five years

1. Matic Skoric, A., Kelic, M., Pavlinusic Vilus, E., Palmovic, M. (under review). The interplay between acoustics, phonology and morphology in the processing of morphologically complex words: evidence from Croatian. Journal of Psycholinguistic Research.
2. Vanek, N., Matic Skoric, A., Kosutar, S., Stone, K., Matejka, S. (2024). Mental simulation of the factual and the illusory in negation processing: Evidence from anticipatory eye movements on a blank screen. Scientific Reports, 14, 2844. doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-53353-0
3. Palmovic, M., Jäger, L. A., & Hollenstein, N. (2023). Editorial: Eye-tracking while reading for psycholinguistic and computational models of language comprehension. Frontiers in psychology, 14, 1326408. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1326408
4. Kelic, M., Matic Skoric, A., Palmovic, M. (2023). Croatian (mor)phonotactic word-medial consonant clusters in the early lexicon. Poznan Studies in Contemporary Linguistics, 59(1), 95-116. https://doi.org/10.1515/psicl-2022-2005
5. Kosutar, S., Matic Skoric, A. (2022). Who is likely to be rementioned? An experimental study of implicit causality bias in Croatian. Slovo a slovesnost 83(2), 83-102. https://ujc.avcr.cz/sys/galerie-download/oddeleni-stylistiky-a-lingvistiky-textu/SaS-83-2022-2_Kosutar-Skoric_83-102.pdf
6. Matic Skoric, A., Kovacevic, M. (2022). Challenges of different approaches and methodologies in psycholinguistics: the example of an RC attachment preference study in Croatian. In: G. Csibra, J. Gervain i K. Kovács (Eds.), A Life in Cognition Studies in Cognitive Science in Honor of Csaba Pléh. Springer Nature Switzerland AG, 125-136.
7. Palmovic, M., Matic Skoric, A., Zelenika Zeba, M., Kovacevic, M. (2022). Phonological and lexical effects on reading in dyslexia. In: Cappelli, G., Noccetti, S. (Ur.), A linguistic approach to the study of dyslexia. Bristol, UK: Multilingual Matters.
8. Kovacevic, M., Matic Skoric, A. (2022). Crtice o istraživanjima jezičnoga razvoja u svijetu i u Hrvatskoj: pogled unatrag i unaprijed. In Markovic, A., Nazalevic Cučevic, I., Gligoric, I. M. (Eds.) Riječi o riječi i Riječi. Zagreb: Disput, 301-314. 
9. Susac, A., Planinic, M., Bubic, A., Jelicic, K., Ivanjek, L., Matejak Cvenic, K., Palmovic, M. (2021). Učinak istraživačkih učeničkih pokusa na prepoznavanje interferencijskih i ogibnih uzoraka. Zbornik radova XV. hrvatskog simpozija o nastavi fizike. Zagreb: Hrvatsko fizikalno društvo, 108-112.
10. Klein, P., Küchemann, S., Susac, A., Karabulut, A., Bubic, A., Planinic, M., Palmovic, M., Kuhn, J. (2021). Students’ Understanding of Diagrams in Different Contexts: Comparison of Eye Movements Between Physicists and Non-physicists Using Eye-Tracking U: Devetak, I., Glažar, S. A. (eds.) Applying Bio-Measurements Methodologies in Science Education Research. Cham: Springer, 243-260. doi:10.1007/978-3-030-71535-9_12
11. Susac, A., Planinic, M., Bubic, A., Jelicic, K., Ivanjek, L., Matejak Cvenic, K., Palmovic, M. (2021). Effect of students’ investigative experiments on students’ recognition of interference and diffraction patterns: An eye-tracking study. Physical Review Physics Education Research, 17(1), 010110, 15 doi:10.1103/physrevphyseducres.17.010110
12. Matic, A. (2020). A psycholinguistic approach to structural-semantic factors in the processing of the relative clauses. Doctoral dissertation. University of Zagreb, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, https://doi.org/10.17234/diss.2020.8937
13. Susac, A., Planinic, M., Bubic, A., Ivanjek, L., Palmovic, M. (2020). Student recognition of interference and diffraction patterns: An eye-tracking study. Physical review physics education research, 16(2), 020133, 9 doi:10.1103/PhysRevPhysEducRes.16.020133
14. Matic, A., Willer-Gold, J., Palmovic, M., Peti Stantic, A. (2019). Relative Clause Attachment to a Coordinated Phrase in Croatian: A Psycholinguistic Perspective. Rasprave Instituta za hrvatski jezik i jezikoslovlje, 45(2), 549-570. doi: https://doi.org/10.31724/rihjj.45.2.15
15. Susac, A., Bubic, A., Planinic, M., Movre, M., Palmovic, M. (2019). Role of diagrams in problem solving: An evaluation of eye-tracking parameters as a measure of visual attention. Physical review physics education research, 15(1); 013101-1 doi:10.1103/PhysRevPhysEducRes.15.013101
16. Palmovic, M., Matic, A., Kovacevic, M. (2018). Resolution of anaphoric expressions in children and adults: evidence from eye movements. Suvremena lingvistika, 44 (85), 139-154. doi: https://doi.org/10.22210/suvlin.2018.085.13
17. Matic, A., Coumel, M., Palmovic, M. (2018). Lexical processing of children with dyslexia: An eye-tracking adaptation of the Reicher-Wheeler task. Govor, 35(1), 27-52. doi: https://doi.org/10.22210/govor.2018.35.02
18. Vujnovic Malivuk, K., Palmovic, M., Zergollern-Miletic, L. (2018). Automaticity of lexical access and executive control in Croatian-German bilinguals and second language learners. Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching, 8(4), 755-774 doi:10.14746/ssllt.2018.8.4.3
19. Susac, A., Bubic, A., Kazotti, E., Planinic, M., Palmovic, M. (2018). Student understanding of graph slope and area under a graph: A comparison of physics and nonphysics students. Physical review physics education research, 14(2); 020109-1 doi:10.1103/PhysRevPhysEducRes.14.020109
20. Lice, K., Palmovic, M., Vukovic Ogrizek, M. (2018). Reduced memory traces for words during automatic lexical processing in aphasic subjects: a mismatch negativity study. Aphasiology, 32(sup1), 124-125. doi:10.1080/02687038.2018.1485868