My research focuses on cross-sensory mappings and the cognition of language. A major aim of my research is to better understand how sounds trigger meaningful representations in the brain and how information from the different senses combines and interacts. How does structure in the external world (e.g. a spoken word, symbol, tool, or built space) affect cognition? Why are certain representational forms particularly effective in conveying certain types of information or affording specific actions? One facet of my work approaches these questions through studies in sound symbolism (how do the sounds in some words tap into representations of meaning? e.g. what it is about words like ‘blob’, ‘sting’, or ‘dizzy’ that makes them feel like what they mean?) and cross-sensory mappings (how does experience in one of the senses extend into the others?). I integrate aspects of cognitive neuroscience, linguistics, anthropology, and symbolic systems in my approach to these questions. By examining how people across the world systematically represent concepts (e.g. using particular sounds in words for specific concepts), we can identify underlying patterns, and gain insight into the workings of the human mind and systems for representing information.
My graduate work was at Emory University (Ph.D., 2019), where I worked with Lynne Nygaard (Psychology) and Krish Sathian (then Neurology, now at Penn State School of Medicine). For these projects, I combined functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and behavioral testing (people making quick responses on a computer) to examine the processing of sensory-based metaphorical language and cross-sensory mappings. Another branch of my research with Dr. Nygaard has focused on sound-to-meaning mappings in language. We examine diverse languages to identify patterns in how sounds are mapped to concepts. What makes particular sounds especially apt for representing concepts like small, blobby, jagged, bright, near, or far? Where we find patterns in sound use across languages, we devise experiments to examine them further.
A brief history
Prior to graduate school, I spent three years as lab manager in Lera Boroditsky’s psychology lab at Stanford University. There, we examined the relationship between language and thought, testing whether speakers of different languages differ in how they perceive, encode, or reason about the world.
My research examines the relationship between language and the senses, and sensory metaphors across cultures. I am also interested in cognitive affordances in the built world, and sensory interactions in cognition of place. How can understanding these factors contribute to creating ideal environments for cognition (e.g. therapeutic, educational, inspirational etc)? ~ Kelly McCormick
Kelly McCormick 