2023 Fellows of the Society for Text and Discourse
The following members have been selected to be fellows of the Society for Text and Discourse, and will be honored during the opening ceremonies on Wednesday, June 28, 2023.
- Peter Dixon, University of Alberta, Canada
- William Sid Horton, Northwestern University, USA
- Johanna Kaakinen, University of Turku, Finland
- Lucia Mason, University of Padova, Italy
- Tobias Richter, University of Wurzburg, Germany
2023 Fellows Selection Committee: Jean-François Rouet (Chair), M. Anne Britt, Jane Oakhill, & Gale Sinatra. Fellow status is awarded to Society for Text & Discourse members who have made sustained outstanding contributions to the science of their field in the areas of research, teaching, service, and/or application. Fellows’ contributions have enriched or advanced an area encompassed by the Society for Text & Discourse on a scale well beyond that of being a good researcher, practitioner, teacher, or supervisor. The official list of current ST&D fellows can be found at https://www.societyfortextanddiscourse.org/fellows/
2023 Distinguished Scientific Contribution Awards
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Rolf Zwaan, Erasmus University Rotterdam |
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Dr. Rolf Zwaan is a Professor of Psychology at Erasmus University Rotterdam. He is a Fellow of the Society for Text and Discourse and the Association for Psychological Science. Zwaan has published widely on topics related to comprehension such as narrative comprehension, embodiment, memory, grammatical aspect, and conspiracy thinking. In addition, he has published on topics related to open science and replication. Zwaan served as editor-in-chief of Acta Psychologica and as senior editor of Collabra: Psychology.
Dr. Zwaan will be delivering a keynote address at this year's conference on Wednesday, June 28th, 12:00-13:00 Oslo time. The title and abstract for this talk is below.
Comprehension: From Clause to Conspiracy Theory
Comprehension involves the creation of a meaningful mental representation, called a situation model, which represents a state of affairs either in the real world or within a fictional realm. Throughout my research, I have explored comprehension across various levels of abstraction. These levels range from how we process clauses to uncover the underlying structure of events to how we (some of us at least) integrate information from multiple sources to form conspiracy theories. In this overview, I will tie together the key findings of my research and offer insights into potential future avenues of investigation.
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Ivar Bråten, University of Oslo |
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Dr. Ivar Bråten is an emeritus professor of educational psychology in the Department of Education at the University of Oslo, Norway. He is a Fellow of the Society for Text and Discourse and the American Educational Research Association, and he is an elected member of the Reading Hall of Fame. During the last 20 years, his research has focused on epistemic cognition and multiple document literacy, and he has published widely and given a large number of conference presentations on these topics. Ivar is a co-editor of the Handbook of Epistemic Cognition (Routledge, 2016) and the Handbook of Multiple Source Use (Routledge, 2018). He currently serves on the editorial review boards of nine international journals in literacy and educational psychology, including Discourse Processes, Reading Research Quarterly, Contemporary Educational Psychology, and Journal of Educational Psychology. |
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Dr. Bråten will be delivering a keynote address at next year's conference in Chicago. |
2023 Distinguished Scientific Contributions Award Committee: M. Anne Britt (Chair), Jean-François Rouet, Jane Oakhill, & Richard Gerrig. This award honors scholars who have made outstanding scientific contributions to the study of discourse processing and text analysis. The following criteria will be considered in conferring the Award: (1) Sustained outstanding research that has enhanced the scientific understanding of discourse processing and text analysis, (2) Contributions to the mentorship of students, postdoctoral fellows, and colleagues in the field of text and discourse, and (3) Meritorious contributions to the advancement of the field through leadership as a theorist or spokesperson for the discipline. The list of past winners of the Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award can be found at http://www.societyfortextanddiscourse.org/awards/
2023 Tom Trabasso Young Investigator Award Address (2022 winner)
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Dr. Laura K. Allen is an Assistant Professor of Educational Psychology at University of Minnesota. She earned a B.A. in English Literature and Foreign Languages from Mississippi State University (2010), followed by a M.A. (2015) and Ph.D. in Psychology (Cognitive Science) from Arizona State University (2017). The primary aim of her research is to examine how individuals learn and communicate with text and to apply those insights to educational practice through the development of interventions and educational technologies. Much of her work involves the development and use of natural language processing tools (NLP) to provide a more nuanced understanding of the cognitive processes that are involved in text-based learning and communication. She then applies this research to educational technologies through the development of assessments and feedback that tap into the on-line cognitive and affective processes of individual system users.
The ST&D 2023 Tom Trabasso Award Keynote address for the 2022 Award will take place on Thursday, June 29, 2023 at 10:50-12:00, Oslo Time. The title and abstract are below.
Leveraging Dynamic Systems to Understand the Multidimensional and Dynamic Nature of Discourse Processing
Discourse plays a critical role in the learning process as it allows us to effectively comprehend and disseminate new information about the world. Critically, the processes involved in discourse production and processing unfold over multiple temporal and spatial scales, which often interact in complex ways. In this talk, I will advocate that conceptualizing discourse as a complex, dynamic system can provide critical insights into the ways in which we communicate and learn. I will provide examples from recent research that examine the dynamic and multidimensional nature of discourse. I will then discuss ideas for future interdisciplinary work in this area.
2023 Society for Text & Discourse Keynote Address
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Professor Stephan Lewandowsky is a cognitive scientist at the University of Bristol whose main interest is in the pressure points between the architecture of online information technologies and human cognition, and the consequences for democracy that arise from those pressure points.
He is the recipient of numerous awards and honours, including a Discovery Outstanding Researcher Award from the Australian Research Council, a Wolfson Research Merit Fellowship from the Royal Society, and a Humboldt Research Award from the Humboldt Foundation in Germany. He is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Science (UK) and a Fellow of the Association of Psychological Science. He was appointed a fellow of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry for his commitment to science, rational inquiry and public education. He was elected to the Leopoldina (the German national academy of sciences) in 2022. Professor Lewandowsky also holds a Guest Professorship at the University of Potsdam in Germany. He was identified as a highly cited researcher in 2022 by Clarivate, a distinction that is awarded to fewer than 0.1% of researchers worldwide.
His research examines the consequences of the clash between social media architectures and human cognition, for example by researching countermeasures to the persistence of misinformation and spread of “fake news” in society, including conspiracy theories, and how platform algorithms may contribute to the prevalence of misinformation. He is also interested in the variables that determine whether or not people accept scientific evidence, for example surrounding vaccinations or climate science.
The ST&D 2023 Keynote Address will take place on Thursday June 29, 2023 at 15:20-16:30 Oslo time. The title and abstract are below.
When Liars are Considered Honest: From Alternative Conceptions of Honesty to Alternative Facts in Communications by American Politicians
The spread of online misinformation in social media is increasingly perceived as a problem for societal cohesion and democracy. The role of political leaders has attracted less research attention, even though politicians who “speak their mind” are perceived by segments of the public as authentic and honest even if their statements are unsupported by evidence or facts. Analyzing communications by members of the U.S. Congress on Twitter between 2011 and 2022, we show that politicians’ conception of truth has undergone a distinct shift, with authentic but evidence-free belief-speaking becoming more prominent and more differentiated from evidence-based truth-seeking. For Republicans—but not Democrats—an increase of belief-speaking of 10% is associated with a decrease of 12.8 points of quality (using the NewsGuard scoring system) in the sources shared in a tweet. An increase in truth-seeking language is associated with an increase in the quality of sources for both parties. We also show that the conception of truth expressed by politicians sets the tone of the ensuing conversation with members of the public on Twitter. The results support the hypothesis that the current dissemination of misinformation in political discourse is in part driven by a new understanding of truth and honesty that has replaced reliance on evidence with the invocation of subjective belief.
2023 Tom Trabasso Young Investigator Award
Caitlin Mills, University of Minnesota
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Dr. Caitlin Mills is an Assistant Professor of Educational Psychology and Co-Director of the Learning Informatics Lab at the University of Minnesota. She received BA from Christian Brothers University in Memphis, TN, followed by her MA and PhD from the University of Notre Dame. She then completed a two-year postdoc at the University of British Columbia, followed by four years as an Assistant Professor at the University of New Hampshire. Much of her research to date has focused on the antecedents and consequences of mind wandering, affective states, and engagement/disengagement across multiple complex scenarios, including reading, problem solving, and everyday life.
Dr. Mills will give the 2024 Award Address for the 2023 Tom Trabasso Young Investigator Award at the 34th annual meeting of the Society for Text & Discourse in Chicago, Illinois, USA to be held in July of 2024.
2023 Tom Trabasso Young Investigator Award Committee: Panayiota Kendeou (Chair), Anne Britt, Matt McCrudden & Laura Allen (recused). This award goes to an outstanding young investigator who embodies Tom Trabasso’s spirit of mentoring young scholars and creating a supportive context in our Society. Recipients have shown exceptional and innovative contributions to discourse research and demonstrated superior promise as leaders in the field. The list of past winners of the Tom Trabasso Young Investigator Award can be found at http://www.societyfortextanddiscourse.org/awards/
2023 Jason Albrecht Outstanding Young Scientist Award
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Chu-Hsuan Kuo, University of Washington |
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Reading Code for Comprehension: Expert Programmers Show Language-Related Brain Responses to Meaning and Form (with Chantel Prat) |
Event-related potentials were used to examine the neural responses of expert Python programmers when reading well-formed code vs. ill-formed code with two violation types: 1) meaning (semantically implausible) or 2) form (structurally invalid). Semantic implausibility elicited an N400 effect compared to well-formed code, whereas structural violations elicited a P600 effect compared to well-formed code. These patterns suggest that expert programmers show distinct brain responses to meaning and form violations when reading Python code.
2023 Graduate Student Research Award
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Philipp Marten, Ruhr University Bochum |
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Can evaluation strategies make the difference in a post-truth world? Fostering adolescents’ resilience against online misinformation (with Sandra Aßmann and Marc Stadtler)
We examined the effectiveness of a comprehensive evaluation strategy training teaching sourcing and corroboration skills to young adolescents. It was compared to a control group receiving a declarative knowledge training on online misinformation. Data were collected at three points of measurement. Teaching evaluation strategies led to more discerning consumers of information who improved in distinguishing between sources of higher and lower trustworthiness, debunking false reports, and their knowledge of evaluation strategies.
2023 Undergraduate Student Research Award
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Emily Buchner, Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg |
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The Functional Role of Perceptual Simulations in Reading Comprehension (with Wolfgang Lenhard, Sebastian Suggate, and Tobias Richter)
Perceptual simulations are considered crucial for text comprehension. We present two experiments, in which short videos, taxing visuo-spatial working memory, were used to interfere with visual-perceptual simulations during reading. Outcomes were measured on two levels of comprehension, the propositional textbase and visuo-spatial mental models. Comprehension was specifically impaired for questions tapping into visuo-spatial models after interference (in contrast to propositional questions), suggesting a causal role of visuo-perceptual simulations for comprehension.
2023 Research Awards Committee & Award Descriptions
Kate Cain (Chair), Sarah Carlson, Rod Roscoe, & Mike Wolfe
The Jason Albrecht Outstanding Young Scientist Award honors the memory of Jason Albrecht, a promising young text and discourse researcher who passed away in 1997. The award recognizes an outstanding paper based on a doctoral dissertation. The Graduate Student Research Award (formally called the Outstanding Student Paper Award) recognizes quality in predissertation work that is predominantly that of a graduate student. The Undergraduate Student Research Award recognizes quality in work that is predominantly that of an undergraduate graduate student, or research to which the undergraduate student contributed a significant amount of effort and support. Further details and previous winners of each award can be found at https://www.societyfortextanddiscourse.org/awards/
2023 Diversity and Equity Travel Award
Magalí A. Martínez, University of Buenos Aires
Effects of a source evaluation intervention on sourcing skills: Replication and extension (with Franco Londra, Gastón Saux, and Debora I. Burin)
This pre-registered study assessed the effects of a college intervention on sourcing skills using an experimental design. Participants were 266 Latin American students who received either the intervention or regular classes and completed a website-rating task before, after, and 6-8 weeks post- intervention. Trained students gave lower ratings to websites with bad quality sources in both post-intervention assessments; good quality links had similar ratings across all testing phases. Therefore, the intervention improved student’s sourcing skills.
2023 Diversity and Equity Travel Award Committee & Award Descriptions
Sarah Carlson (chair), Laura Allen, Kate Cain, Jane Oakhill, & Rod Roscoe
The purpose of the Equity and Diversity in Text and Discourse Award is to promote diversity within the Society for Text and Discourse by supporting research on Text and Discourse related to diversity as well as research by individuals from underrepresented groups. Projects are eligible for consideration for this award if they feature diversity-related variables (e.g., race/ethnicity, gender, culture, sexual orientation, language differences, socioeconomic status and/or religiosity. Other aspects of diversity may be considered), or if the Lead Author is a member of an underrepresented group, including but not limited to racial and ethnic minorities, first-generation college students, LGBTQ+ individuals, and individuals with disabilities. These awards are intended to facilitate the research of individuals from groups that are underrepresented in our field, as well as research about issues of potential interest and importance to such groups. More information can be seen here.
2023 Student Travel Awards
The following students and recent graduates received travel awards to support their in-person attendance at ST&D 2023
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Michael Bolz |
Ayah Issa |
Andrew Potter |
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Ella Cullen |
Elvira Jeldrez |
Indigo Rudduck |
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Corina De La Torre |
Amanda Jensen |
Elena Savinova |
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Lauren Flynn |
Victoria Johnson |
Justine Scattarelli |
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Ali Fulsher |
Yewon Kang |
Yu Tian |
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Rina Harsch |
Jasmine Kim |
Mya Urena |
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Valerie Hemeon |
Chu-Hsua Kuo |
Jiayi Zhang |
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Junfei Hu |
Puren Oncel |
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2023 Diversity and Equity Travel Award Committee & Award Descriptions
Sarah Carlson (chair), Laura Allen, Kate Cain, Jane Oakhill, & Rod Roscoe
The purpose of the Equity and Diversity in Text and Discourse Award is to promote diversity within the Society for Text and Discourse by supporting research on Text and Discourse related to diversity as well as research by individuals from underrepresented groups. Projects are eligible for consideration for this award if they feature diversity-related variables (e.g., race/ethnicity, gender, culture, sexual orientation, language differences, socioeconomic status and/or religiosity. Other aspects of diversity may be considered), or if the Lead Author is a member of an underrepresented group, including but not limited to racial and ethnic minorities, first-generation college students, LGBTQ+ individuals, and individuals with disabilities. These awards are intended to facilitate the research of individuals from groups that are underrepresented in our field, as well as research about issues of potential interest and importance to such groups. More information can be seen here.