Testing Individual Differences in Language and other Cognitive Abilities
Held on 6-7 June 2017 at Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
Description and aim

Biq Question 4 organized a workshop on individual differences in language skills.
One of the aims of BQ4 is to develop a test battery assessing language and general cognitive skills in young adults (18 to 35 years). This battery should be comprehensive, easy to administer and theoretically well-grounded. The main aim of the workshop is to bring together language researchers and experts working on general cognitive abilities such as working memory, executive function and processing speed for an interdisciplinary discussion of the general architecture of the cognitive system.
Organizers
Florian Hintz, Suzanne Jongman, James McQueen and Antje Meyer
Assistants: Marjolijn Dijkhuis and Monique de Nijs
Programme
Tuesday 6 June 2017 | ||
9:00-9:45 |
Antje Meyer (MPI for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen, NL) | Opening & Overview |
9:45-10:45 |
Sascha Schroeder (MPI for Human Development, Berlin, GER) | Interindividual Differences in Vocabulary Knowledge: Determinants and Consequences |
10:45-11:15 |
Coffee & Tea Break | |
11:15-12:15 |
Lars Meyer (MPI for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, GER) | The Working Memory of Language: Useful Concepts and Distinctions |
12:15-13:30 |
Lunch Break | |
13:30-14:30 |
Frederick Verbruggen (University of Exeter, Exeter, UK) | Banishing the Control Homunculi in Studies of Action Control |
14:40-15:40 |
Fernanda Ferreira (University of California, Davis, Davis, US) | Relationships between Performance on Language Processing Tasks and Measures of Cognitive Ability |
15:40-16:00 |
Coffee & Tea Break | |
16:00-17:00 |
Alexis Hervais-Adelman (MPI for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen, NL) | The Intersection of Multilingualism and Cognitive Control: Circumstantial Evidence from Brain Functional Imaging of Simultaneous Interpreting and Structural Imaging of Polyglots |
17:00-17:30 |
Summary and Discussion of Day1 | |
19:00- |
Workshop dinner | |
Wednesday 7 June 2017 | ||
9:30-10:30 |
Akira Miyake (Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of Colorado at Boulder, Boulder, US) | The Unity and Diversity of Executive Functions: Implications for Individual Differences in Language Processing |
10:30 -11:00 |
Coffee & Tea Break | |
11:00-12:00 |
Ardi Roelofs (Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University, Nijmegen, NL) | Attention for Speaking: Insights from Individual Differences |
12:00-13:30 |
Lunch Break | |
13:30-14:30 |
Esther Janse (Centre for Language Studies, Radboud University, Nijmegen, NL) | Predictors of Speech Comprehension and Auditory Perceptual Learning |
14:30-15:00 |
Coffee & Tea Break | |
15:00-16:00 |
Roel Willems (Centre for Language Studies, Radboud University, Nijmegen, NL) | The Relationship between Reading Fiction and Mentalizing Abilities |
16:10-17:00 |
General Discussion Led by James McQueen |
Download the detailed program here.

Max Planck Institute for Psycholinquistics
Wundtlaan 1;
6525 XD, Nijmegen
The Netherlands
Acknowledgements
This workshop was supported by funding from the Language in Interaction Consortium.