Research groups

Our institute's primary organisational units are the research groups listed below:

Individual differences in language processing group

Why are some people better with words than others?
Director: Antje Meyer.

Language acquisition group

How do we learn a first, second or third language?
Director: Wolfgang Klein.

Language and cognition group

What is the relationship between language and general cognition?
Director: Stephen Levinson.

Language comprehension group

How do we understand spoken language?
Director: Anne Cutler.

Neurobiology of language group

How does the brain support language?
Director: Peter Hagoort.

Other research groups funded by the MPG:

Adaptive listening group

How do listeners understand language spoken with a foreign accent?
Headed by: Andrea Weber.

Communication before language group

How do infants communicate before they have language?
Headed by: Ulf Liszkowski.

Comparative cognitive anthropology group

How much does human cognition vary across cultures?
Headed by: Daniel Haun

Evolutionary processes in language and culture group

How do languages evolve? What is possible, what is probable, and why?
Headed by: Michael Dunn

Syntax, typology, and information structure group

What are the communicative functions of grammatical structures in different languages?
Headed by: Robert Van Valin

Externally funded research groups:

Human sociality and systems of language use

What is the relationship between language and social cognition?
Headed by: Nick Enfield

Visual language: sign and gesture

Research  investigates to what extent using visual-gestural modality shapes  language.
Headed by Asli Ozyurek