Office: 529 MURDC
Phone: (412) 624-7460
Tessa Warren
Associate Professor, University of Pittsburgh Department of Psychology
Affiliated Faculty, University of Pittsburgh Department of Linguistics
Research Scientist, Learning Research & Development Center
Research Interests
The general question that drives my research is how people understand language. I'm interested in characterizing the mental system that allows a reader or listener to read or hear a string of words and form an appropriate mental representation based on those words and a mental representation of the context. My work is informed by formal linguistics as well as cognitive psychology.
Warren, T., & Dickey, M.W. (2021). The use of linguistic and world knowledge in language processing. Language and Linguistics Compass.
Dresang, H.C.*, Hula, W.D., Yeh, F-C., Warren, T., & Dickey, M.W. (2021). White matter neuroanatomical predictors of aphasic verb retrieval. Brain Connectivity.
Dresang, H.C.*, Warren, T., Hula, W.D. & Dickey, M.W. (2021). Rational adaptation in using conceptual versus lexical information in adults with aphasia. Frontiers in Psychology - Language Sciences: Rational Approaches in Language Science, 12, 1-32.
Warren, T., & Dickey, M.W. (2021). The use of linguistic and world knowledge in language processing. Language and Linguistics Compass.
Dresang, H.C., Hula, W.D., Yeh, F-C., Warren, T., & Dickey, M.W. (2021). White matter neuroanatomical predictors of aphasic verb retrieval. Brain Connectivity.
Dresang, H.C., Warren, T., Hula, W.D. & Dickey, M.W. (2021). Rational adaptation in using conceptual versus lexical information in adults with aphasia. Frontiers in Psychology - Language Sciences: Rational Approaches in Language Science, 12, 1-32.
Colvin, M.B. & Warren, T. (2020). Language comprehension models at different levels of explanation. Language and Linguistics Compass, 14, 1-14.
Warren, T. & Dresang, H.C.* (2020). Event-Predictive Cognition: Underspecification and Interaction with Language. Invited commentary on the topic "Event-Predictive Cognition: From Sensorimotor via Conceptual to Language-Based Structures and Processes," M. Butz, D. Bilkey, & A. Knott (Topic Editors). Topics in Cognitive Science. DOI: 10.1111/tops.12499
Patson, N.D. & Warren, T. (2020). Broadening interest in science through inquiry-based learning in undergraduate social science classrooms. Transformative Dialogues: Teaching and Learning Journal, 13(2).
Warren, T. & Dresang, H.C. (2020). Event-Predictive Cognition: Underspecification and Interaction with Language. Invited commentary on the topic "Event-Predictive Cognition: From Sensorimotor via Conceptual to Language-Based Structures and Processes," M. Butz, D. Bilkey, & A. Knott (Topic Editors). Topics in Cognitive Science.
Dresang, H.C., Dickey, M.W., & Warren, T. (2019). Semantic memory for objects and events: A novel test of event-related conceptual semantic knowledge. Cognitive Neuropsychology, 36 (7-8), 313-335.
Colvin, M., Warren, T., & Dickey, M. W. (2019). Event knowledge and verb knowledge predict sensitivity to different aspects of semantic anomalies in aphasia. In K. Carlson, C. Clifton, Jr., J. Fodor (Eds), Grammatical approaches to language processing (pp. 241-259). Studies in Theoretical Psycholinguistics, vol 48. Springer, Cham.
Patson, N. D. & Warren, T. (2019). Promoting interest in science through inquiry-based learning in undergraduate linguistics: A case study. In Patrick Farrell (Ed.), Proceedings of the Linguistic Society of America: Vol 4. (pp. 7: 1-8).
Milburn, E.A.* & Warren, T. (2019). Idioms show effects of meaning relatedness and dominance similar to those seen for ambiguous words. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 26(2), 591-598.
Milburn, E., Warren, T., & Walsh Dickey, M. (2018). Idiom comprehension in aphasia: Literal interference and abstract representation. Journal of Neurolinguistics, 47, 16-36.
Simons, A., & Warren, T. (2018). A closer look at strengthened readings of scalars. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 71, 272-279.
Warren, T., Dickey, M. W., & Liburd, T. L. (2017). A rational inference approach to group and individual-level sentence comprehension performance in aphasia. Cortex.
Tiv, M., Milburn, E. A., & Warren, T. (2016). The effects of transparency and ambiguity on idiom learning. Proceedings of the 38th annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society.
Warren, T., Dickey, M.W., & Lei, C. (2016). Structural prediction in aphasia: Evidence from “either”. Journal of Neurolinguistics, 39, 38-48.
Millburn, E., Warren, T., Dickey, M. W. (2016). World knowledge affects prediction as quickly as selectional restrictions: evidence from the visual world paradigm. Language, Cognition, and Neuroscience, 31(4), 536-548.
Hayes, R. A., Dickey, M. W., & Warren, T. (2016). Looking for a location: Dissociated effects of event-related plausibility and verb–argument information on predictive processing in aphasia. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 25.
Lei, C-M., Dresang, H. C., Holcomb, M. B., Warren, T. C., & Dickey, M. W. (2016). Neural bases of semantic-memory deficits for events. Proceedings of the 38th Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society, 3026-3031.
Tuninetti, A., Warren, T., & Tokowicz, N. (2015). Cue strength in second-language processing: An eye-tracking study. The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology.
Hayes, R. A., Dickey, M. W., & Warren, T. (2015). Prediction of arguments and adjuncts in aphasia: Effects of event-related and verb-specific knowledge. Frontiers in Psychology.
Dickey, W., & Warren, T. (2015). The influence of event-related knowledge on verb-argument processing in aphasia. Neuropsychologia, 67, 63-81.
Tessa Warren, Associate Professor, Psychology, and LRDC Research Scientist, was an invited Keynote Address speaker at the Linguistic Evidence Conference in Tuebingen, Germany.
February 2016
A list of recent LRDC award recipients is on page 18 of the August 28 issue of the University Times. Einat Heyd-Metzuyanim, Melissa Libertus, Diane Litman, Charles Perfetti, Christian Schunn, Natasha Tokowicz, Tessa Warren, and Jingtao Wang were all mentioned.
August 2014
Congratulations to Tessa Warren who has won a Women in Cognitive Science Mentorship Award.
May 2014
Editorial Board, Psychonomic Bulletin & Review.
Contributor to The Blackwell Guide to Research Methods in Bilingualism and Multilingualism, winner of the 2009 British Association of Applied Linguistics Book Prize
Burnett Fellowship
2000-2001
Full funding award for an outstanding graduate student in the Brain and Cognitive Sciences department.
The Angus MacDonald Award for Outstanding Teaching Assistance
March 2000
NSF Graduate Research Fellowship
1997-2000