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SDSU School of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences
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Faculty

Lewis P. Shapiro

Professor, Speech Language
Director, Language Processes Laboratory

Phone: (619) 594-6558
Office: SLHS 230
Office Hours:   call or email for appointment
Email: shapiro@mail.sdsu.edu

Professor's Portrait

Education:

  • B.A. Speech-Language Pathology, University of Florida, 1974
  • M.A., Speech-Language Pathology, Memphis State University, 1977
  • Ph.D., Psychology (Linguistics and Cognitive Science), Brandeis University, 1987

Courses Currently Taught:

  • SLHS 300 - Introduction to Language Science
  • SLHS 790 - Seminar, Foundations of Language Science
  • SLHS 595/795 - Research Practicum
  • SLHS 600 - Research Methods

Scholarly Areas:

Research includes: a) investigating the moment-by-moment unfolding of language processing in adults with aphasia and those without brain damage, b) examining the validity and efficacy of speech-language therapy for individuals with language disorders, and c) mapping brain-language relations through lesion analyses and brain imaging.

Research Support:

  • 1988-2012: "Sentence Processing in Normal and Aphasic Populations"
    NIH-NIDCD, DC000494; Principal Investigator

    Project Summary: This program of research continues a long-standing effort to detail the moment-by-moment unfolding of sentence processing and its relation to the brain. Our results from neurologically-intact individuals have previously shed light on the functional architecture of the sentence processing system, securing a strong base on which to investigate brain-language relations through the study of aphasia. Sentence processing experiments have typically used different sentence types as a means to examine underlying operations. These constructions have been characterized as canonical and simple in the language of interest (in English, Subject-Verb-Object), or non-canonical and complex, often containing displaced constituents that yield, for example, Object-Subject-Verb word order in English. In our most current work we intend to use sentences which are not so easily divisible into these categories. For example, we plan to use sentences that contain ellipsis, forms in which a part is missing but whose meaning can be readily reconstructed by syntactic and semantic considerations. Our psycholinguistic methods range from on- to off-line analyses. We also seek to obtain precise measurements of lesions through high-resolution MR scans. This part of our effort is intended to help us understand the role that Broca’s and Wernicke’s regions play in language behavior through the use of detailed cytoarchitectonic probability maps.

  • 2005-2010 : “Neurocognitive Approaches to Communication Disorders”
    NIH-NIDCD, DC007361 (Training Grant); Principal Investigator

    Project Summary: This pre-doctoral training program (T32) emphasizes the application of new technologies and new theoretical frameworks in neuroscience and cognitive science (e.g., behavioral studies of real-time processing, fMRI studies of adults with brain damage and children with SLI, electrophysiological studies of language learning) to research that is directly related to clinical practice in communicative disorders. The program allows us to take advantage of the unique structure of our SDSU/UCSD Joint Doctoral Program in Language and Communicative Disorders to provide such training in an environment that integrates communicative disorders, cognitive science, neurosciences, psychology, and linguistics, and to make better use of the clinical resources available through the SDSU School of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences than has been possible previously. Trainees specialize in adult language, child language, or multilingualism, with direct application to clinical issues. Within those areas trainees also develop expertise in at least one state-of-the-art research methodology (behavioral dynamics, neural imaging, neural modeling) while obtaining some exposure to all three methodologies through lab rotations, coursework, and program-wide activities.

Biography:

Lew Shapiro moved to San Diego in 1995, after spending several years in South Florida. He has lived in the following regions, in the following order: NY, Miami, Gainesville, Memphis, Santa Cruz, San Jose, NY, Boston, Boca Raton, and finally, San Diego.

Selected Publications:

  • Love, T., and Shapiro, L.P. (in press) Language processing in the left hemisphere. In Patrick Colm Hogan (Ed.), Cambridge Encyclopedia of the Language Sciences. read

  • Friedmann, N., Taranto, G., Shapiro, L.P., and Swinney, D. (2008) The leaf fell (the leaf): the online processing of unaccusatives. Linguistic Inquiry. 39: 355-377. read

  • Raczaszek-Leonardi, J., Shapiro, L.P., Tuller, B., and Kelso, J.A.S. (2008) Activating basic category exemplars in sentence contexts: a dynamical approach. Journal of Psycholinguistic Research. 37: 87-113. read

  • Thompson, C.K., and Shapiro, L.P. (2007) Syntactic complexity in treatment of sentence deficits. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology. 16: 30-42. read

  • Wright, H.H., Downey, R.A., Gravier, M., Love, T., and Shapiro, L.P. (2007) Processing distinct information types in working memory in Aphasia. Aphasiology. 21: 802-813. read

  • Shapiro, L.P., and Thompson, C.K. (2006) Training language deficits in Broca’s aphasia. In Grodzinsky, Y., and Amunts, K. (editors), Broca’s Region. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 0-0. read

  • Shapiro, L.P., Hestvik, A., Lesan, L., and Garcia, A.R. (2003) Charting the time-course of sentence processing: Evidence for an initial and independent structural analysis. Journal of Memory and Language. 49: 1-19. read

  • Thompson, C.K., Shapiro, L.P., Kiran, S., and Sobecks, J. (2003) The role of syntactic complexity in treatment of sentence deficits in agrammatic aphasia: The complexity account of treatment efficacy (CATE). Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research. 46: 591-607. read

  • Friedmann, N., and Shapiro, L.P. (2003) Agrammatic comprehension of OSV and OVS sentences in Hebrew. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research. 46: 288-297. read

  • Shapiro, L.P. (2003) "Argument Structure: Representation and Processing." In Kent, R. (editors),The Encyclopedia of Communication Sciences and Disorders. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 00-00. read

  • Shapiro, L.P. (2003) "The neurology of syntax and semantics." In The Encyclopedia of Cognitive Science. London: Nature Publishing Group, 00-00. read

  • Friedmann, N., Taranto, G., Shapiro, L., and Swinney, D. 2003. The vase fell (the vase): the online processing of unaccusatives. In Y. Falk (Ed.), Proceedings of the 19th IATL conference. . read

  • Maas, E., Barlow, J., Robin, D., and Shapiro, L.P. (2002) Treatment of phonological errors. Aphasiology. 16: 609-622. read

  • Shapiro, L.P., and Friedmann, N. (2001) Your syntactic component really is necessary. Aphasiology. 15: 361-367.

  • Fiedmann, N., Shapiro, L.P., and Swinney, D.A. (2001) Symposia Abstracts. Brain and Cognition. 46: 7-11. read

  • Granier, J., Robin, D.A., Shapiro, L.P., Peach, R.K., and Zimba, L.D. (2000) Measuring processing load during sentence comprehension: Visuomotor tracking. Aphasiology. 14: 501-513.

  • Shapiro, L.P. (2000) Charting the time-course of language processing. Brain and Language. 71: 224-226. read

  • Borsky, S., Shapiro, L.P., and Tuller, B. (2000) The temporal unfolding of local acoustic information and sentence context. Journal of Psycholinguistic Research. 29: 155-168. read

  • Grodzinsky, Y., Shapiro, L.P., and Swinney, D.A. Language and the Brain: Representation and Processing. San Diego: Academic Press, 2000.

  • Raczaszek, J., Tuller, B., Shapiro, L.P., Case, P., and Kelso, S. (1999) Categorization of Ambiguous Sentences as a Function of a Changing Prosodic Parameter: A Dynamical Approach. Journal of Pscholinguistic Research. 28: 366-393. read

  • Shapiro, L., Swinney, D., and Borsky, S. (1998) Online Examination of Language Performance in Normal and Neurologically Impaired Adults. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology. 7: 49-60. read

  • Thompson, C.K., Ballard, K.J., and Shapiro, L.P. (1998) The role of syntactic complexity in training wh-movement structures in agrammatic aphasia: Optimal order for promoting generalization. Journal of International Neuropsychological Society. 4: 661-674. read

  • Shapiro, L.P. (1997) Tutorial: An Introduction to Syntax. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research. 40: 0-0. read

  • Thompsen, C.K., and Shapiro, L.P. (1997) Training and Generalized Production of WH- and NP-Movement Structures in Agrammatic Aphasia. Journal of Speech, Language and Hearing Research. 40: 0-0. read

  • Thompson, C.K., Shapiro, L.P., Tait, M.E., Jacobs, B.J., and Schneider, S.L. (1996) Training Wh-Question Production in Agrammatic Aphasia: Analysis of Argument and Adjunct Movement. Brain and Language. 52: 175-228. read

  • Rubin, S.S., Newhoff, M., Peach, R.K., and Shapiro, L.P. (1996) Electrophysiological Indices of Lexical Processing: The Effects of Verb Complexity and Age. Journal of Speech and Hearing Research. 39: 0-0. read

  • Shapiro, L.P., and Nagel, H.N. (1995) Lexical Properties, Prosody, and Syntax: Implications for Normal and Disordered Language. Brain and Language. 50: 240-257. read

  • Shapiro, L.P., and Hestvik, A. (1995) On-Line Comprehension of VP-Ellipses: Syntactic Reconstruction and Semantic Influence. Journal of Psycholinguistic Research. 24(6): 517-532. read

  • Shapiro, L.P., Nagel, H.N., and Levine, B.A. (1993) Preferences for a Verb's Complements and Their Use in Sentence Processing. Journal of Memory and Language. 32: 96-114. read

  • Shapiro, L.P., McNamara, P., Zurif, E., Lanzoni, S., and Cermak, L. (1992) Processing Complexity and Sentence Memory: Evidence from Amnesia. Brain and Language. 42: 431-453. read

  • Canseco-Gonzalez, E., Shapiro, L.P., Zurif, E.B., and Baker, E. (1991) Lexical Argument Structure Representations and Their Role in Translation Across Cognitive Domains. Brain and Language. 40: 384-392. read

  • Shapiro, L.P., Brookins, B., Gordon, B., and Nagel, N. (1991) Verb Effects During Sentence Processing. Journal of Experimental Psychology. 17: 983-996. read

  • Canseco-Gonzalez, E., Shapiro, L.P., Zurif, E.B., and Baker, E. (1990) Predicate-Argument Structure as a Link between Linguistic and Nonlinguistic Representations. Brain and Language. 39: 391-404. read

  • Shapiro, L.P., and Levine, B.A. (1990) Verb Processing during Sentence Comprehension in Aphasia. Brain and Language. 38: 21-47. read

  • Shapiro, L.P., Zurif, E., Carey, S., and Grossman, M. (1989) Comprehension of Lexical Subcategory Distinctions By Aphasic Patients: Proper/Common and Mass/Count Nouns. Journal of Speech and Hearing Research. 32: 481-488. read

  • Shapiro, L.P., Zurif, E.B., and Grimshaw, J. (1989) Verb Processing During Sentence Comprehension: Contextual Inpenetrability. Journal of Psycholinguistic Research. 18(2): 223-243. read

  • Shapiro, L.P., Zurif, E., and Grimshaw, J. (1987) Sentence Processing and the Mental Representation of Verbs. Cognition. 27: 219-246. read

  • Shapiro, L.P., and Jensen, L.R. (1986) Processing Open and Closed Class-Headed Nonwords: Left Hemisphere Support for Separate Vocabularies. Brain and Language. 28: 318-327. read

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