Research Interests

Professor Kessler currently studies psycholinguistics of reading and spelling. He is particularly interested in computational and statistical approaches to language, especially in the fields of phonology, historical linguistics, and the lexicon. His research has also explored how to statistically test the historical connections between languages.

Selected Publications

• Kessler, B. (2001). The Significance of Word Lists: Statistical Tests for Investigating Historical Connections Between Languages. Stanford, CA: CSLI Publications. Distributed by The University of Chicago Press.
• Ashby, J., Treiman, R., Kessler, B., & Rayner, K. (2006). Vowel processing during silent reading: Evidence from eye movements. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 32, 416-424.
• Bourassa, D. C., Treiman, R., & Kessler, B. (2006). Use of morphology in spelling by children with dyslexia and typically developing children. Memory & Cognition, 34, 703-714.
• Hayes, H., Treiman, R., and Kessler, B. (2006). Children use vowels to help them spell consonants. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 94, 27-42.
• Kessler, B., & Lehtonen, A. (2006). Multilateral comparison and significance testing of the Indo-Uralic question. In P. Forster & C. Renfrew (Eds.), Phylogenetic methods and the prehistory of languages, (33-42). Cambridge, England: McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research.

Departments

Courses

• Historical and Comparative Linguistics
• Introduction to Linguistics
• Introduction to Computational Linguistics
• Phonetics