New Psychology Book by TAMIU Faculty Sheds Light on Bilingual Mind and Brain

            The first volume of a series of cognitive science books on bilingualism and the multilingual mind and brain, edited by two Texas A&M International University (TAMIU) faculty members, has now been published.

            Dr. Roberto Heredia, TAMIU professor of psychology and Dr. Anna Cieślicka, TAMIU associate professor of psychology, served as editors and co-authors of the book, entitled, Methods in Bilingual Reading Comprehension Research (Springer International Publishing). They are also editors and original authors of the book series, entitled, The Bilingual Mind and Brain Series, of which the new book is the first volume.

           As Series editors, Dr. Heredia and Dr. Cieślicka are in charge of accepting and rejecting book proposals for the publisher.

           Methods in Bilingual Reading Comprehension Research, authored by Heredia, Jeanette Altarriba from The University at Albany-State University of New York and Cieślicka, “provides for the first time a much-needed set of methodological tools and perspectives, including behavioral, connectionist, and brain imaging paradigms, to better understand bilingual reading processes,” explained Dr. Heredia and Dr. Cieślicka.

            “The book is timely, and it is the first of its kind to present a comprehensive overview of the various psycholinguistic and neurophysiological tasks used to measure bilingual language processing,” said the two faculty members.

            The books in the Bilingual Mind and Brain Series seek to publish cutting-edge and provocative, collective volumes and monographs about how the bilingual mind and brain learn, store, and process information, said Heredia and Cieślicka.

           “The Series is also intended for the growing number of bilingual researchers and practitioners interested in understanding the behavioral aspects and neurobiology of bilingualism, as well as the dynamic character of the bilingual, multilingual, and second language learner’s mind,” the editors said, “The Series is intended to contribute to our understanding of the bilingual mind and brain, and, ultimately, the human brain”, the editors said.

            Heredia holds his Ph.D. from the University of California-Santa Cruz and Cieślicka, originally from Poland, holds her Ph.D. from Adam Mickiewicz University there.

            For more information, please contact the Office of Public Relations, Marketing and Information Services at 326.2180, e-mail prmis@tamiu.edu or visit offices located in the Sue and Radcliffe Killam Library, room 268. University office hours are 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. Monday-Friday.