Hey!

My name is John R. Starr.¹ I’m a linguist interested in human cognition. Most of my work focuses on 1) the underlying processes and representations that influence how people process linguistic information as they encounter it, and 2) building, comparing, and testing cognitively-informed language models (large or not) on human data collected by both myself and others. Broadly, my research interests often intersect the interfaces (particularly with phonology). I am also the developer of GRIS, a novel and flexible experimental paradigm where participants manipulate objects in space; the tl;dr of GRIS is that you can approximate and compare mental representations of humans for all kinds of things. You can read more about my work by clicking the Publications and Presentations tabs above.

I’m currently a PhD Candidate in the Department of Linguistics at Cornell University, where I am advised by Dr. Marten van Schijndel. I’m affiliated with the Computational Psycholinguistics Discussion Group (C.Psyd), Cornell NLP, the Cornell Phonetics Lab (PLab), and the Linguistic Meaning Lab (LiMe). Additionally, I am currently one of two Student Representatives on the Executive Committee for the Linguistic Society of America. Before coming to Cornell, I completed two BAs, one in English Writing (Poetry) and one in Linguistics, from the University of Pittsburgh.

When I’m not doing linguistics, I’m probably doing one of the following: skipping stones in local creeks or on Lake Cayuga, setting routes at the local climbing gym in Ithaca, or napping with my cat Magnolia.

Think you’re good at data manipulation? Try these pandas puzzles..

I’m originally from the suburbs of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, meaning \(John \in \{ \,x\, \mid \, x\, is\, a\, jaded\, and\, delusional\, Philly\, sports\, fan \} \).