Tzu Yin Lai
Associate Professor, Psychology
Associate Professor, Cognitive Science
Associate Professor, Cognitive Science - GIDP
Associate Professor, Second Language Acquisition / Teaching - GIDP
Member of the Graduate Faculty
Lai joined the University of Arizona faculty in 2016 and currently serves as an associate professor with a shared appointment in the Department of Psychology and the Cognitive Science Program. She is also the Interim Director of Cognitive Science.
A cognitive neuroscientist by training, Lai directs the Cognitive Neuroscience of Language Laboratory, where her research explores how the brain processes figurative language, how language and emotion interact across the lifespan, and how bilingualism shapes perception and action. Her work is supported by the National Science Foundation and private foundations. She is an elected fellow of the Psychonomic Society and received the 2023 UA College of Science Distinguished Mentoring Award.
Lai has been featured in NPR's Science Friday for her research on metaphors and mood, as well as on the Grammar Girl podcast and at the Flandrau Science Center and Planetarium.
Research Interest
Dr. Lai is interested in the cognitive processes and the neural bases of meaning and language in context. Her work so far can be categorized in three areas: (1) Figurative language: How do people process metaphorical language? What is the role of metaphor in the embodied views of language? What are the social-affective functions of metaphors? (2) Emotion and language: How is emotion encoded in language? How do language activities such as reading give rise to emotion? How do readers’ mood states influence meaning making in language? (3) Language and thought in bilinguals: Do differences in languages influence how speakers of those languages perceive and reason about the world?
Offering Research Opportunities
Yes
Prerequisite Courses
Dr. Lai will be on sabbatical in AY2024-2025. Please check back in summer 2025.
Majors Considered
Psychology, Neuroscience, School of Information, Computer Science, Linguistics
Description of Opportunity
No description given
