About

I am a final-year PhD at The University of Edinburgh where I work in close association with the Centre for Language Evolution (CLE). My research is conducted under the supervision of Profs. Jennifer Culbertson and Simon Kirby. At the start of my PhD I was also supervised by Dr. Alexander Martin. Prior to starting my PhD I earned my MA(Hons) in Linguistics and English Language, also at the University of Edinburgh.

Research summary

My PhD research compares category-specific and system-wide structural biases and how their relative strength are modulated by the language task in which they are activated. I am especially interested in how these biases affect typological regularities and how they contribute to patterns of language learning and generalisation in different modalities, such as spoken language and silent gesture. I have also conducted research on language development/acquisition, focusing mainly on phonological segmentation in relation to the typological frequency of syllable patterns in infant directed speech. This latter research has been done in collaboration with Dr. Mits Ota, Dr. Barbora Skarabela and the team at (ELfLanD). Currently I am pursuing a meta-science project with my colleague, Bran Papineau, which examines methodological practices in experimental work on language acquisition and language development.

Publication Spotlight

ICD 2023

Examining the female‑talker default in experimental language acquisition research.

Authors: Holtz, A. & Papineau, B

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Glossa 2020

Experimental evidence for the influence of structure and meaning on linear order in the noun phrase.

Authors: Martin, A., Holtz, A., Abels, K., Adger, D., & Culbertson, J.

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