Language comprehension in aging and after neurological disorders
Neural localization of language functions
Development of psycholinguistically oriented assessment tools of language comprehension and production
Structure and role of working memory in language comprehension
Development of reading and spelling skills in normal and disordered populations
Courses Taught
Psychology of Reading
Adult Language Disorders
Aging and Communication
Language Learning Disabilities
Neuroanatomy & Neurophysiology
Research Methods
Selected Publications
McAllister, T., Bachrach, A., Waters, G., Michaud, J. & Caplan, D. (2009). Production and comprehension of unaccusatives in aphasia.Aphasiology, 23(7-8), 989-1004.
Caplan, D., Chen, E. & Waters, G. (2008).Task-dependent and task-independent neurovascular responses to syntactic processing. Cortex, 44(3), 257-275.
Caplan, D., Stanczak, L., Waters, G. (2008). Syntactic and thematic constraint effects on blood oxygenation level dependent signal correlates of comprehension of relative clauses. J Cogn Neurosci. 20(4), 643-56.
Caplan, D., Waters,G., Dede, G., Michaud, J. & Reddy, A. (2007). A study of syntactic processing in aphasia I: behavioral (psycholinguistic) aspects. Brain Lang. 101(2), 103-150.
Caplan, D., Waters, G., Kennedy, D., Alpert, N., Makris, N., Dede, G., Michaud, J. & Reddy, A. (2007). A study of syntactic processing in aphasia II: neurological aspects. Brain Lang. 101(2), 151-177.
Chen, E., Caplan, D., West, W.C. & Waters, G.S. (2006). Determinants of BOLD Signal Correlates of Processing Object-Extracted Relative Clauses,Cortex, 42, 591-604.
Stanczak, L., Waters, G. & Caplan, D. (2006). Typicality-based learning and generalization in aphasia: two case studies of anomia. Aphasiology, 20, 374-383.
Caplan, D., Chen, E., Waters, G. & Robakis, D. (2005). Syntactic and semantic influences on BOLD signal responses to comprehension of relative clauses. Brain and Language, 95, 72-73.
Waters, G.S. & Caplan, D. (2005). The relationship between age, processing speed, working memory capacity and language comprehension.Memory, 13, 403-413.
Caplan, D., Waters, G., DeDe, G., Michaud, J. & Reddy, A. (2004). A Study of Syntactic Processing in Aphasia I: Behavioral (Psycholinguistic) Aspects, Brain and Language, 91, 64-65.
Caplan, D., Waters, G., Kennedy, D., Alpert, N., Makris, N., DeDe, G., Michaud, J. & Reddy, A. (2004). A Study of Syntactic Processing in Aphasia II: Neurological Aspects, Brain and Language, 91, 66-67.
DeDe, G., Caplan, D., Kemtes, K. & Waters, G.S. (2004). The relationship between age, verbal working memory, and language comprehension. Psychology & Aging, 19, 601-616.
Waters, G.S. & Caplan, D. (2004) The reliability and stability of verbal working memory measures. Behavior Research Methods, Instruments, and Computers, 35, 550-564.
Waters, G.S., & Caplan, D. (2004) Individual differences in working memory capacity and on-line syntactic processing: Evidence from self-paced listening. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology A, 57, 129-163.
Waters, G.S., Caplan, D., & Yampolsky, S. (2003). On-line syntactic processing under a concurrent memory load. Psycholnomic Bulletin and Review, 10, 89-95.
Waters, G.S., Caplan, D., Alpert, N. & Stanczak, L. (2003) Individual differences in rCBF correlates of syntactic processing in sentence comprehension: Effects of working memory and speed of processing. Neuroimage, 19, 101-112.
DeDe, G., Parris, D. & Waters, G.S. (2003). Teaching Self-Cues: A treatment approach for verbal naming. Aphasiology, 17, 465-480.
Caplan, D., Waters, G.S., & Alpert, N. (2003). Effects of age and speed of processing on rCBF correlates of syntactic processing in sentence comprehension. Human Brain Mapping. 19, 112-131.
Caplan, D. & Waters, G. (2003). On-line syntactic processing in aphasia: Studies with auditory moving window presentation. Brain & Language,84, 222-249.
Waters, G.S., & Caplan, D. (2002). Verbal working memory and language comprehension. Encyclopedia of Cognitive Science. Nature Publishing Group, Macmillan Publishers, Basingstoke, England.
Waters, G.S. & Caplan, D. (2002). Working memory and on-line syntactic processing in Alzheimer’s disease: Studies with auditory moving windows presentation. Journal of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences, 57B, 298-311.
Caplan, D. & Waters, G.S., (2002). Working memory and connectionist models of parsing: A response to MacDonald and Christiansen.Psychological Review, 109, 66-74.
Caplan, D., Vijayan, S., Kuperberg, G., West, C., Waters, G., Greve, D., Dale, A.M. (2002). Vascular response to syntactic processing: an event-related fMRI study of relative clauses. Human Brain Mapping. 15, 26-38
Yampolsky, S. & Waters, G. (2002). Treatment of single word oral reading in an individual with deep dyslexia. Aphasiology, 16, 455-471.
Yampolsky, S., Waters, G., Caplan, D., Matthies, M., & Chiu, P. (2002). Effects of acoustic degradation on syntactic processing: Implications for the nature of the resource system used in language processing. Brain and Cognition, 48, 617-625.
Seidenberg, M.S. & Waters, G.S. (1989). Reading nonwords aloud – A mega study. Bulletin of the Psychonomic Society, 27(6), 489.
Waters, G.S., & Bruck, M. & Malus-Abramowitz, M. (1988). The role of linguistic and visual processes in spelling: A developmental study. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 45, 400-421.
Bruck, M. & Waters, G.S. (1988). An analysis of the spelling errors of children who differ in their reading and spelling skills. Applied Psycholinguistics, 9, 77-92.
Waters, G.S., Caplan, D., & Hildebrandt, N. (1987). Working memory and written sentence comprehension. Attention and Performance XII, 531-555.
Waters, G.S., Komoda, M.K. & Arbuckle, T.Y. (1985). The effects of concurrent tasks onreading: Implications for phonological recoding. Journal of Memory and Language, 24, 27-45.
Waters, G.S., & Seidenberg, M.S. (1985). Spelling-sound effects in reading: Time course and decision criteria. Memory and Cognition, 13, 557-572.
Waters, G.S., Bruck, M. & Seidenberg, M. S. (1985). Do children use similar processes to read and spell words? Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 39, 511-530.
Seidenberg, M.S., Waters, G.S., Barnes, M., & Tanenhaus, M.K.(1984). When does irregular spelling or pronunciation influence word recognition?Journal of VerbalLearning and Verbal Behavior, 23, 383-404.
Seidenberg, M.S., Waters, G.S., Sanders, M., & Langer, P. (1984). Pre- and post-lexical loci of contextual effects on word recognition. Memory and Cognition, 1984, 12(4), 315-328.
Waters, G.S., Seidenberg, M.S., & Bruck, M. (1984). Children’s and adults’ use of spelling-sound information in three reading tasks. Memory and Cognition, 12(3), 293-305.
Research Funding
U.S. Department of Education: Institute of Education Sciences, “Assessment of Comprehension in Older Struggling Readers” 2010-14, (Principal Investigator: G. Waters, Co-PI: D. Caplan).
National Institute of Deafness and Communication Disorders, R21/R33, “Theoretically Based Treatment for Sentence Comprehension in Aphasia”, 2009-14, (Principal Investigator: S. Kiran, Co-PI’s: D. Caplan, G. Waters).
National Institute of Deafness and Communication Disorders, R01, “Functional Neuroimaging Studies of Syntactic Comprehension”, 2007-10, (Principal Investigator: D. Caplan, Co-PI: G. Waters).
U.S. Department of Education: Institute of Education Sciences, “Assessment of Comprehension in Older Struggling Readers”, 2005-09, (Principal Investigator: G. Waters, Co-PI: D. Caplan).
Awards and Honors
Canada Council Doctoral Fellowship
Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada Post-doctoral Fellowship
Medical Research Council of Canada Centennial Fellowship (Awarded but not accepted)
National Health and Welfare Canada National Health Scholar Award (Awarded but not accepted)
Fonds de la Recherche en Sante du Quebec Chercheur Boursier Award
Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, Faculty Award for Women
Royal Society London, U.K./Natural Sciences and Engineering, Research Council of Canada Bilateral Exchange Fellowship