Linguist · Cognitive Scientist · Researcher · Data Scientist
Zachary Houghton, PhD
I study the intersection of error-driven learning and linguistic storage — how the way we learn language shapes how we represent it cognitively. My work integrates computational modeling with experimental psycholinguistic methods.
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Current Position
Principal Data Scientist II at Vail Systems, working on the Research in Artificial Intelligence in Linguistics and Systems (RAILS) team in Chicago.
Research Affiliation
Courtesy Research Associate at the University of Oregon, collaborating with the Usage-based Linguistics Lab and Dr. Vsevolod Kapatsinski.
Research Interests
How do humans and machines learn language from experience?
Cognitive Representation
How linguistic representations are encoded and stored in the brain.
Computational Modeling
Using Bayesian models and neural networks to understand internal representations.
Abstraction & Learning
How humans and machines learn abstract knowledge and item-specific knowledge from context-rich inputs.
Education
Ph.D. in Linguistics
University of California, Davis · Advisor: Dr. Emily Morgan
+ M.A. in Psychology · Advisor: Dr. Fernanda FerreiraB.A. in Linguistics
University of Oregon · Cum Laude, Departmental Honors
Minor in Korean · Advisor: Dr. Vsevolod Kapatsinski