School of Philosophy, Psychology & Language Sciences

Edinburgh summer shows: Memory, bilingualism and trickery

Psychology researchers and linguists will share their work at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and the Royal Society of Edinburgh events programme this August

The world's biggest arts festival, the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, is returning next month. From comedy to cabaret, the Fringe will host a wide range of shows from Friday 2 until Friday 26 August 2019.

The Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) will also be launching its own summer programme of events alongside this.

Researchers from the School of PPLS at the University will deliver a range of shows during the summer, from workshops at the RSE to spoken word shows as part of the Cabaret of Dangerous Ideas and Skeptics on the Fringe.

Don't believe your ears!

How can people hear radically different things in the same sound? 

On Friday 23 August, Teaching Fellow in Phonetics Dr Rebekka Puderbaugh will use acoustic trickery to make you question everything (you think) you hear.

Rebekka Puderbaugh

Part of the Cabaret of Dangerous Ideas by Candlelight 2019.

Don't believe your ears! (Cabaret of Dangerous Ideas 2019)

Sex, drugs and bilingualism

When it comes to sex, drugs and bilingualism, we fool ourselves if we believe we are objective.

On Friday 16 and Sunday 18 August, Reader in Psychology Dr Thomas Bak will take a look behind the scenes of the passionately fought ‘bilingualism wars’ to find out why we love/hate languages.

Thomas Bak

Part of the Cabaret of Dangerous Ideas by Candlelight 2019.

Sex, drugs and bilingualism (Cabaret of Dangerous Ideas 2019)

Is a ‘bilingual’ just two ‘monolinguals’ in one brain?

Did you know that learning a second language changes your first language and changes how you think too?

On Sunday 4 August, join Professor in Developmental Linguistics Antonella Sorace to discover why this is important in our increasingly multi-lingual society.

Antonella Sorace

Part of the RSE Summer 2019 Events programme.

Is a 'bilingual' just two 'monolinguals' in one brain? (The Royal Society of Edinburgh)

Memory illusions and how to avoid them

Can we improve our memory? Do smartphones make us smarter?

On Saturday 10 and Sunday 11 August, join Professor of Human Cognitive Neuroscience Robert Logie for interactive demonstrations on human memory including when it works, when it doesn’t and how to make it work better.

Robert Logie

Part of the RSE Summer 2019 Events programme.

Memory illusions and how to avoid them (The Royal Society of Edinburgh)

Science and the paranormal

Discover the challenges and scientific rewards of investigating the impossible.

On Saturday 10 and Thursday 15 August, Koestler Chair of Parapsychology Professor Caroline Watt examines lab experiments into extra-sensory perception (aka your sixth sense) and how this research has been surprisingly beneficial for mainstream science.

Caroline Watt

Part of the RSE Summer 2019 Events programme and Skeptics on the Fringe.

Science and the paranormal (The Royal Society of Edinburgh) - 10 August

From Seance to Science (Skeptics on the Fringe) - 15 August

Related research areas

Developmental linguistics

Differential psychology

Human cognitive neuroscience

Phonetics and phonology