Kayla Keyue Chen | 陈珂月

Hello! My name is Kayla, or Keyue Chen (陈珂月). I am currently a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Psychology at South China Normal University. I am also a member of the Reading and Development in Children and Adolescents Laboratory, where I work primarily with Prof. Suiping Wang. I completed my PhD in the Department of Linguistics, Division of Psychology and Language Sciences, University College London. During my time there, I worked with Dr. Wing-Yee Chow and Dr. Andrea Santi, focusing on psycholinguistics and sentence processing.

My current research investigates (1) how comprehenders generate and update real-time predictions about upcoming language, and (2) the potential cognitive costs associated with violated predictions. To address these questions, I have employed a range of methods, including reaction time measurements, eye tracking, mouse tracking, pupillometry, and event-related potentials.

You can find my publications, conference presentations, teaching, and CV here. I also share my recent publications and tutorials in posts. Please feel free to reach out using the contact details at the bottom of the page. I am always happy to discuss research. I look forward to hearing from you!

news

Dec 11, 2025	I’ll be presenting our study on how prediction influences the processing of bottom-up input (slides) as a talk in Oral Session 1-1 at ICPEAL2025. I look forward to meeting you at the conference!
Nov 4, 2025	Excited to announce that I have started a new position as a postdoctoral researcher at South China Normal University! Looking forward to diving into new projects on language processing!
Jul 18, 2025	*I passed my PhD viva today!* 🎉🎉🎉

selected publications

2025

Revising noun predictions based on English measure phrases: Evidence from visual-world eye-tracking

Kayla Keyue Chen, Ingrid M. Johansen, and Wing-Yee Chow

Language, Cognition and Neuroscience, 2025

Abstract HTML Stimuli Data Code

Can comprehenders use unexpected incoming information to revise their existing predictions on the fly? A recent study in Mandarin Chinese found that, upon hearing a prediction-inconsistent nominal classifier, listeners were able to rapidly revise their predictions and redirect their eye gaze towards a previously unexpected object. In the present study, we extended this finding to English using measure phrases (e.g., “a pile of”). Unlike Mandarin classifiers, measure phrases are not obligatory for nouns in English, which allows us to test whether comprehenders can quickly revise their predictions even when the relevant cue is not routinely present in the language. We found that, upon encountering a measure phrase that contradicts their initial prediction, listeners quickly redirected their eye gaze from the originally expected object to an unexpected object that was compatible with the new information. We propose that comprehenders can rapidly revise predictions in response to unexpected bottom-up input across languages.