About

I’m currently a National Post-Doctoral Fellow (DST-CSRI) at IIT Hyderabad (Language and Cognition) and I’m exploring semantic processes in bilingual children and factors affecting them.

Publication 

Chapter -  Kapiley, K. Handbook of Linguistic Semantics Edited by Dr. Prakash Mondal (due in 2024).  Interplay of Semantic Representations and Transient Cognitive Control in Bilingual Children. Springer Publications.

Research

Bilingual language use happens in a social context. Therefore, for a bilingual speaker, the social, linguistic and cultural identity of the interlocutor or even the presence of a passive listener matters. Although bilingual speakers use their top-down control system to modulate language production which should be appropriate, many a times, various salient cues influence language production. Bilingual speakers must consider the language of the listener or conversation partner to select the appropriate language. For example, if the interlocutor speaks predominantly a certain language, then bilingual speakers must select this and inhibit the other language, which is anyways active. However, it is not clear if bilinguals take into consideration the language proficiency of the interlocutor while selecting their own language and the cognitive processes involved during this process. I intend to explore multiple components (language proficiency of bilinguals, familiarity, predictability and monitoring) along with the effects of interlocutors’ language proficiency bilingual language processing using behavioral and Eye-tracking techniques. This area of research is been conducted in collaboration with Prof. Ramesh Mishra 

Published Papers

01. Gudde, H.,Diessel, H., Collier, ......, Kapiley, K., Khutsishvili, T., Kolding, S.,Priiki, K., Mačiukaitytė, I., Mohite, V., Nahkola, T., Tsoi, M., Williams, S., Yasuda, S., Cangelosi, A., Duñabeitia, J., Mishra, R., Rocca, R., Šķilters, J., Wallentin, P., Žilinskaitė-Šinkūnienė, E., Incel, O. (2023) Spatial Communication Systems Across Languages Reflect Universal Action Constraints. Nature Human Behaviour.

02. Kapiley, K., & & Mishra, R. K. (Accepted - in press). Bilingual speakers show sensitivity to interlocutors’ L2 language proficiency during language production. International Journal of Bilingualism. 

03. Kapiley, K., & Mishra. R. K. (2024). Language contexts induced by the interlocutors’ proficiencies modulate bilingual language monitoring.  Bilingualism Language and Cognition. 

04. Rafeekh, R., Krishna, P. P., Kapiley, K., & Mishra, R. K. (2021). The effects of short-term L2 training on components of executive control in Indian bilinguals. Cognitive Processing, 1-13. 

05. Kapiley, K., & Mishra, R. K. (2019). What do I choose? Influence of interlocutor awareness on bilingual language choice during voluntary object naming. Bilingualism Language and Cognition, 22(5), 1029-105 

06. Kapiley, K., & Mishra, R. K. (2018). Iconic culture-specific images influence language non-selective translation activation in bilinguals: Evidence from eye movements. Translation, Cognition and Behaviour, 1 (2), 221-250.

07. Kumar, S., Kapiley, K., & Mishra. R. K . Awareness of interlocutors’ L2 proficiency modulates cross-linguistic activation in high-L2 proficient bilinguals . International Journal of Bilingualism. (Under Review - second round)

08. Prasad, S., Puri, S., Kapiley, K., Rafeekh. R., & Mishra, R. K. Looking without knowing: Evidence for language-mediated eye movements to masked words in Hindi-English bilinguals. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology. (Under Review - second round

I explore the relationship between perceived loneliness, body image, conflict resolution styles, anxiety, and psychological distress in Indian Adults. Perceived loneliness is linked significantly to the person’s status of morbidity, gender and social (personal relations). It’s found that people with obesity experience higher levels of loneliness and experience body image concerns. 95% of morbidly obese individuals are not happy with their body image. Individuals with body image issues/ obesity experience interpersonal stress, and that causes conflicts. Moreover, I believe that it is essential to understand their conflict resolution styles and their association with psychological distress. There is a paucity of research studying these psychological variables together in Indian adults. Therefore, I explore the factors contributing to an understanding of psychological distress and its correlates in adults in general and individuals with body image issues in particular.  This project is currently been conducted in collaboration with Prof. G. Padmaja  and Dr. Venu Gopal Pareek

People suffering from persistent distorted or disturbed emotional states are often categorized under the mood disorder spectrum. These include depression, manic episodes and types of bipolar mood disorders. The emotional inconsistency with the circumstances interferes with their ability to function. Along with affective dysregulation, it is hypothesized that certain cognitive functions are hampered or vice-versa. The cognitive functions range from executive function and attention to working memory and emotional perception. I aim to investigate the degree to which these cognitive functions have been affected and thus determine if they could contribute to the disorder. I would executive this idea by collaborating with clinical psychologists and rehabilitation centres. Exploring this area of the disorders would help in developing cognition-based diagnostic tools and also develop a better treatment plan. Brain/ cognitive training as a part of treatment will aid in improving the functionality of patients.

Projects

Cogmentor - Cognitive Scientist – developed modules on Attention, Emotion, Executive control, Memory, Language and Social cognition.


Distractor Suppression in Children: in collaboration with Tel Aviv University 

Awards and Recognitions

01. Post-doctoral fellowship, DST-CSRI – 2021, India.

https://www.indcareer.com/news/keerthana-kapiley-awarded-dst-postdoctoral-fellowship/

https://herald.uohyd.ac.in/keerthana-kapiley-awarded-dst-postdoctoral-fellowship/

02. Won best oral presentation award, International Symposium on Bilingualism and Cognition

2018, Bits Pillani, Goa.

03. Erasmus + global mobility program 2017 - NTNU, Trondheim, Norway.

​​https://herald.uohyd.ac.in/tag/phd-research-scholars-keerthana-kapiley-and-lekhnath-pahak-visited-ntnu-trondhiem/

04. Travel grant for Lingphil summer school 2017 – NTNU, Oslo, Norway.

05. Full Scholarship for LingPhil Summer School 2017 – University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.

Talks

The CogTalk 

Organised and hosted episodes of The CogTalk:An interdisciplinary forum for creative dialogue and the videos are available on YouTube

01. Semantic representation in bilingual children. IIT- Hyderabad, Hyderabad, India, September 27, 2023

02. Cognitive Sciences' perspective to mental illness and suicide. GITAM, Hyderabad, India, September 7, 2023

03. The parasite: language & cognition. GITAM, Hyderabad, India, February 1, 2023

04.  Contextual influence on bilingual language processing: awareness of interlocutors proficiency during language processing. ISBC, Bits pillani, Goa, India, October 28, 2022 

https://isbcgoa2022.wordpress.com/speakers/

05.  Eye movements during sentence processing. In the Eye-tracking workshop. University of Hyderabad. Hyderabad. India. April 6, 2019 

06. Effect of perceived interlocutors’ language proficiency on speech comprehension and production. Minerva – KGI. Hyderabad. India. April 11, 2018 

07. Social influence during language comprehension and production. Department of Linguistics. NTNU. Trondheim. Norway. April 23, 2017 

08. Factors influencing lexical activation. Department of Psychology. University of Ghent. Ghent. Belgium. September 15, 2016. 


Conference presentations 

01. Kapiley, K., & Mishra, R. K. (Dec 2018). Do bilinguals monitor their language selection according to the interlocutors’ language proficiency? International symposium of Bilingualism. Goa. India. 

02. Kapiley, K., & Mishra, R. K. (Feb 2018). Influence of interlocutor during cued-object naming. AMLAP. Hyderabad. India. 

03. Kapiley, K., & Mishra, R. K. (June 2017). What do I choose? Influence of interlocutor on bilingual language choice during object naming. LINGPHIL. Oslo. Norway. 

04. Kapiley, K., & Mishra, R. K. (September 2017). Awareness of interlocutor L2 proficiency modulates language choice and production. AMLaP. Bilbao, Spain and COM, Ghent, Belgium. 

05. Kapiley, K., & Mishra, R. K. (March 2017). Influence of cultural cues on bilingual non- selective activation: Evidence from eye-movements. ALTTIS, Goa. India. 

06.  Kapiley, K., & Mishra, R. K. (Mar 2016). Interlocutor awareness influences language selection in bilinguals. Young Researchers’ Conference in Cognitive Science, Hyderabad, India. 

07. Kapiley, K., & Mishra, R. K. (Feb 2016). Effect of interlocutor awareness during language selection in high and low proficient bilinguals. 25th Annual Convention of National Academy of Psychology (NAOP), Allahabad, India. 

08. Kapiley, K., & Mishra, R. K. (Feb 2016). Factors influencing language activation in bilinguals. International Conference on Recent Advances in Cognition and Health, Varanasi, India. 

09. Padmaja, G., & Kapiley, K. (Aug 2013). Anxiety, depression, stress, expected and attained weight loss in pre and post laparoscopic bariatric surgery patients. National Seminar on Obesity. Hyderabad, India. 

10. Padmaja, G., Kapiley, K. & Madhuri, D., (Jan 2013). The mental health of ADHD caretakers. Symposium on Music and Mental Health, University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad, India.

11. Rana, S., Padmaja, G., & Kapiley, K. (Dec 2012). Anxiety and perceived loneliness in hostel students: A need for intervention and monitoring. National Academy of Psychology. Bengaluru, India. 

Contact

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