Ph.D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Department of Psychology
Hunter College, Room 512 TH
695 Park Avenue
New York, NY 10065
Tel: (212) 772-5618
Fax:(212) 650-3247
Email: martin.chodorow@hunter.cuny.edu

Current Areas of Research:

My research in cognitive psychology focuses on two areas – reading and implicit memory. The aspect of reading that I am most interested in is proofreading, reading for the purpose of detecting and correcting errors in text. We have all had the experience that it is harder to find errors in our own writing than in the writing of others, and that, after a delay, our own errors seem to be easier to detect. I study the ways in which familiarity, expectation, context, and word frequency interact to make misspellings and other errors easier or harder to find. My second area of research in psychology is implicit memory, memory without awareness. It is typically demonstrated by measuring priming – the facilitation of processing that occurs when a stimulus is presented a second time. My work on implicit memory examines interference effects that result when new stimuli are presented which are similar to the implicitly remembered stimulus.

My research in computational linguistics focuses on the development of automated systems for evaluating writing. In particular, I am interested in methods for detecting grammar and word usage errors that are common in the writing of non-native English speakers and problems of text coherence that are common in both native and non-native writing.

Selected Publications:

Leacock, C., Chodorow, M., Gamon, M., & Tetreault, J. (2014). Automated grammatical error detection for language learners. Second Edition. San Rafael, CA: Morgan & Claypool.

Pilotti, M., Chodorow, M., Agpawa, I., Krajniak, M., & Mahamane, S. (2012) Proofreading for word errors. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 114, 641-664.

Chodorow, M., Gamon, M., & Tetreault, J. (2010) The utility of article and preposition error correction systems for English language learners: Feedback and assessment. Language Testing, 27, 419-436. 

Pilotti, M, & Chodorow, M. (2009). Error detection/correction in collaborative writing. Reading and Writing: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 22, 245-260.

Pilotti, M., Chodorow, M., & Shono, Y. (2009). The benefits and costs of prior exposure: A large scale study of interference and awareness in stimulus identification. American Journal of Psychology, 191-208.

Pilotti, M., Chodorow, M., & Vlasova, O. (2008). Interference effects and the consequences of recognition failures and successes. American Journal of Psychology, 121, 523-549.