S2E15: How the Mind Produces Speech and Language with Professor Matthew Goldrick

In this episode, I speak with Professor Matthew Goldrick, Professor of Linguistics and Director of the Cognitive Science Program at Northwestern University. A leading researcher in the cognitive science of language, he combines behavioral, acoustic, and computational methods to explore speech and multilingual processing. Professor Goldrick is also the recipient of the 2026 Jeffrey L. Elman Prize for Scientific Achievement and Community Building from the Cognitive Science Society.

We explore how the mind transforms thoughts into speech and what speech errors reveal about language processing. Professor Goldrick explains how multiple languages interact in bilingual speakers, how cascading activation shapes speech, and how bilingualism affects pronunciation. We also discuss how speech may reveal motor dysfunction in people at risk for psychosis and his advice for aspiring cognitive scientists.