About

I was born and raised in Calgary.I have two undergraduate degrees from McGill University, one in philosophy (major) and computer science (minor) and the other in psychology (major). I also graduated with a PhD in clinical psychology from McGill University. 

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Research

My research interest focus on understanding the structure and neurological underpinnings of language processing, mostly focused on written words. I have a particular interest in semantics, the study of word meaning.

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Teaching

I currently teach the graduate Professional and Ethical Issues course (PSYCO502) and a 4th year course in psychometrics, the measurement of psychological constructs such as IQ and clinical diagnostic categories (PSYCO431).

PSYCO 431 - Theory and Practice of Psychometrics

The nature of psychological tests: some practical work in administration, scoring and interpretation of tests. Prerequisites: STAT 141 or 151 and PSYCO 333 or 335. [Faculty of Arts].

Winter Term 2021

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PSYCO 502 - Professional and Ethical Issues

[Faculty of Arts]

Fall Term 2020

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Browse more courses taught by Chris Westbury

Wriggly, squiffy, lummox, and boobs: What makes some words funny?

Author(s): Chris Westbury and Geoff Hollis
Publication Date: 5/1/2019
Publication: Journal of Experimental Psychology: General
Volume: 148
Issue: 1
Page Numbers: 97-123.
External Link: https://psycnet.apa.org/doiLanding?doi=10.1037%2Fxge0000467&utm_source=stalberttoday.ca&utm_campaign=stalberttoday.ca&utm_medium=referral

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Weighing up the evidence for sound symbolism: Distributional properties predict cue strength

Author(s): Westbury, C., Hollis, G., Siidhu, D.M., & Pexman, P.M.
Publication Date: 4/1/2018
Publication: Journal of Memory and Language
Volume: 99
Issue: 28
External Link: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0749596X16301188?casa_token=PduXNjRDwwsAAAAA:my0vvmds1EAIkVgzaQBZD6TpkKpPikL2ApbS_M_MfK-_aATymPh9pTDHObNOQOQzU2xz_rAY2s0

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Imaging Imageability: Behavioral Effects and Neural Correlates of Its Interaction with Affect and Context.

Author(s): Westbury, C. F., Cribben, I., & Cummine, J.
Publication: Frontiers in Human Neuroscience
Volume: 10
External Link: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4945641/

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Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain: Explaining semantics without semanitcs

Author(s): Westbury, C.
Publication: The Mental Lexicon
Volume: 11
Issue: 3
Page Numbers: 350-374
External Link: http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/jbp/ml/2016/00000011/00000003/art00002?crawler=true&mimetype=application/pdf

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The principals of meaning: Extracting semantic dimensions from co-occurrence models of semantics.

Author(s): Geoff Hollis, Chris Westbury
Publication: Psychonomic Bulletin & Review
Volume: 23
Issue: 6
Page Numbers: 1744-1756
External Link: https://sites.ualberta.ca/~hollis/files/PrincipalsOfMeaning.pdf