The field of psycholinguistics examines the relationship between language and the human mind, bridging the gaps between linguistics, psychology, and neuroscience. Psycholinguistics is instrumental for understanding how the human mind acquires and processes language, covering phenomena such as multilingualism, literacy, and speech pathology. Historically, however, the African continent, which displays one of the highest levels of linguistic diversity in the world, has remained at the periphery of this field.

The Multilingualism and Cognition (MultiCog) Laboratory at Stellenbosch University is at the forefront of establishing psycholinguistic research in South Africa and Africa more broadly. The lab serves as a dedicated space for conducting psycholinguistic research. It houses several individual computer testing stations and a larger space for conducting interactional/observational research. The lab is also equipped with an Eyelink 1000 Plus eye-tracker. To date, research conducted in the lab has yielded publications in several high-impact journals, including Applied Linguistics, Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, and Studies in Second Language Acquisition.