Understanding the relation between hearing, language and learning in children
Our world is filled with all of kinds of sounds! One of the most important sounds is speech. We use speech to communicate with our friends and family. Children use speech to learn spoken language and to gain knowledge about the world. Our ability to hear and understand speech, however, can be disrupted due to the noise in our environment, hearing loss, or distorted by electrical equipment. Our research program aims to understand how disrupted access to speech impacts language and cognitive abilities in children. Check out our projects below!
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The influence of visual speech on lexical access in children
During face-to-face communication, we have access to both acoustic and visual parts of speech because we can both hear and see the talker. Visual speech supports speech understanding, especially when there is background noise, when the listener has hearing loss, or when the acoustic parts of speech are distorted. This project tests how seeing a talker influences how children perceive and understand spoken language. We will test elementary school-age children who either have normal hearing or who have permanent sensorineural hearing loss.
Who can participate?
- Children between 6 and 10 years of age whose native language is English
- Children between 6 and 10 years of age who have permanent sensorineural hearing loss and who use cochlear implants or hearing aids
- Children between 6 and 10 years of age who have no history of hearing, language, or cognitive delay
Funded by the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD)
Effects of background noise on word learning in preschool-age children
Children’s lives often contain background noise—such as other talkers, televisions and computers, heating and ventilation systems, and outside traffic—that interferes with children’s ability to process speech. Speech is the sole source of word learning for preschool-age children; thus, background noise may interfere with children’s ability to learn words, a critical process during early childhood that is related to long-term academic and occupational success. The purpose of the proposed research is to determine how different types and intensity levels of background noise disrupt word learning, which ultimately will advance our understanding of how to maximally support word learning in real-world environments.
Who can participate?
- Children between 4 and 6 years of age whose native language is English
- Children between 4 and 6 years of age who have no history of hearing, language, or cognitive delay
Funded by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)
Literacy Development for Preschoolers with Hearing Loss
There is a wide range of literacy outcomes among children who are deaf and hard of hearing. Understanding how children develop literacy skills, and how hearing loss influences this development, will inform interventions for this population of children. This longitudinal study will document how children develop skills that are important for literacy, including phonological awareness, alphabet knowledge, vocabulary, and grammar.
Who can participate?
- Children between 3 and 5 years of age whose native language is English
- Children between 3 and 5 years of age who have permanent sensorineural hearing loss and who use cochlear implants or hearing aids
- Children between 3 and 5 years of age who have no history of hearing, language, or cognitive delay
Funded by the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD)
Interested in participating in one of our studies?
Sign Up Here!