RESEARCH OPPORTUNITY FOR UNDERGRADUATES

Dom Massaro, Professor of Psychology and architect of Baldi, a computer-animated talker, has a new research opportunity for undergraduates on relating ease of articulation to children’s vocabulary acquisition. The goal is to mine existing databases that consist of vocabulary development across the first years of life and relate these results to metrics of ease of articulation. Theoretical questions include testing the motor theory of speech perception and whether a similar representation for receptive and expressive language can be assumed. Students would enroll in Psychology 194 (Advanced Research In Special Projects). Dom can be reached at Massaro@ucsc.edu.