Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences
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Auditory Perceptual Learning Laboratory
Alex Francis, Director
The Auditory Perceptual Learning Laboratory (APLL) is located in Pierce Hall. Research in the APLL focuses on the cognitive and neural mechanisms underlying phonetic learning, for example investigating the distribution of selective attention to acoustic properties of the speech signal before and after training to perceive an unfamiliar phonetic contrast. We are set up to train and test up to four participants simultaneously, using Dell Dimension Windows XP workstations in sound-shielded cubicles each equipped with E-Prime experiment control software, a Cedrus RB-620 millisecond-accurate response box and Sennheiser HD-25 headphones. We also have two Dell Dimension Windows XP workstations for sound generation, manipulation and analysis using Praat and for E-Prime experiment development; and a Dell Precision workstation running Linux for large statistical analyses (e.g. MDS) using SAS and for developing speech synthesis applications in C++ and perl/Tk. We have professional quality recording equipment, including a
Sony DAT, a Marantz solid-state recorder and a variety of microphones; and support from an excellent electronics shop.
Through collaboration with laboratories at Purdue and at the University of Chicago, researchers and students in the APLL also have the potential to participate in research using ERP and fMRI neuroimaging techniques. See our website for a description of some current research projects under way in the APLL: