Tracking towards a complete model of skilled reading comprehension. This project aims to promote the development of the first complete computational model of reading comprehension. Many computational models of sub-components of reading have been developed, but none fully explain the complex co-ordination of perceptual, attentional and cognitive processes required for successful comprehension. The project intends to use eye tracking studies to test and refine Über-Reader, a new computational mode ....Tracking towards a complete model of skilled reading comprehension. This project aims to promote the development of the first complete computational model of reading comprehension. Many computational models of sub-components of reading have been developed, but none fully explain the complex co-ordination of perceptual, attentional and cognitive processes required for successful comprehension. The project intends to use eye tracking studies to test and refine Über-Reader, a new computational model that aims to provide a complete account of the memory systems and cognitive processes involved in reading comprehension and how they differ with reading skill. The outcomes will advance understanding of the causes of success and failure in reading and contribute to diagnosing and remediating reading difficulties.Read moreRead less
Investigating the characteristics of older adults' conversation behaviour. The project aims to determine the factors that negatively impact older adults’ ability to engage in conversation. This is an important health issue; conversations are essential for communicating needs and maintaining social links; reduced social engagement leads to serious health problems and anticipates cognitive decline. The project will compile profiles of older adults' auditory-visual conversation behavior and indices ....Investigating the characteristics of older adults' conversation behaviour. The project aims to determine the factors that negatively impact older adults’ ability to engage in conversation. This is an important health issue; conversations are essential for communicating needs and maintaining social links; reduced social engagement leads to serious health problems and anticipates cognitive decline. The project will compile profiles of older adults' auditory-visual conversation behavior and indices of perceptual, cognitive and social skills. A path model will link these data to ratings of social engagement and satisfaction. By identifying factors leading to low ranked conversations, evidence-based guidelines can be developed for older adults and their carers to enhance communication and improve health and well-being.Read moreRead less
The perception/production link in child language. Children with hearing loss experience continuing language difficulties, with major knock-on effects on educational and social outcomes. This project aims to uncover the connected perception and production processes that underpin these language challenges for children with hearing loss, focussing on a speech patterns also found in younger normal-hearing toddlers, and using innovative technologies that can generalize to the clinical practice. The p ....The perception/production link in child language. Children with hearing loss experience continuing language difficulties, with major knock-on effects on educational and social outcomes. This project aims to uncover the connected perception and production processes that underpin these language challenges for children with hearing loss, focussing on a speech patterns also found in younger normal-hearing toddlers, and using innovative technologies that can generalize to the clinical practice. The project outcomes will significantly advance theories of child language development, and promise to inform more accurate and better-targeted intervention for children with hearing loss, providing social benefit by improving their listening and speaking skills.Read moreRead less
Automatic detection and modelling of acoustic markers of speech timing. This project aims to create new automatic sensing, analysis and assessment of cognitive, affective, mental and physical state from voice for mobile and computing devices. This project expects to generate new understanding of the effects of these states on detailed timing indicators of speech motor control, and new signal processing and machine learning methods that best exploit it. Expected outcomes from this project include ....Automatic detection and modelling of acoustic markers of speech timing. This project aims to create new automatic sensing, analysis and assessment of cognitive, affective, mental and physical state from voice for mobile and computing devices. This project expects to generate new understanding of the effects of these states on detailed timing indicators of speech motor control, and new signal processing and machine learning methods that best exploit it. Expected outcomes from this project include a new and accurate deep neural network framework for learning, analysing and detecting human states from speech automatically using articulatory timing markers. This should provide significant benefits, such as individually-tailored, frequent and low-cost automatic detection, monitoring and analytics for adverse states.Read moreRead less
Does word similarity across languages help or hinder bilingual speakers? This project aims to understand in more detail how bilinguals can accurately speak in both their languages. Speaking is a complex skill, particularly if you have two languages to choose from, which will be true for over half of Australia’s population by 2025. This project aims to investigate the factors that influence speech production in both monolinguals and bilinguals including those with language impairment, and develop ....Does word similarity across languages help or hinder bilingual speakers? This project aims to understand in more detail how bilinguals can accurately speak in both their languages. Speaking is a complex skill, particularly if you have two languages to choose from, which will be true for over half of Australia’s population by 2025. This project aims to investigate the factors that influence speech production in both monolinguals and bilinguals including those with language impairment, and develop a better bilingual theory. The benefit of this new theory will be to provide a clear basis for diagnosis and treatment for children in bilingual households who have problems learning to speak, and for bilingual people with language problems after a stroke or dementia.Read moreRead less
Origins of Phonology and Lexicon: Abstract representations before 6 months. Language is one of the most sophisticated human abilities, yet infants learn it easily. The current view is that the origins of language are abstract representations of consonants and vowels that start to form at 6-10 months. However, recent evidence shows that abstraction begins before 3 months, and that carer-infant conversations are vital to the process. This study involves tracking infants’ behavioural and brain deve ....Origins of Phonology and Lexicon: Abstract representations before 6 months. Language is one of the most sophisticated human abilities, yet infants learn it easily. The current view is that the origins of language are abstract representations of consonants and vowels that start to form at 6-10 months. However, recent evidence shows that abstraction begins before 3 months, and that carer-infant conversations are vital to the process. This study involves tracking infants’ behavioural and brain development from 1 to 18 months and analysing carer-infant speech, to determine how early abstraction supports vocabulary growth, how carer speech assists this process, and what early conditions predict language development, thus benefiting earlier identification of language delay, and saving significantly on later remediation.Read moreRead less
Developmental trajectory of tongue control for speech with real-time MRI. This project aims to evaluate the developmental trajectory of tongue control during speech, relating dynamic 3D vocal tract modelling to the acoustic signal. By optimising real-time MRI technology to capture and model articulatory movements, the project expects to accelerate understanding of how tongue control for speech is developed, mastered, and perturbed by factors such as rapid growth and foreign accent. Expected outc ....Developmental trajectory of tongue control for speech with real-time MRI. This project aims to evaluate the developmental trajectory of tongue control during speech, relating dynamic 3D vocal tract modelling to the acoustic signal. By optimising real-time MRI technology to capture and model articulatory movements, the project expects to accelerate understanding of how tongue control for speech is developed, mastered, and perturbed by factors such as rapid growth and foreign accent. Expected outcome is a new understanding of how different speakers' vocal tracts change and how speech is reshaped, informed by real physiological data. Significant benefits will be realised through refined methods and theory development for diverse fields e.g. linguistics, speech science, and automatic speech recognition/synthesis. Read moreRead less
Relationship of retinal directionality to human retinal anatomy variations. This project aims to improve measurement of retinal directionality, which is the reduction in brightness when a light beam’s entry into the human eye is shifted from the centre to the edge of the pupil. This influences retinal image quality and can be used to measure changes in shape of the peripheral eye. This project will apply advanced technologies in holography, and heads-up displays to explore how retinal directiona ....Relationship of retinal directionality to human retinal anatomy variations. This project aims to improve measurement of retinal directionality, which is the reduction in brightness when a light beam’s entry into the human eye is shifted from the centre to the edge of the pupil. This influences retinal image quality and can be used to measure changes in shape of the peripheral eye. This project will apply advanced technologies in holography, and heads-up displays to explore how retinal directionality changes during accommodation (focusing). The expected outcome is improved understanding of retinal stretching changes during focusing. The benefit is that the project will lead to advancements in retinal imaging.Read moreRead less
The effect of sound change on children's speech in community diversity. This project aims to explain how children's speech processing adapts to cultural and linguistic diversity and how such adaptation may seed sound change in language. Using acoustic and articulatory (ultrasound) methods, the project intends to explain how children rapidly and authentically acquire the intricately nuanced accents of their communities. The project aims to advance theories of language variation and change by prov ....The effect of sound change on children's speech in community diversity. This project aims to explain how children's speech processing adapts to cultural and linguistic diversity and how such adaptation may seed sound change in language. Using acoustic and articulatory (ultrasound) methods, the project intends to explain how children rapidly and authentically acquire the intricately nuanced accents of their communities. The project aims to advance theories of language variation and change by providing new insights into the forces that shape the sounds of language. An understanding of how children's speech patterns develop and ultimately converge to local norms has implications for the social integration of second language learning children and refugee/asylum seekers, and for clinical and speech technology applications for children.Read moreRead less
Contextual modulation in high-level vision. This project aims to understand the nature and mechanisms of spatial contextual modulation and the relationship between spatial and temporal context. Contextual modulation refers to the sometimes profound changes in the appearance of the visual image caused by interactions across space and time. Little work has been done to examine whether spatial context effects exist for high-level attributes of objects, and socially relevant stimuli such as heads an ....Contextual modulation in high-level vision. This project aims to understand the nature and mechanisms of spatial contextual modulation and the relationship between spatial and temporal context. Contextual modulation refers to the sometimes profound changes in the appearance of the visual image caused by interactions across space and time. Little work has been done to examine whether spatial context effects exist for high-level attributes of objects, and socially relevant stimuli such as heads and bodies. This project expects to provide new knowledge regarding the way that contextual modulation is mediated by interactions within the normal human visual system. This will provide significant societal benefits as contextual interactions in sensory processing can have profound consequences for our perceptual experience.Read moreRead less