Overview

The SoundLab studies the cognitive processes underlying our ability to acquire, produce, and perceive language, with a focus on speech production. We use a variety of methods to carry out this research, including:
    Psycholinguistic studies of language production
    Acoustic phonetic analysis of speech
    Computational models of language processes
    Neuropsychological studies of brain damaged individuals

See below for details on some ongoing projects.

Empirical studies of language processing

What is the nature and organization of processes involved in the production of speech? Among other topics, ongoing projects examine the distinctions and interactions between phonological processes in production, cross-language interactions in bilingual production, and the acquisition and processing of phonotactic constraints.

Currently our research is supported by the National Institutes of Health National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. The project is entitled Phonetic Echoes of Cognitive Disruptions in Speech Production.

Matt Carlson, Pennsylvania State University
Albert Costa, Pompeu Fabra University
Tamar Gollan, University of California, San Diego
Joseph Keshet, Bar-Ilan University
Brenda Rapp, Johns Hopkins University

Computational models of language

How can we develop precise models of the mechanisms involved in the representation and processing of language? In addition to using this methodology to examine the architecture of spoken production, the lab has been developing formal analyses of dynamical connectionist models.

Currently our research is supported by the National Science Foundation Division of Behavioral and Cognitive Sciences. The project is entitled INSPIRE: Gradient Symbolic Computation.

Paul Smolensky, Johns Hopkins University
Geraldine Legendre, Johns Hopkins University
Akira Omaki, Johns Hopkins University
Mike Putnam,Pennsylvania State University
Kyle Rawlins, Johns Hopkins University
Paul Tupper, Simon Fraser University
Benjamin Van Durme, Johns Hopkins University
Colin Wilson, Johns Hopkins University

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