When listening to speech or music, individuals may use different strategies to pick out informative information, for example by selectively attending to different cues such as pitch or duration. Speech, for example, is a redundant signal that conveys information via multiple acoustic dimensions. In principle, therefore, speech perception could be carried out via multiple strategies. However, much prior research has focused on the optimal processing of the 'ideal listener', so little is known about what leads listeners to different strategies and how they are carried out. This group of studies examines the cues that individuals pay attention to when listening to speech and music. Some of this work also looks at the perceptual strategies underlying second language acquisition and seeks to better understand why some people struggle to learn a second language more than others. It is hoped that this work can lead to the development of interventions designed to boost poor second language learning.

We are actively recruiting for a number of studies as part of the Speech Cues project. Below are the criteria for our open studies (for more studies check here). If you meet any of them, then we would love to hear from you!  

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