Recent and Ongoing Research

 

 

McLaughlin et al. (2023): Sequence effects and speech processing: Cognitive load for speaker-switching within and across accents

Visualization of the effect of switching between speakers on current trial's cognitive processing load. Listeners experience greater cognitive demands on trials in which a switch between speakers has occurred, and this cost is even greater when switching between speakers of different accents.

 

 

Recent Publications

2023
McLaughlin & Van Engen

Exploring effects of social information on talker-independent accent adaptation

View PDF
2023
McLaughlin & Van Engen
Social priming: Exploring the effects of speaker race and ethnicity on perception of second language accents
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2023
McLaughlin, Colvett, Bugg, & Van Engen
Sequence effects and speech processing: Cognitive load for speaker-switching within and across accents 
View PDF

 

 

I'm a big advocate of data and resource sharing! 

The majority of my work can be found on Open Science Framework

 

 

(Some) Ongoing Projects

 Perceptual mechanisms that support accent accommodation


McLaughlin & Samuel (under review & data collection in progress)
The primary aim of this project is to improve our theoretical understanding of the perceptual mechanism(s) that support accent accommodation. We will investigate the roles of phonemic recalibration and criteria relaxation using a combination of behavioral and psychophysiological measures. 
Study 1: Pre-printStudy 2: Pre-registration
Funded by a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellowship from the European Commission

 Sandwich Builder: A Gamified Assessment Tool for Language Research


McLaughlin (in development)
In this project, I will develop a "gamified" working memory assessment tool called Sandwich Builder using Gorilla’s Game Builder. Participants will be recruited through Prolific to validate Sandwich Builder as an assessment of working memory (and an engaging game!). Sandwich Builder will be made available to other researchers through Gorilla’s Open Materials. 
Pre-registration to come
Funded by a Gorilla & Prolific 2023 Behavioral Research Grant

 Using concurrent EEG and pupillometry to examine rapid talker and accent accommodation


McLaughlin & Samuel (in development)
In this project we will examine P3 neural response, alpha band power, and pupil response (cognitive load) during rapid talker and accent accommodation. We aim to disentangle effects of talker-switching within and across accents on attention and working memory.
Pre-registration to come

The role of familiarity in multi-talker and multi-accent switching costs: A pupillometry investigation


Weiss, McLaughlin, Melguy, & Kapnoula (in development)
In this project, we aim to determine whether switching costs (such as those observed in McLaughlin et al., 2023; Psychonomic Bulletin and Review) are reduced for highly familiar accents and speakers. 
Pre-registration to come

Effects of accent familiarity and rhythmic abilities on cognitive load in L2 listening: An individual differences approach


Wong, McLaughlin, Samuel, & Kapnoula (in development)
In this project, we will examine whether individual listener differences in receptive and productive rhythmic ability predict cognitive load for accent perception in L2 listening.  
Pre-registration to come

Sequence effects during speech processing reveal multi-accent processing costs


McLaughlin, Colvett, Bugg, & Van Engen (in prep)
In this project, we aim to examine whether the switching costs observed in McLaughlin et al. (2023, Psychonomic Bulletin and Review) occur when switching between two second language accents. Specifically, we examine across-accent switching costs for Mandarin- and Turkish-accented English. 
Pre-registered with OSFPre-print to come

 

 

Now Pre-Print

Exposure to second language accent prompts recalibration of phonemic categories


McLaughlin & Samuel (under review)
We examine how first language (L1) Spanish listeners with varying levels of experience with English recalibrate their phonemic category boundaries following exposure to second language (L2), American English-accented Spanish. 
Pre-print from PsyArXiv
Funded by a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellowship from the European Commission

Working memory supports rapid talker and accent accommodation: An individual differences investigation


McLaughlin, Teuscher, Baese-Berk, & Van Engen (under review)
We investigate how individual listener differences in working memory capacity and attentional control may predict the degree of processing costs incurred by trial-to-trial changes in talker and accent. 
Pre-print from PsyArXiv

Exploring effects of daily exposure to unfamiliar accent on listening performance and cognitive load


McLaughlin, Baese-Berk, & Van Engen (under review)
This project aimed to measure adaptation to unfamiliar second language-accented speech over multiple days. In addition to standard intelligibility measures, we implemented a dual-task paradigm to measure cognitive processing load. 
Pre-print from PsyArXiv

Dissertation: Studies examining effects of social information on perception of speech


McLaughlin & Van Engen (2023; accepted; 2023)
Across multiple studies, we examined effects of social information ("social priming") on perception of first and second language accents. We report these finding across multiple manuscripts.
Paper 1 (published in Language & Speech): View PDFPaper 2 (accepted at JEP:HPP): Pre-print from PsyArXivPaper 3 (published at JASA-EL): View PDF