Investigation of the component distributions of pause duration in spontaneous speech: Constraints for models of language production. We have discovered that the distribution of pause durations in spontaneous speech of individual speakers can be decomposed into at least two log-normal distributions. Our project will investigate this finding and provide a foundation for new research relevant to language production models. This will be achieved by determining the semantic, lexical, psycholinguistic ....Investigation of the component distributions of pause duration in spontaneous speech: Constraints for models of language production. We have discovered that the distribution of pause durations in spontaneous speech of individual speakers can be decomposed into at least two log-normal distributions. Our project will investigate this finding and provide a foundation for new research relevant to language production models. This will be achieved by determining the semantic, lexical, psycholinguistic, physiological, and acoustic concomitants of each component distribution and by investigating the impact of selected variables on the shape and location of each. The project has important implications for models of language production and applied problems involving automatic speech recognition, forensic speaker identification, and human communication disorders.Read moreRead less
Empathy, Attention and Reasoning: The role of automatic and controlled processing in emotion recognition following traumatic brain injury. Traumatically brain injured adults have difficulty identifying emotional facial expressions but little is known regarding their psychophysiological reactions to emotional expression, the efficacy of their visual search patterns of facial features or the extent to which they engage conscious processing and problem solving to assist interpretation. Nor is anyth ....Empathy, Attention and Reasoning: The role of automatic and controlled processing in emotion recognition following traumatic brain injury. Traumatically brain injured adults have difficulty identifying emotional facial expressions but little is known regarding their psychophysiological reactions to emotional expression, the efficacy of their visual search patterns of facial features or the extent to which they engage conscious processing and problem solving to assist interpretation. Nor is anything known about their ability to recognise dynamic emotional displays compared to photographs. This project examines each of these facets using static and dynamic portrayals. The project will inform neuropsychological theories of facial processing, test the ecological validity of previous research and improve understanding of psychosocial deficits after TBI and their treatment.Read moreRead less