People in the Psycholinguistics Laboratory

Lisa Lim - Postgraduate Masters Student
I am a speech pathologist currently undertaking a distance research study with Dr Joanne Arciuli (primary supervisor), Dr Natalie Munro and Dr Susan Rickard Liow. I am investigating the reading (and spelling) ability of children, aged 6-12 years, with Down syndrome in Singapore. The study looks at literacy skills and a range of subprocesses thought to underpin reading ability (such as spelling, IQ, vocabulary, language, phonological awareness skills) in children with Down syndrome compared to typically developing children. I am particularly interested in the nature and effects of phonological awareness in Down syndrome and whether this is a major obstacle to effective reading. I am also keen to explore the effect of bilingualism, as well as the role of gender in literacy outcomes. I will be recruiting children from the Down Syndrome Association and student care centres in Singapore. The study’s results will aid in informing educators working on literacy intervention in the Down syndrome population. I enjoy working with children and look forward to visiting my supervisors and former lecturers at the University of Sydney again.

Gina Villar - PhD Student
I am currently undertaking a PhD as a UPA scholarship recipient, under the primary supervision of Dr Joanne Arciuli. Having graduated With Distinction from a Graduate Diploma of Psychology at Charles Sturt University (CSU), I was awarded an academic scholarship to undertake a Bachelor of Social Science (Psych) (Hons). Upon graduation, I was awarded the Australian Psychological Society (APS) Prize for the graduate with the most distinguished record in an Honours year of Psychology (2008) from CSU. I am an Associate member of the APS and am eligible for provisional registration as a Psychologist with the Psychologists Registration Board of NSW.

My research interests lie in the field of deception, specifically the identification of key linguistic features that may be used to discriminate between deceptive and truthful communications. Through my honours project I investigated linguistic cues to deception in the speech of a convicted murderer. Using speech samples elicited under two different speech conditions – media interviews and wire-tapped telephone conversations –the characteristics of language behaviour during lying compared to truth-telling were investigated under real-life high-stakes conditions. Jo generously contributed her extensive psycholinguistic and research expertise through her supervision of that project, then afterwards in the preparation of a manuscript for submission for publication. We plan to continue the investigation of linguistic cues to deception through my PhD research. Dr Helen Paterson, a lecturer in forensic psychology from the University of Sydney’s School of Psychology, has agreed to provide co-supervision and I am grateful for the combined expertise Jo and Helen will bring to my PhD.

Renae Nash - Honours Student
I am a speech pathology student undertaking a research thesis under the supervision of Dr Joanne Arciuli. We are interested in investigating the predictors of reading ability in children with Autism, in particular the relationship between phonological awareness and reading accuracy. Despite knowing that many children with Autism are at risk of reading impairment due to their oral language and cognitive difficulties, a limited amount of research has examined literacy development in this population. Therefore, our research will examine the phonological awareness and reading skills of children with Autism, as well as any correlation between them. We will also include measures of prosody awareness as this has recently emerged in the literature on the link between phonological awareness and reading ability. This is especially important for our study as some children with Autism exhibit problems understanding and producing correct prosody. This study will enable us to better understand why children with Autism experience difficulties with reading and help us to improve literacy intervention approaches for primary school children with Autism.

Alexandra Shorter - Honours Student
I am a third year Speech Pathology student at the University of Sydney. I commenced my honours project this year under the supervision of Joanne Arciuli. We aim to explore the relationship between reading rate and comprehension in the typically-developing adult population. The purpose of our research is to hopefully identify a reading rate range that is optimal for reading comprehension. There seems to be ample research on the effects of a reading rate that is too slow or too fast, yet not much that documents a range at which to aim for. The implications, if such a range is found, may help shape therapy goals, as well as provide a basis for further research into reading within other populations. At the moment I don’t really know which areas of speech pathology I am most interested in. I am sure that by graduation I will have found where my passion truly lies (well so I hope).

Margot Lochrin - Postgraduate Research Masters Student
I am a speech pathologist with a B.A. majoring in psychology and linguistics from Macquarie University, who has previously followed a slightly meandering path through accountancy, merchant banking and radio announcing. During my speech pathology career, I have worked in both the public and private arenas, mainly with a paediatric caseload covering a wide range of speech, language and literacy difficulties.
It has always been of interest to me that there remain children with reading difficulties despite various interventions. Effective remediation of poor reading skills can only be designed and implemented when underlying deficits and their relative influence have been identified. The relationship between auditory processing and reading difficulties, particularly reading comprehension, has had little research to date. Under the supervision of Dr Joanne Arciuli, the study will investigate the relationship between auditory processing difficulties (APD) and reading comprehension. Segmental phonological processes and the suprasegmental level, or prosody,will also be considered when investigating the link between phonological awareness and reading comprehension in APD. In conjunction with the APD research laboratory at Macquarie University, led by DrMridula Sharma, we are recruiting and testing primary school children with APD as well as a group of matched controls. I am very grateful for the opportunity provided by Dr Sharma, as associate supervisor, in gaining access to this population and the expertise both Jo and Mridula bring to the research.