We are currently recruiting bright, motivated, and creative students to participate in the 2016 Research Intensive Summer Experience (RISE) program in the UConn Laboratory for Spoken Language Processing. This internship-based program will provide summer research assistants with the opportunity to learn about many aspects of the research process in a hands-on, immersive laboratory environment.

RISE participants will be engaged in numerous aspects of research including recruiting participants, testing children and adults in behavioral and neuroimaging tasks, analyzing data, and interpreting results.  Research assistants will also participate in guided readings of the speech perception literature and attend laboratory meetings in which we discuss ongoing projects and current issues in the field. RISE participants will receive close mentorship by faculty and graduate students.

The lab is directed by Dr. Rachel M. Theodore. Research in our laboratory examines how listeners recover meaning from the acoustic signal of speech, with a particular focus on early stages of auditory and linguistic processing. Our lab considers this question broadly within the frameworks of psychology, cognitive science, and linguistics. We use a variety of experimental paradigms including behavioral and neuroimaging techniques to examine how listeners map the speech signal onto individual consonants and vowels – the building blocks of larger linguistic units such as words and phrases. One crosscutting theme of our research is the degree to which language comprehension is shaped by input in the environment, both with respect to perceptual learning in adults as well as plasticity underlying acquisition of speech sound categories in children.

Students will receive course credit for participation by registering in 3 credits of independent study (SLHS 3299 or COGS 3599) during the UConn summer session and completing 150 hours of laboratory experience. Students will set their own schedules, which are highly flexible. For example, a student may choose to complete their experience with full-time engagement for 4 weeks, or may choose instead to participate approximately 10 hours per week for 15 weeks.

To be considered, please complete the RISE 2016 inquiry form by March 1. Questions regarding the 2016 RISE program can be directed to Dr. Rachel M. Theodore (rachel.theodore@uconn.edu).

Full link to RISE 2016 form: http://bit.do/RISE2016