FriSem

Irmak Ergin, 2nd-year Ph.D. student with Assistant Professor Laura Gwilliams, Department of Psychology, Stanford University

Title: Measuring Naturalistic Speech Comprehension in Real Time

Abstract: Speech comprehension is often described as an effortless and automatic process; yet, listeners often misunderstand what someone is saying, or fail to derive meaning entirely. To measure speech comprehension, researchers have used post-hoc measures such as content questions, self-ratings, and summarization. These static post-hoc measures fail to capture the real-time dynamics of comprehension as speech unfolds. Importantly, challenges in behaviorally measuring real-time comprehension have led to limited descriptions of the neural processes supporting online comprehension.

To address this gap, we designed, built, and tested a scanner-compatible slider device that synchronizes with behavioral and neural recording software and produces millisecond read-out. This provides a novel method of measuring speech comprehension in real-time during naturalistic listening. In my FYP talk, I will provide evidence for the validity of this novel measure, as well as for the limitations of the “state-of-the-art” speech comprehension measures in the field. I will conclude by discussing the implications of this new measure for future projects.Presenting her First-Year Project (FYP)