Marissa Russell is a senior majoring in Linguistics and Spanish. She was awarded a Spring 2018 Independent Grant which she used to conduct research on attention under Dr. Lynne Nygaard.
When I first pursued undergraduate research at Emory, I was unsure what to expect. I knew I had a strong interest in language and was intrigued by the research process, but I questioned how much meaningful experience I could gain (and how much I could truly contribute) as a junior in college. Now, looking back over the past two years in the Speech and Language Perception Lab, I can confidently say that research has been the most significant and rewarding aspect of my academic career.
My current project, investigating whether attention modulates the perceptual learning of accented speech, is particularly meaningful because I was able to be involved in the research process from the ground up. With the support of an Independent Grant, I have moved from conceptualizing a research question, to analyzing and interpreting data, and will ultimately disseminate the findings to a broader scientific community. Even while writing this, I had to take a step back and pause–because how AWESOME is that? I never would have expected to have such an active role in the research process and to learn so much from it.
Working in Dr. Nygaard’s lab has challenged my critical thinking skills in a way that affects how I approach pretty much everything. I’ve gotten used to the eye-rolls and laughs of my friends and family when I respond to a seemingly unrelated topic with “You know what? That would be an interesting research question. I wonder if…” for the umpteenth time. It’s hard to blame me, though, when I’m in a lab surrounded by a PI, graduate students, postdocs, and undergraduates who think the same way. This would be immediately apparent upon sitting in on any given lab meeting, in which presentations and paper discussions are met with a flurry of thoughtful questions and reflections. Admittedly, I started out as a timid observer when I first joined the lab. This quickly changed, though, because the energy, intellect, and support of my mentors are infectious.
These skills come in handy when challenges arise (because let’s face it, they’re inevitable). An example of this is when pilot data in our current project contradicted our hypothesis. In the study, participants heard English sentences spoken by Spanish-accented talkers. During training, they had their attention diverted from linguistically relevant aspects of the speech stream to varying extents depending on the condition they were in. They were then tested on novel sentences and speakers. We expected test performance to vary based on the differing attention levels in the conditions, but performance was pretty similar across conditions.
It’s easy to be frustrated when, even after all of our literature reviews, deliberations, and work, our findings did not align with our hypothesis. However, I never felt that way. In a meeting with my PI and research supervisor, we immediately set out to determine what these findings could mean. We designed a follow-up study to make sure attention was truly diverted as intended, but recognized that even results that contradict our hypothesis have interesting implications. If attention doesn’t matter, does that mean learning is implicit?
It is rewarding to reflect on the broader impact of this research. Clarifying the relationship between attention and perceptual learning has implications for understanding perceptual processing more broadly. If it is not mandatory for explicit attention to be directed to relevant parts of the stimulus, this could open up different avenues for skill-acquisition beyond the typical practice-focused mode of instruction.
I think I will always crave the intellectual stimulation I enjoy during my time in the Speech and Language Perception Lab. My research experience has solidified my desire to continue contributing to growing knowledge in the field as I pursue my graduate studies. I am extremely grateful for the relationships I’ve cultivated and support from my mentors in the lab as well as the Independent Grant that made this experience possible.
Visit the Undergraduate Research Programs website to learn more about applying for Independent Research Grants.
Working in Dr. Nygaard’s lab has challenged my critical thinking skills in a way that affects how I approach pretty much everything. I’ve gotten used to the eye-rolls and laughs of my friends and family when I respond to a seemingly unrelated topic with “You know what? That would be an interesting research question. I wonder if…” for the umpteenth time. It’s hard to blame me, though, when I’m in a lab surrounded by a PI, graduate students, postdocs, and undergraduates who think the same way. This would be immediately apparent upon sitting in on any given lab meeting, in which presentations and paper discussions are met with a flurry of thoughtful questions and reflections. Admittedly, I started out as a timid observer when I first joined the lab. This quickly changed, though, because the energy, intellect, and support of my mentors are infectious.
These skills come in handy when challenges arise (because let’s face it, they’re inevitable). An example of this is when pilot data in our current project contradicted our hypothesis. In the study, participants heard English sentences spoken by Spanish-accented talkers. During training, they had their attention diverted from linguistically relevant aspects of the speech stream to varying extents depending on the condition they were in. They were then tested on novel sentences and speakers. We expected test performance to vary based on the differing attention levels in the conditions, but performance was pretty similar across conditions.
It’s easy to be frustrated when, even after all of our literature reviews, deliberations, and work, our findings did not align with our hypothesis. However, I never felt that way. In a meeting with my PI and research supervisor, we immediately set out to determine what these findings could mean. We designed a follow-up study to make sure attention was truly diverted as intended, but recognized that even results that contradict our hypothesis have interesting implications. If attention doesn’t matter, does that mean learning is implicit?
It is rewarding to reflect on the broader impact of this research. Clarifying the relationship between attention and perceptual learning has implications for understanding perceptual processing more broadly. If it is not mandatory for explicit attention to be directed to relevant parts of the stimulus, this could open up different avenues for skill-acquisition beyond the typical practice-focused mode of instruction.
I think I will always crave the intellectual stimulation I enjoy during my time in the Speech and Language Perception Lab. My research experience has solidified my desire to continue contributing to growing knowledge in the field as I pursue my graduate studies. I am extremely grateful for the relationships I’ve cultivated and support from my mentors in the lab as well as the Independent Grant that made this experience possible.
Visit the Undergraduate Research Programs website to learn more about applying for Independent Research Grants.
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