Speech Science in the Community

A research assistant from the CSPAN Lab in a blue-and-purple tie-dyed lab coat smiling while sitting at a table.

Go forth into the community to gather data about how people learn to understand tricky speech 

Project description

The Cognition, Speech Perception, and Auditory Neuroscience (CSPAN) Lab in the Department of Communicative Disorders and Sciences (CDS), is looking for research assistants. The lab is in particular looking for help with projects examining speech perception that are performed in community contexts. Rather than staying safely on UB's campus, we go out to various museums (the Rochester Museum and Science Center, the Buffalo Museum of Science) and community sites (libraries, senior centers, summer camps, etc.) to gather data on-site. We want to know how people of many different ages (kids, teens, younger adults, and older adults) might differ in their ability to learn and adapt to new information. Research assistants also need to be someone excited about the idea of recruiting strangers at a museum to participate in fun studies, so enthusiasm and energy are pluses. 

Project outcome

The datasets collected will end up used in scientific publications and presentations that you may be able to contribute towards. 

Project details

Timing, eligibility and other details
Length of commitment At least the summer, potentially longer depending on student interest 
Start time Summer (May/June) 
In-person, remote, or hybrid? In-Person Project 
Level of collaboration Small group project (2-3 students) 
Benefits Academic credit
Stipend 
Who is eligible Freshmen, Sophomores & Juniors 

Project mentor

Chris Heffner

Assistant Professor

Communicative Disorders and Sciences

Phone: (716) 829-5568

Email: ccheffne@buffalo.edu

Start the project

  1. Email the project mentor using the contact information above to express your interest and get approval to work on the project. (Here are helpful tips on how to contact a project mentor.)
  2. After you receive approval from the mentor to start this project, click the button to start the digital badge. (Learn more about ELN's digital badge options.) 
Start the Digital Badge

Preparation activities

Once you begin the digital badge series, you will have access to all the necessary activities and instructions. Your mentor has indicated they would like you to also complete the specific preparation activities below. Please reference this when you get to Step 2 of the Preparation Phase. 

  • Reading relevant background literature, given in consultation with PI
  • Completion of required ethics training for human subjects research 

Keywords

Communicative Disorders and Sciences, psychology, linguistics, speech, cognitive science, speech-language pathology, audiology, linguistics, psychology, cognitive science